One of our Dorking Girls died on Saturday night.
DH arrived at the Allotment, said hello to all the birds, noticed that neither Dorking Girl was out and assumed they were in the nest box, laying eggs.
He sorted out Roo's gang, did the Geese, and then came back to the Doirking pen. He found one of the girls in the nest box, possibly trying to go broody, and saw the other girl on the perch - dead.
He phoned me, and checked her over while I was on the phone. No sign of blood or pecking, so it wasn't a predator or an attack from one of her family. He brought her home so I could check her over. She was a good weight and didn't look anaemic, and there were no signs of pests under her feathers (although I imagine they would all have evacuated by then). I suspect she had a heart attack, perhaps the violent storms frightened her too much?
We wrapped her up in a soft towel, put her in a cardboard coffin and said our goodbyes.
She was such a pretty little bird.
DH arrived at the Allotment, said hello to all the birds, noticed that neither Dorking Girl was out and assumed they were in the nest box, laying eggs.
He sorted out Roo's gang, did the Geese, and then came back to the Doirking pen. He found one of the girls in the nest box, possibly trying to go broody, and saw the other girl on the perch - dead.
He phoned me, and checked her over while I was on the phone. No sign of blood or pecking, so it wasn't a predator or an attack from one of her family. He brought her home so I could check her over. She was a good weight and didn't look anaemic, and there were no signs of pests under her feathers (although I imagine they would all have evacuated by then). I suspect she had a heart attack, perhaps the violent storms frightened her too much?
We wrapped her up in a soft towel, put her in a cardboard coffin and said our goodbyes.
She was such a pretty little bird.
