What A Little Chicken Taught Me

Recently we lost our beloved family pet, Chickie.  Although Chickie was a chicken, she quickly became our pet.  So when she passed away I knew this was something that was going to be hard for the kids to hear.  Dealing with the loss of a family pet is probably harder on the parents than it is on the kids.  The thought that I was going to intentionally have to break their hearts was killing me.  I felt like someone tore my heart out and was smashing it on the floor!

We have had our share of heartache when our little friend Lyla passed away from cancer on Christmas Day in 2017.  That was the last time we knew we had to tell the kids something that was going to be very deep and hard reality to grasp.  I have learned a lot as a parent, but there is no book to follow when it comes to heartache.

What We Learned About Chickens

Jeff, our farmer friend gave us the little barred rock chick to take care of because his other chicks were much bigger than her.  He knew we liked to care for animals and we poured our hearts and souls into that little bird’s life and well-being.
We learned so much about ourselves and about caring for chickens while we lived with Chickie for the past year.

I believe chickens, or any animal you raise from birth or shortly after, can become humanized.  What I’m saying is that if you are around the animal from the time they are born they become used to you, and then you can essentially train them to do certain things.  Or they become used to a pattern or repetition and understand what to do next.

We all pitched in to help chickie thrive and grow, but I was really very attached to her because I was doing everything I could to help her thrive and grow.  We would weigh her on a food scale each week to see if she was gaining weight and not just growing feathers.

She needed a lot of help. When she was malnourished she became lame and couldn’t walk. Then she would get dirty because she wasn’t able to move around to clean the poop off her feathers. I would give her baths in her little bin inside our tub. Then I would dry her off with the hair dryer. I never imagined in my life, that I would be bathing and fluffing a chicken in my house with a hairdryer. But Chickie never minded. I actually think she loved it! I have videos of the event on our Chickie Channel on YouTube.

What We Learned About Us

We really enjoy caring for animals. Especially an animal that was having a hard time getting stronger on its own. I had done this in the past when I found an injured bird on the side of the road during one of my training runs. I scooped that bird up and brought it home to care for it until it could fly again.

Since we had been working with Jeff up at the farm for two years, we learned what to look for in the animals. My son could always spot a bird that looked ill. He could tell by their behavior that something wasn’t right, and he was always correct in pointing out a sick bird. Sometimes the bird wasn’t too ill that it could be rehabilitated; but many times when the bird is at that point, it can’t get better.

Death is part of the circle of life, especially on a farm. But we weren’t ready for our little Chickie to go just yet. She wasn’t acting sick as she had in the past.

We have a little burial spot for her with a special light that glows at night and a special stone and ceramic chicken my sister-in-law gave us. She also was sad to hear of our loss. Everyone got to know chickie. She was kind of a big deal in our little town!

My lesson from Chickie

While it was a very difficult few days getting used to not having our little feathered buddy around, we all bonded together to help console one another. I also made my time with my family a priority. I had been working a lot, and it was easy to let the night go by while the kids were playing and doing homework, and I would continue to work.

I have since, put my family first and we now make time to play outside after dinner, work together on homework, and we are trying to show more affection to our other chickens that produce our eggs for us. My daughter loves playing badmitten in the driveway at night so we got back to playing our games outside before bed to get some exercise and fresh air before calling it a day.

My son loves to play scooter tag, so I pulled my scooter out from the cobwebs and am chasing them around in the driveway. It is the simple things in life that my children crave… playing games, time with my husband and I, and time up at the farm exploring.

I’m thankful we had our little feathered friend in our life, even if it was just for a year. She taught me some lessons that will last through my lifetime!

Have you been through the loss of a family pet? How did you help your children through it?