Matilda is going to lose her feet. :(

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

we cross posted!

But we were also on the same wavelength! Yes Matilda really is an awesome chicken; i never knew the depth of her character traits til afterthe frostbite happened. And yes i will continue to watch and "listen" to her, and let her tell me what she wants and needs. Except for hatching 2021 chicks. Sorry Matilda, Penny1960 and Chicalina say chicks are a bad idea this year. (Whew. Allsfairinloveandbugs is sooo relieved!)

 

[Chicalina]

Loving it!!

She is super lucky to have you too. Many others would have culled for this severity of injury, yet she has you looking out for her and ensuring she has some good quality of life, even though that might mean long term special care and lots of extra work for you.

Damn how these birds get into our hearts eh!

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

Loving it!!

She is super lucky to have you too. Many others would have culled for this severity of injury, yet she has you looking out for her and ensuring she has some good quality of life, even though that might mean long term special care and lots of extra work for you.

Damn how these birds get into our hearts eh!

I have often told people i originally got chickens only to have fresh eggs. Never saw it coming how much i was gonna fall in love with the chickens themselves!

Truth is, tending to her recent needs has been Much easier than helping broodies sucessfully raise chicks over the past years. (And Matilda was one of those frequent broodies.) My neighbor down the road has had a 100% Fatality/loss rate with her free-roaming, broody-raised chicks. She says "None of them make it. The chicks just disappear." Thats probably mostly due to abundant copperheads and ratsnakes. I have taken Extreme precautions against snakes, floods, cold temps and winds, and countless other issues potentially risky to broody-raised chicks. As a result, at my place the broody-raised chick Survival rate is nearly 100%. Compared to helping all those mama hens safely raise their babies, tending to sweet, docile, stoic Matilda has truly been a breeze!

 

[pennyJo1960]

See I could never handle the snakes now first I am 61 second I only have to deal with a garden snake called garter snake less than foot long normaly here harmless

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

6 + foot ratsnakes are very common here. A snake that size will consume a half dozen eggs daily, can eat several chicks in one meal (depending on chick size), & are capable of strangling a hen in a nest box if she resists their approach. I find ratsnakes in nestboxes every single year. They are great for rodent control, but once they discover eggs in nest boxes, they get lazy and only eat eggs. At that point i either grab them for relocation, or kill them if they are too aggressive to capture without being bitten. (Ratsnakes arent poisonous, but they do bite.)

Copperheads are a whole 'nuther thing. I kill them when i see them since they are hard to detect in the leaves, and a serious threat to me, the dogs, and of course baby chicks too. Every year i find copperheads slithering around broody pens trying to get at chicks. The snakes are the main reason i always give broodies and chicks seperate safe pens completely covered in 1/2 inch hardware cloth.

Below are 2 ratsnakes. (Texas Ratsnake species). The one in the nestbox was 5 feet 11 inches. The one wrapped around my arm was larger, but i didnt take time to get a measurement. Both were fat and happy eating eggs. I usually know a snake(s) has discovered the nestboxes before i see the snake(s), because the daily egg count drops noticeably. Both snakes in photos were caught live and relocated.

 

[pennyJo1960]

Grandma raised me till 8 We had cotton mouths .. I was 5 before she would let me walk out alone. We had a couple farm dogs that would go ahead of me also they threw them out of my path ...

 

[AntiqueB]

I'm so glad Matilda is doing well, and you, too, Allsfair. You've done a great job healing her, and also documenting the journey. Thank you.

It's so good to hear that she's wanting to do chicken things! Perhaps chick's would take her mind off her feet, but they will also make her run around, perhaps more than she would want to, or be able to, right now.

 

[Swbertrand1]

Indeed! Well done. If we won't take care of these chicken babies, who will? Yes, it takes time and commitment, but that is a small price to pay for the love we have for them and for the love they give back.

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

It's been 6 weeks to the day since Matilda's right foot came off, and here are some photo updates. (Has been 13+ weeks since her left foot detached, & 19+ weeks since the frostbite injuries ocurred back in february).

The photos below, taken yesterday, show her right foot stump which continues to slowly heal. There is still a visible line of demarcation where the top of foot separated from the bottom foot pad & left behind a gruesome mess. It appears in the photo that the wound may still be open to bacteria, but there is actually a "seal" between top and bottom of stump. (Didnt think to get closeup photo of the seal, will do so soon.) I am still treating with vetericyn spray & triple antibiotic & keeping the healing stump wrapped. As shown in 2nd photo, her right spur continues to absorb.

The photos above document what Matilda lost. (her feet). But more importantly, what can Matilda still do, & and what is her current quality of life?

For one thing, Matilda can still enjoy tomatoes and other vegetables from the garden.

She can still enjoy lying on the cool dirt under a shade tree on a warm summer day.

She can hang with her flock discussing secrets only chickens know.

Very importantly, i was anxious to know if Matilda could still dust bathe. A chicken needs the ability to use their feet/legs to dust bathe properly. On her prior outings about town, people who petted her often commented on the softness of her feathers. But i knew that although she still preened, an inability to dust bathe meant her feathers would over time become abnormally oily. Before her feet detached, she would lie motionless in the sand and make no attempts to use her legs/feet. But after the right foot came off, Matilda almost immediately became more restless & began to stand upright, where in all the weeks before she was content to lie mostly motionless in her basket. So i placed her in a dust bath hole, (which has finally dried from near continuous daily spring rains) to see what she would do.

Yes!!! Waltzing Matilda, so named due to her extreme scratchy feet actions while raising chicks, can still dance!

As her injuries continue to heal, the above are but a few of the things Matilda can still do. Plus, she has her special devoted friend that continues to stand beside her through thick and thin.

Matilda's life is still good!

 

[Chicalina]

What a lovely update!!!