Silver has gone

We had Silver put to sleep today. It has been so very upsetting.

Silver stopped eating altogether a few days ago. Yesterday we had stopped giving her the med’s and instead we were dropping food directly into her beak.

It really amounts to force feeding her as I was opening her beak and dropping in pellets, sunflower hearts and chopped tomato. She was fighting against it and flicking most of the food out with only a small amount going down. I knew this couldn’t go on as it was stressful for her and for us. I knew if she wouldn’t eat then force feeding her was only prolonging the agony for her and for us.

We think she must have had something in her gut twisted or blocked because at first when she stopped eating normally she was eating the scrambled egg but then she would be twisting her neck as if struggling to get it up or down. She then refused to eat at all and no longer twisted her neck. The vet agreed with us and said the kindest thing was to have her put to sleep.

I asked if I could see her afterwards. The vet was very kind and called me in to see her when she had gone. She said it was very peaceful. I couldn’t help crying. It never gets any easier.

This was the hardest decision to have a girl put to sleep yet, because at times she still looked normal and was still strong when we picked her up. She had also laid two eggs at the beginning of this but had then stopped laying as she wasn’t eating enough.

Silver was only a year old and we had only had her since 12th August last year so only ten months. Yet she was so much a part of the flock. She had such a lovely nature. She was really friendly and really pretty. It is so sad.

I will do a tribute to her tomorrow when I have looked through my photos. She is already very much missed.