From Heartbreak to Hope: Keeping Flocks Healthy With CluckDoc

We’ve had a few animal losses here over the past year or so. A few chicks died without any clear cause, which is sadly common when they’re just a week old. But a couple of cases stuck with me.

One chick developed sour crop issues. I sat with her, massaging her chest to help her vomit (and she was), but I pushed too far. She aspirated and passed away in my hands.

Another time, one of our hens became egg bound, and we didn’t catch it soon enough. I tried soaking her, then wrapped her in a towel after the bath. She would strain, try to push, and then cry from the pain. By the time I could faintly smell infection, I knew the only merciful choice was to cull her. That was the first full-grown hen we ever had to cull, and it wasn’t easy. People often say, “They’re just chickens,” but when you care for them every day, they become more like pets. Losing them hurts.

Not all of this is about chickens, either. One of my roosters was killed by a fox. I hadn’t cut down some tall grass where the chickens were foraging, and that gave the fox cover. That rooster had roosted on me since he was little. He didn’t even live long enough to grow spurs. After that, I cut down all the tall grass and set fox traps around the property.

One morning, I found a possum caught in one of those traps. And here’s the thing — I actually like possums, almost as much as turtles. I carefully freed its paw, but knowing it had likely been trapped for twelve hours, I thought I’d help further. I brought food and water, set it down nearby, and waited. When it didn’t eat, I made the mistake of trying to hand-feed it. Without gloves. He bit me hard enough to draw blood. With all I knew about possums’ strong immune systems and low body temps making rabies unlikely, I still couldn’t risk it — so he had to be tested.

All of these animals lost their lives because of my mistakes. And that’s something I don’t want happening again. Don’t get me wrong — I hunt for food. But taking an animal’s life unnecessarily? That doesn’t sit right with me.

That’s why I believe in CluckDoc. It can help me, and others, get a quick diagnosis of their chickens, share photos and notes with whoever needs to see them, and keep our flocks healthier and safer. Mistakes are painful teachers — but tools like CluckDoc can help us do better.

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🐣 Want to see how CluckDoc helped us catch a chicken illness early?

Read our newest story: [How I Caught a Chicken Illness Early — With the CluckDoc Chicken Health App](https://www.cluckdoc.com/post/how-i-caught-a-chicken-illness-early-with-the-cluckdoc-chicken-health-app)