Several weeks ago this cockerel was sleeping in the corner of his pen with his flock-mates when a raccoon reached under the side (the ground was really dry & loose) and grabbed a few out for a meal. It just pulled the leg off this cockerel, I actually found it outside the pen. There wasn't any bleeding from the injury, it seems to have cleanly pulled the leg bone out of the hip socket. When I found the leg I didn't realize it was from this chick, I thought it was a part of one of the other half-eaten chicks, so I didn't examine it closely. I later noticed this chick looking very sorry for himself, and only then realized that he only had one leg left.
The skin around it was bruised-looking for a few days. I gave him no special treatment. He was able to heal & rally all by himself. Now his name is Drumstick, and he lives with a few bantam chicks for now. His flock-mates his same age & size were taking advantage of his immobility and pecking the feathers off his back. They are growing back in now. I'm impressed with how he is able to adapt to living with only one leg, he can even hop up to roost.
Edited by Sunny Side Up - 9/23/11 at 8:33pm
and I'm interested to see how his frame looks under his feathers & skin.
