Hens Feet are Falling Off

[WalkingWolf]

I am and have been on both sides of the fence. My first responsibility is to my DW, and if she says no it is no even if I disagree with her. Most times I would rather cull then keep a bird hanging on. But she also understands it is up to her to help me with the care and increasing the quality of life of the injured chicken, and I did not see that willingness in any of the OP posts. Instead what I saw was her asking for us to make a decision for her, and there will always be two sides when that is done. Now had she just asked for advice on how to care and make the chicken happy it would have been different.

To give an idea on the blind hen, when I am not doing chores and the hen is not eating she is in my lap purring just like she is right now. When my wife comes home it is her turn, and she hand feeds her treats while sitting with her. For the rooster with the torn tendon it meant casting and recasting his leg, again holding him to keep him from further damaging it in the beginning, and still one month later changing bandages every other day, and keeping an eye on him to prevent further injury. The one eyed hen keeps to herself and wants limited social contact with the other chickens, which means she wants to be held and loved by us a few times a day for attention. Not everybody has time and patience for this. With all due respect to the OP I do not believe they have the desire to go to the extent that we do, if not cull the bird soon to let her have relief.

If you do keep the bird alive they WILL be forever spoiled, even when they learn to adapt and pain fades they will still want the attention they got from the care giver, and always be the target of the other chickens.

 

[harryg6167]

It's not always easy to cull sick animals. For some it will never be easy.
Myself I hate to have to cull even 1 hen, rooster, or baby chick.
Whenever I do absolutely have to cull one, (and everyone I believe has
to decide on their own when that time is) I do not hesitaate to do it. After culling
I then start trying to figure out what I could have done beforehand to prvent
having to cull a bird to start with. Sometimes I find things that I could have done
to prevent having to cull and other times When I know I did all I could have possibly
done and still had to cull it doesn't bother me too much.(The worst I had was introducing new birds
late one Saturday afternoon and not going through a quarantine period.That one was on me
and had to cull several birds)
That being said I can't comprehend going out and seeing one of my birds bleeding and losing
a foot. Then seeing the other foot gradually rotting off and bleeding. For me, if i really wanted to keep her
I would either take her to a vet or quickly learn to amputate it myself > An injury like that to where body
parts are falling off is not going to heal itself and if I really cared a lot about this chicken I would
do something about it.
Myself, I would definately cull but that is a choice you will ultimately have to make on your own.

 

[Gonzo]

I would cull her out of kindness. Poor Babie!

 

[redhen]

gonzo&hispeeps :

I would cull her out of kindness. Poor Babie!

I agree...​

 

[littlegip]

gonzo&hispeeps :

I would cull her out of kindness. Poor Babie!

I Agree also

 

[dfjsej]

Thank you everyone for your help with this matter. Her other foot has not fallen off yet, but it is just a matter of time. Your advice has been wonderful and hard to read but necessary. Thank you.

 

[cindyschicks]

dfsej,

I currently have a hen that without real obvious reason suddenly lost both of her legs. One day they appeared fine, the next day they were black and dead. Other than a thickening at the upper leg there was no real warning. I am new to chickens so ofcourse so expereinced poultry keepers might have seen something I didn't.

I used to run an animal rescue. So this is from my point of view. Unless an animal is suffering pain that can not be alleviated in some fashion and that will lessen over time, we do not euthanize. Many animals (and people) live perfectly happy long lives with disabilities.

My own hen had to get used to the new form of mobility but was never in such horrible pain that she required "culling". I did move her when we had a change of flock order and she is in a smaller chicken coop with a one winged Rooster and another hen and some quail. No one gives her any trouble, she gets around well in her very deeply bedded coop and happily broods the quail eggs. Stumpy loves her life, enjoys her one-on-one time and special treats.

So, my take on the situation is this, if you have the ability to give her a quieter place if the other chickens harrass her, if you have the ability to give her a nice deeply bedded coop and if she is not in unrelieved agony, pain and discomfort (there will be some initially, but all disabilities require getting used to), by all means do not cull Gertrude. Give her the love and comfort she deserves as your special girl.

 

[Daidohead]

Years ago my Daughter had a hen that lost both feet to a racoon. The coon had pulled her feet through the wire of the temp. cage she was in and literally chewed them off. She was in shock for a couple of days but after that she was back to her usual charming self. We cleaned and wrapped her stumps until they healed, and gave her a quiet place to rest. After a couple weeks of healing I made her some feet useing wood blocks and the plastic from the side of a 5 gal bucket. She learned to walk on them in no time at all. She required a lot of care but she was able to live a long, rather pampered, comfortable life. I'm not saying that all situations are like mine, just that mine worked out well.

 

[Hennyhandler]

I made a post on here the other day but after reading the ones following I see everyone's point. I am a vegetarian so I would NEVER cull a bird for meat or something like that. The thing is this bird is sitting every day, every minute in pain more than likely.

That is horribly upsetting. On the other hand I wouldn't feel comfortable personally culling a bird that could live a good life just because I wasn't or didn't want to take the time to care for the chicken. (Not saying this is how the OP feels) That would be my fault not hers.

This is a very hard decision to me. I have went back and forth as I have continued to read and it really has gotten me to thinking about what I would do if this was me and my situation. I don't believe I could say for sure until I was actually there and I think this because I would have to look at that chicken and see what that chicken was feeling. It would be about the chicken. Not me.

I think I am just rambling but this is just the thoughts running through my head right now. This is so upsetting and I wish this chicken the best and the owner the best in the harsh decision making ahead.

 

[rainplace]

Quote:
Excellent post.