cgalarraga
Hatching
- Jul 10, 2023
- 1
- 0
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Hi all -- I have a flock of 13 hens at a half-acre school garden in New York City. A few of our girl are as old as nine, and some are as old as three.
One of our 9yo old chickens is a barred rock who has had trouble walking for the past few months. It used to be that she could keep up still with the others, but now she is very slow. Walking looks like it pains her, and she spends most of the time sitting down. She is still eating and drinking, amazingly (and even up until a month ago was laying eggs!). Her weight is pretty good, too -- not light like other chickens before they died.
She has been separated from the other hens for about a month in a separate, predator-proof enclosure because the other hens started ganging up on her, leaving a pencil-eraser-sized hole in the top of her head. I treated the wound and she recovered, but they did it again once I reintegrated her with the regular flock. The wound has healed again and her feathers are coming in. My concern is that she is never going to be able to fight back against them, and that they will keep doing this, which is why she is separated for now. The other hens range almost every day for a few hours, so I'm not concerned that they aren't getting enough time outside.
I have wondered if it's arthritis, something else, or if there are any supplements to maybe help her, but I am worried that this is just old age for her. If you were in my position, would you keep her separate for the rest of her days, or would you euthanize her to end her suffering? I'm attaching a link to a video, which will hopefully work, so you can see what she looks like. And, if you were to euthanize her, how would you recommend going about it, for someone who has never done it?
Thanks for listening, and for the help.
One of our 9yo old chickens is a barred rock who has had trouble walking for the past few months. It used to be that she could keep up still with the others, but now she is very slow. Walking looks like it pains her, and she spends most of the time sitting down. She is still eating and drinking, amazingly (and even up until a month ago was laying eggs!). Her weight is pretty good, too -- not light like other chickens before they died.
She has been separated from the other hens for about a month in a separate, predator-proof enclosure because the other hens started ganging up on her, leaving a pencil-eraser-sized hole in the top of her head. I treated the wound and she recovered, but they did it again once I reintegrated her with the regular flock. The wound has healed again and her feathers are coming in. My concern is that she is never going to be able to fight back against them, and that they will keep doing this, which is why she is separated for now. The other hens range almost every day for a few hours, so I'm not concerned that they aren't getting enough time outside.
I have wondered if it's arthritis, something else, or if there are any supplements to maybe help her, but I am worried that this is just old age for her. If you were in my position, would you keep her separate for the rest of her days, or would you euthanize her to end her suffering? I'm attaching a link to a video, which will hopefully work, so you can see what she looks like. And, if you were to euthanize her, how would you recommend going about it, for someone who has never done it?
Thanks for listening, and for the help.