handicaped chickens

[sarahloveschickens]

I have a poor 7 week old baby chick who was shipped to me with a broken leg.. Its doing great and its very healthy.. It eats ALOT and love to be held.. I feel so bad for it when i see it hopping around with its twisted leg..

 

[SarahF]

I have a RIR x Columbian Rock who was born with a crooked leg. The first time I noticed it, I had my grandparents come over to put her out of her misery. I thought for sure it was painful. They suggested to wait it out and see how she does. That was a few months ago and she's doing really well still. She get's picked on, and I'm pretty sure she doesn't lay, as her comb and wattles are very light, not bright and red like my other girls. Poor thing.

 

[gritsar]

I have Lil'Bit, my visually impaired chicken. Most days anymore she is a regular member of the flock. Today was one of those days when she wanted to be a mama's girl again. She followed me everywhere. I kept taking her back to the flock out free-ranging, but she'd just come back to the kitchen door and peck to get my attention. I always worry that she'll be the first chicken I lose to a predator because of her habit of wandering away from the flock. My SO says you never know. She might be the chicken that lives the longest. I have new pics of her but I'll have to retrieve them from my SO's computer.
Oh and then I have Thor. He's a very handsome roo but he's a tad bit knock-kneed and has heavy leg and foot feathering so he tends to trip over his own two feet. I noticed just today that he's learned to hop with both feet when he wants to get somewhere quickly. Great big leaps. I so wish I had a video camera.

 

[arllcountrygirl]

I don't have any handicaped chickens at the moment but do have several quail. We rescued about 15 and about half of them don't have toes. The idiot that had them before - let them stay in their own filth which basically rotted their toes off.

idiots

They are doing good, but it is sad to see them hobbling around and they are soo sweet.

 

[ChooksinIowa]

I have a crossbeak frizzle cochin. I didn't know it was called crossbeak until reading this thread! He is about 3 weeks old and doing well. He is quite heavy for his size and his group of hatchlings include some that are smaller than him, so I think he is eating well. I haven't named him yet. I didn't notice it at birth, but it hasn't been 6 weeks either, so I don't know what form he has. I will hope for the best.

 

[lilchick]

Last year at an auction I got Carmen, my little buff hen.
A crate crammed full of big hens..All were sold except this one.
The guy at sale reached back in crate pulled her out and threw her on top of it.
She was so scared and wobbled so badly that she fell off!
Alot of people started laughing so I went into ring and picked her up before he could toss her again.
No one wanted her except me.....
Her back was bloody and her tail a stump from being picked on.
She still will shake her head back and forth and lose her balance when frightened.
I would hate to think what her life was like before.
Now she has the sweet life here

 

[conny63malies]

My little dumdum chicken died a few weeks back , just days after i found out what is actually mixed with. He was born as what i thought was a partridge cochin pullet just to turn into a bantam OEGB x cochin cockerel. He was the ugliest animal i have ever seen but was so good natured that he played buddy for a single day old chick.

 

[tfpets]

I have several challenged birds, they are even more special to us due to their little issues. One I dont have a pic of is a Neurologically impaired white Frizzle, he was damaged after being stepped on by the Llama. He has a private cage and I let him out in a coop some days for exercise. He runs backwards, and puts his whole head in the water bowl to drink. I have to limit his intake cause he'll drink til he pukes.
The pic is Thing on the left, a gender confused Cuckoo Marans, with no Comb or Wattles, but he is a Rooster. He sits with his legs crossed, and is very, well, sweet.
The other bird is Bloodhead, who has limited vision in one eye, she was nearly killed when she hatched, her whole head was scarred after she was attacked, she was blinded by the torn tissue, I had to hand feed her for weeks, but she adapted and is fine now, she's a sweetheart!

Tina/tfpets

 

[Attack Chicken]

I don't know if this counts but I have one pullet white leghorn with knocked knees. It seems like she's getting straighter but it doesn't bother her. She's so sweet.

 

[frizzlemom]

I had a chick that my mama frizzle hatched who lost all her feathers, and didn't grow. I think she had some sort of genetic defect or something. She lived for about 2 mos, and I kept her in the house because she was so tiny and pitiful. When it got cold I made her a sweater out of a baby sock so she could stay warm. We named her Daisy, because she was so ugly she needed a pretty name. She finally died, featherless and we were all heartbroken. Here's a picture of her.