Farewell Luna

We have 3 chickens and we have had them for nearly 3 years. They are our beloved pets and they are part of our family.  And yesterday we had to say goodbye to our beautiful black Australorp, Luna.  She was 3 1/2 years old.  It was a sad day.

For the past few days she was acting very unwell and at night she was sleeping in the nesting box. And then 2 days ago she didn't go up the ladder to bed, she just sat in a corner of the chicken coop even though it was dark.  My husband had to carry her up.  It was going to be a cold night and I couldn't bear the thought of her feeling sick and cold outside, so we brought her inside, in a small box with straw.  We put that inside a spare guinea pig cage in the garage.  She didn't protest. We fed her water from a spoon and small amounts of food, but she wasn't improving.

After much googling to find out what could be wrong (there were a number of possibilities) and trying home remedies we decided it was time to seek the help of a vet.  I found a vet service that makes house calls for a reasonable price.  If I could help it I didn't want to take her to the vet as it would be stressful for her and I didn't want her to suffer anymore. This service was wonderful.

I allowed my daughter to stay home from school as she was worried about Luna and I knew she wouldn't be able to focus at school.  She had spent the weekend hand feeding her lots of meal worms, patting her and whispering to her.  She had helped us give her a warm bath to clean her feathers and soothe her.  I explained to her that by now Luna was very sick (at this stage she wasn't eating, barely drinking and sleeping all the time) and that when the vets came, they may say we  have to put her to sleep.

They came out and were very kind and compassionate. They found she had a mass in her abdomen and she was very thin.  Most likely it was an egg which didn't form properly, which could have been there for months and had then become infected.  Luna hadn't laid for about 6 months and we had assumed she had come to the end of her laying days. But, birds can hide their illness for a long time, until they feel very unwell.  Unfortunately she was too sick, so the most humane thing to do was to put her to sleep.

We said our teary goodbyes.  My daughter handled it well, she is 10 years old.  She asked if she could keep some of Luna's feathers.

Luna had the most amazing black feathers, that had a green shine on them in the sun. She had black legs, orange eyes and her comb had tinges of black on it. She had a small chip in her black beak. I know all this detail, because my daughter has spent so much time with her, chatting, feeding, hugging and loving her over the past few years.  Luna also used to make the loudest noise, so loud sometimes we thought the neighbours might complain.  We used to say she sounded like she was having a whinge!

Last night, over dinner we spent the night reminiscing.  We talked about when we first brought the chooks home, how much we have learnt about chickens and the excitement the day they each laid their first egg.  We laughed at how funny they are. We talked about Luna, about the kind vets and why euthanasia is the most humane thing to do, even though we feel so sad.  There were lots of life lessons for my daughter yesterday and there were some tears.

The day we brought them home- LOTS of cuddles!

Farewell Luna, thank you for laying all those delicious eggs, for bringing us love, for teaching us how to care for chickens, for letting us watch you lay an egg one day, for making us laugh, for letting us pick you up (sometimes!) and for being a good sister.  You certainly weren't the top chook, you were always more sensitive, a little nervous and very loud, but you were ours, part of our family.  We love you and we will miss you.

Meet Crunchie

Firstly I would like to say a huge thank you to all the readers, everyone who has left a comment and welcomed me into the world of blogging.  It is very encouraging and it is lovely to have you here.  It will be great to have you following along on our life journey.

Crunchie is our 10 month old mischievous kitten who has brought much love and laughter into our home.  He is a rescue kitten, found dumped on the side of the road with his mother and 3 siblings in a cardboard box.  It was estimated the kittens were around 4 weeks old when they were found.  He was taken to a foster carer and at 8 weeks old we brought him home.  My daughter said that was the best day of her life!  He came home in December 2016.  The first day of the school holidays.

The day we brought him home

He was named Crunchie after the chocolate bar, by his foster carer.  My daughter and husband said it suited him, so the name stuck.  Our previous cat was named Oreo, are you seeing the theme?

We haven't had a kitten for our long time and I forgot how much work they could be.  The first week my husband slept downstairs with him at night so he didn't feel lonely.  It was like having a new baby!  He constantly wanted to play and if anything moved he was pouncing on it, even if you accidently moved your toes while watching TV.  When we wanted to rest he ALWAYS wanted to play. He needed feeding around 4 times a day.  But I must say he was litter box trained so thankfully there were no problems there. However there were screens to be climbed especially if he saw a moth or gecko, curtains to hang off and paper to chew up.  Lucky he was cute!

Even now, we are always laughing at something he is doing.  He may not be the most handsome looking cat, but he is full of character.  My daughter just loves him, and told me the other day, she couldn't imagine her life without him.  He sleeps on her bed every night and when my husband goes to bed, he puts him in the laundry.  When he gets let out in the morning, he gets fed, then runs straight up to see my daughter (often waking her by walking all over her and sniffing her face).  He is very aware of our routines.

Best buddies from the beginning

Crunchie is always around  when I go about my daily tasks.  If I open a cupboard, he is in it.  If I run upstairs to grab something, he runs after me (and always beats me, I didnt know it was a race!) When I am cooking, he is at my feet or supervising at the breakfast bar and when we are relaxing, he is always around.  He even sits on the bathmat and waits while we are showering, lately opening the shower door!

He is like no other cat I have ever had.  He is very comfortable around children, he has an easy going nature and the vets always comment on how placid he is when he visits.  He can be carried around and he doesn't mind a tummy rub or playing dress ups!

I have always had cats growing up and love their presence in my life.  There is a feeling of comfort they provide by just being there.

But Crunchie's short life hasn't always been smooth sailing.  And I''ll write about that in another post.