Yesterday two of my barred rock chickens hopped our fence into the neighbors yard. Unfortunately, the divider fences are 4 foot chain link – so quite easy for a chicken to jump up to.

Well the pugs (there are 5 of them) were not too tolerant and I will spare the actual details. One chicken is missing and presumed dead and the other hen’s back end was a mess. My husband Josh and his friend Mark tried cleaning and patching her up last night not certain if she was going to make it.

My thought was she would most likely get an infection and die eventually. I am so upset. I know it isn’t my neighbors fault at all… and as a precaution Josh ended up clipping the rest of the new chickens flight wings to be on the safe side.

We placed her comfortably in a cat carrier and left her in the house last night hoping for a miracle I guess. But my husband came into the bedroom this morning and said, even though she is alert and still alive he didn’t think she could be saved with the extent of her injuries. My concern was if she did heal — which could possibly take months — would she be able to go to the bathroom and even lay an egg. The damage was horrible in the area of her Cloaca. And unfortunately that opening serves as the only opening for the intestinal, reproductive, and urinary tracts of chickens. So we decided instead of chancing her to worsen or end up getting an egg impacted down the line — it would be best to put her down. AGH, I feel so horrible.

The kids are upset. We haven’t buried her, yet, because kids want to help with that part. Breaks my heart.