Topic of the Week - "Special Needs" Chickens

[JustBabyMargo]

I have many special needs chickens! I love them all! Here is my pullet that has had the hardest time. Her name is Shelly.

My Shelly was all shriveled in a cup (that was put in the package she was sent in) and was barely even breathing (when we got her). And two others were also in horrible shape. (They had a big problem at the post office) We all thought she was gone for sure. My Shelly was doing horrible. She couldn’t stand, walk, eat, drink, or anything. She kept throwing up and falling on her back. She screamed and threw herself into the walls of her container and couldn’t keep her eyes open. One of her friends died that evening. She was left with one other unhealthy friend (Grumpy). But Grumpy was doing better so she got to go with the others (because she acted lonely because Shelly was not doing good)! And Shelly was left alone.

The next morning Grumpy was doing horrible. That’s when the force feeding started. About 3-4 times a day I would feed them and give them water until they had crops. I would get up at 4 a.m. to feed my little babies! And accidentally stay up for an hour. Oops. I put a little friend in with them to help them.

The baby at the bottom is my Grumpy, Shelly in the middle, and that big chunk (who was not that huge before he came in) is Gus! He was very protective of Shelly. Then a couple days later (after she drowned herself for some seconds (before I rescued her) my poor Grumpy passed away. Both of them were doing great! Cleaning themselves and eating and drinking even walking by themselves! But for some reason Grumpy just couldn’t go on. But Shelly kept progressing and getting better! And then she finally got to go with her friends!! Gus wasn’t happy because he wasn’t as spoiled in there! But then she struggled with feet problems.

I fixed that. Then they went outside!! And Gus still claimed Shelly as his own!

But now my Shelly has crossbeak! So she will be living with the polishes (in their separated coop)! Along with my crossbeak polish (Booboo)-

And soon to join them! Kevin (who is a pullet don’t be confused by her name)-

So that is my miracle baby’s story. She is now almost 4 months old and doing great! She croaks like a frog but that’s just her!

 

[PippinTheChicken]

Blue was a helped hatch. She was so weak and she had curled toe and splayed leg. I didn't think she'd make it. But last Friday she layed her first egg, I'm so proud!

 

[JustBabyMargo]

Blue was a helped hatch. She was so weak and she had curled toe and splayed leg. I didn't think she'd make it. But last Friday she layed her first egg, I'm so proud!
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Hooray Blue! It seems the special needs chickens are always the sweetest!

 

[PippinTheChicken]

Ginger is a mystery. He's always been weird. He walks with is legs far out and can't keep his balance. He can't see well either. He seems ok but I'm gonna take him to the vet to check his eye out. 4mo and no crow!

 

[JustBabyMargo]

Ginger is a mystery. He's always been weird. He walks with is legs far out and can't keep his balance. He can't see well either. He seems ok but I'm gonna take him to the vet to check his eye out. 4mo and no crow!
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My black australorp rooster didn’t start crowing until he was 5 months old! He was a late bloomer for everything though! Hopefully Ginger doesn’t crow so you can keep him!

 

[Sablehaven]

I have my hen "Odin". Odin is a buff orphington, and she was left half blind by a rooster (we ate him).

I spent a full month hand feeding her several times a day and guarding her from the rest of the flock until she got a handle on eating.

She is my favorite girl, and is happy and healthy three years later, as long as I always throw the treats to her left

(Ps. Just kidding, she still gets handfed her treats.)

 

[Cecisflock]

You can read my little clover’s story below. It’s linked in my signature. Her care wasn’t much different from the rest, she just needed a bath every 3 days or so. That was very dehydrating so she would have mineral oil slathers on her feet, yes all 4 of them, and comb. The day she died was the first time I had bathed her since after her amputation. I find it comforting we had a great last day together, even if I had no idea it was coming. I blame myself a little bit. Check your gates twice friends.

 

[Pippin quail]

I just got 3 Swedish Flower Hens a couple weeks ago. I didn't notice when I picked them up that one of them has a couple curled toes. She also has a flopped over comb. I asked the lady I got her from about the toes and she said she hatched out like that. She tried to fix it with a bandaid but it kept falling off. So she gave up. It doesn't seem to affect Ingaburg too much. In fact her clipped wings seem to be much more of a hindrance (and hopefully she'll molt and those will be as good as new sometime soon). The only other issue with my 3 SFH's seems to be they all need their nails clipped, which I have never done and am nervous about. But I'm sure Tuva, Svenska and Inga will appreciate it, once it's done.

So far they are my best layers and I'm happy they joined my flock.

I also appreciate all the other stories I've read because it gives me more confidence in helping special needs chicks that I might have in the future!

Ingaburg (Inga) is the hen in the front by herself in this pic.

 

[K0k0shka]

I have a mildly special hen that's living with chronic wry neck. She hatched healthy and was normal for the first half a year or so of her life, at which point she got wry neck out of nowhere (there was no head injury that I could see, or any other trauma or change in behavior, so I have no idea where it came from). She would star gaze so hard that her head would flop backwards onto her back and further down until her neck was in the shape of the letter O. It was so weird, and so sudden. I gave everybody vitamins and electrolytes in their water, followed by prophylactic vitamin E and selenium in their feed, followed by personal treatment of the sick hen with daily doses of vitamin E and selenium for several weeks. I think it helped, because she's doing much better now, but it took a long time to see any visible improvements, and even now, a year after all that, the wry neck isn't completely gone. It's just mild enough that it isn't preventing her from leading a full life. She still star gazes occasionally, but it's less frequent, and not as severe - her head only points straight up, it no longer flops backwards. I'm keeping an eye on her, and have her meds on hand if it starts to get worse again. She was my least favorite hen, because she doesn't always play nice with the others (nothing serious, just unnecessary b***iness). But those several weeks of daily medications was a real bonding experience for us, because I'd take her out and give her the meds in scrambled eggs. So she thought she was a whole other kind of special And even though that was a year ago, she still follows me around and looks at me so very expectantly whenever I go in...

Here she is, at her current level of star gazing (I don't have pictures of it when it was more severe, but it was quite distressing to see):

And here she is, looking normal:

 

[Coops Dad]

I have a runt Ameracauna pullet who's 2/3 the size of her hatchmates; she honks like a goose and has "sometimes" wry tail. It twists about 60* hard right rudder when she runs. Every time.

She loves to be picked up, get neck scratches and hand fed treats. She'll walk directly under my feet until I stop and pick her up.

Her personal hygiene is awful. She doesn't preen or groom herself and she'll just as happily lay in mud as she will in dust. Her feathers are a little raggedy and she doesn't care.

As far as pecking order goes, she is apparently invisible. She eats and drinks right under the beaks of the boss hens and rooster without being disciplined.

We don't name our chickens but I refer to this one as 'that runty mess'.