Ready or not it was time to put the chicks outside. I couldn't handle arriving home to a house that smelled similar to a barnyard any longer. Chicks are so cute but holy cow are they messy and stinky. I brought out the two friendliest girls first, the Golden Comets, who were thrilled to explore their big new world. The others weren't as easy to wrangle so I carried out the entire cage outside, opened the door and they quickly ran out into their new home. Tim and I enjoyed watching them explore, our big girls were extremely interested in peering at them through the wire fence. It's important that they stay separated until the chicks are big enough to hold their own with the big girls. The chicks flew around, pecked at the dirt and jumped on and off their perch, clearly enjoying their new space. As I was getting them settled, busy feeding and filling water for both coops I grew increasingly concerned for Quarentina, our favorite chicken who has been struggling for a couple years. She's the one that we spent months nursing and kept inside for ages, once again she looks like she's not going to make it. I suggested to Tim that we may need to kill her, a quick death seems like the kindest thing we can do but he was horrified by my suggestion. I put a large cage inside the big coop, made a soft bed of pine shavings inside a warm box for her. Gave her food and water and will see how she does over the next week or two. She's not getting around much, looks like she's having a problem with her leg/foot, same issue she had two years ago, but has been limping around doing ok after making a partial comeback. I know you're thinking I'm mean to want to kill her, trust me, I don't want to, just see that it may need to be done. Once there's no longer any decent quality of life as well as possible pain, it's the humane thing to do. She's our favorite, one of our original girls, making it harder but I hate to see her suffer. Chickens don't live as long as other pets, dogs and cats hang in there for decades while chickens have an average lifespan of five to seven years. Quarentina is four so she's clearly in her golden years. For now she's comfortable, isolated while the rest of the flock focuses on the new chicks, watching their new neighbors intently. My house smells like a house again, chicks are happy, I'm happy and for now, all is well in the world of chickens.
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