Yesterday we went to visit some dear friends. By the time we got back it was time to feed. I loaded up the hay into the Gator and drove to the big pasture. As I drove through the gate something caught my eye. I stopped to see what it was. There in the one water trough I keep filled for the deer, was my dear White Silky Bantam, Bonnie, floating in it. She had drowned.
I scooped her up and as silly as it sounds I tried giving her CPR. But sadly it was too late. Or I just didn't do the CPR correctly on a chicken.
After burying her I kept thinking as to why it happened. I've had chickens for 2-3 years now and have never had a chicken get into any of the water troughs. Heck, I never even gave it any thought as to any of the chickens getting into one and drowning.
So, today I am going to come up with something to place into all water troughs so it won't ever happen again. I'm thinking of placing 2x4's with attached pieces of wood for footing so if any animal falls in they would at least be able to get out.
Animals really do keep us on our toes.
Until next time...................
Day to day goings on here at the farm. Everything from weather to horses and donkeys to chickens to cats and dogs and everything in between. Some blogs will be informative. While others will be I hope, just entertaining and keep you coming back. And of course there will be pictures.
aw, no!! I am so sorry! But you're right, that is odd. I hope that 2 by 4 idea you had works!
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry, that had to be bad, finding her that way. I never heard of a chicken drowning before. It will probably never happen again, I think that was a true fluke!
ReplyDeleteCPR? On a chicken? okayyyy.........
Imagine that! Poor ole Bonnie. I had to do something similar a few years ago on our water collector half-barrels. A couple of robins drowned in one. So I put a 1x6 board across them to give the birds some footing. It worked.
ReplyDeleteOh no! I'm so sorry, Cindy - who knows why these things suddenly happen after not having any sign such a thing posed a threat. I know you'll miss Bonnie. She was a lovely hen.
ReplyDelete((hug))
I read of one blogger's turkey drowning in the neighbor's watering tank. It was quite a shock.
ReplyDeleteHow terrible, I'm so sorry.--Inger
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry Cindy. You poor thing. I know how hard it is losing one of your babies. I'm sure you will come up with something wonderful to prevent something like that happening again. Like you say, who would have thought?
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear about your Bonnie sis. I have never heard of or have ever had this happen to my chickens and they have always jumped up on the horses trough/buckets to get a drink. I have had the chicks get in shallow areas and drown so I make sure to use the chick waterers and put some small stones near the edge of the larger water containers.
ReplyDeleteLove ya xoxo
blogger just erased my comment as i was trying to enter the stupid letter code...grrr...anyways, i am so sorry. it is very difficult to learn the hard way. i saved a deer from our well. if you are interested you can look for the post under 'fear'...it was very harrowing and scary. i do know how hard it is to learn the hard way. our animals are so precious....so very sorry!
ReplyDeleteawww, sorry to hear about your Bonnie. I think you have the right idea tho, about the floating board. It at least will give birds a fighting chance and the bigger animals will still be able to get a drink. I always hate these tough lessons of life on the farm.
ReplyDeleteBlessYourHeart
A few years back, we had chickens and a couple of turkeys. And like you, one day we found a turkey had fallen in the lilly pond. We placed the random stepping stones just beneath the surface for the birds to get a grip on and didn't have any more casualties.
ReplyDeleteI hope your boards work the same.
Now...Bonnie lies over the ocean....!
ReplyDeleteOh Cindy, I am so sorry about Bonnie! How awful that must have been for you. As others have mentioned, I was going to suggest you try some large rocks or cinder blocks as stepping stones.
ReplyDeleteHang in there...
How sad.
ReplyDeleteI used to lead embryology projects and kids were allowed to keep a chick or two, with parental permission. I learned, years later, that one boy's chick drowned in the toilet. They kept the chick in the bathroom and it had learned to hop and fly a bit.
I think the 2 x 4 might work.