Meet Hobble. Hobble has always been my special needs chicken. She was somewhat listless and doing poorly when she was in the brooder, but with some extra attention she snapped out of it and all was well. Once she and all of her sisters feathered out they went outside into the main flock. One day I heard a loud SCREECH and looked around to see little Hobble laying on the ground looking half dead. The rescue horse that was sharing the pasture for the moment had his big foot about 2 feet from her. I can only speculate that he stepped on her leg because the leg was broken. Once again, Hobble came into the house and we healed her leg. Now, however Hobble's leg did not heal perfectly and while she can "hobble" around, she is unable to perch and I am pretty sure there's no way she can handle a ramp into the coop unless I modify it somehow. I have not put her back in with the main flock since they pick on her. So for now, she's in with the ducks but they don't have a coop like the chickens do. It's going to be cold tonight so I am bringing her into the house since she can't huddle up in the coop for warmth. Onto the question. I am going to be building a new bantam coop in the next month. Anyone have any suggestions, tips or ideas how I could modify it for her special needs? She is small, about 1/2 the size of her "sisters" and I doubt she will ever reach full size. She flies a little bit but not enough to aim for and hit the small hole that the chickens customarily go in. Any ideas would be appreciated!
