https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/baby-with-broken-leg.1631990/page-4#post-27914245
I started the above conversation in July, when we rescued an abandoned chick in our yard that was being attacked by a hen when the chick got too close to the hen's babies. Little "Cassidy" (as in "Hopalong") survived the attack, but could only hop on one leg. She was probably a week old.
After being kept in the house for a few weeks, she began walking normally, and along the way bonded with a family member R. She'd jump up on his shoulder or head, he could hand-feed her, and when he walked out of the room, she would chirp in panic and try to find him. By the time a month had passed, she seemed to have made a full recovery.
Unfortunately, and this was our mistake, she was so adorable that we delayed putting her back outside with our other 20 free-rangers. Obviously, we were concerned about a bird that small being attacked again. And she reacted with terror whenever we tried to bring her outside. Understandable, with all the scary big birds out there.
Last month, we decided to ease her out over the course of a few days, perhaps putting her in with our alpha rooster, who has shared a very large cage with his favorite hen since she was a chick herself. He's a big, powerful bird, but also very mature and gentle around any chicks that get into the cage. Once we showed him that Cassidy was part of the family, and not an invader from another propery, we'd hoped that he and his girlfriend would accommodate her in the protected cage area.
Well, things didn't go that way. Last month, Cassidy started wanting to sit down on soft surfaces, like a felt shower pad, instead of walking around or sitting on the hardwood floor. Then she stopped jumping up to perch on our shoulders, and then couldn't even jump up on our lap when we were on the couch. When sitting down, she sometimes started sqawking in alarm for no apparent reason, and did the same when we tried to gently pick her up.
I suspect that something painful was happening. Perhaps she aggravated her old injury and it caused pain when she moved into the wrong position or we tried to pick her up. But we're not sure of anything other than that it's getting worse. She now sits on a soft bedding in the house all day and is limping (although on two legs).
We originally thought that she might have eaten something bad that she found in the house, but she's alert and has a good appetite. But she just wants to sit on something soft all day and not walk around. If we take her outside to see the other birds, she just wants to go back into the house. If we walk out of the room, she panics when she can't see us.
I wonder if her indoor diet had something to do with this. She gets a mixture of several good quality chicken feeds, live meal worms, fresh fruit, nuts, and canned corn. One of the feeds has some grit, but I don't know if she gets enough. I put a tray of grass out for her, but she only picked at it. I wonder if something in her diet is wrong, since she hasn't been eating outside for most of her life.
There are no vets anywhere near us who seem to know anything about birds. So we're on our own. I just want to be able to get her outside, where she can interact with other birds and get a more natural diet. But until we know that she can survive out there, we'll have to keep her inside.
Anybody have any suggestions? She's an adorable little thing (not so little! She's now starting to get her grown-up voice) but are running out of ideas. Not sure if posting a photograph would help b/c she looks like a normal pullet in every way except for her limping and behavior.
D
I started the above conversation in July, when we rescued an abandoned chick in our yard that was being attacked by a hen when the chick got too close to the hen's babies. Little "Cassidy" (as in "Hopalong") survived the attack, but could only hop on one leg. She was probably a week old.
After being kept in the house for a few weeks, she began walking normally, and along the way bonded with a family member R. She'd jump up on his shoulder or head, he could hand-feed her, and when he walked out of the room, she would chirp in panic and try to find him. By the time a month had passed, she seemed to have made a full recovery.
Unfortunately, and this was our mistake, she was so adorable that we delayed putting her back outside with our other 20 free-rangers. Obviously, we were concerned about a bird that small being attacked again. And she reacted with terror whenever we tried to bring her outside. Understandable, with all the scary big birds out there.
Last month, we decided to ease her out over the course of a few days, perhaps putting her in with our alpha rooster, who has shared a very large cage with his favorite hen since she was a chick herself. He's a big, powerful bird, but also very mature and gentle around any chicks that get into the cage. Once we showed him that Cassidy was part of the family, and not an invader from another propery, we'd hoped that he and his girlfriend would accommodate her in the protected cage area.
Well, things didn't go that way. Last month, Cassidy started wanting to sit down on soft surfaces, like a felt shower pad, instead of walking around or sitting on the hardwood floor. Then she stopped jumping up to perch on our shoulders, and then couldn't even jump up on our lap when we were on the couch. When sitting down, she sometimes started sqawking in alarm for no apparent reason, and did the same when we tried to gently pick her up.
I suspect that something painful was happening. Perhaps she aggravated her old injury and it caused pain when she moved into the wrong position or we tried to pick her up. But we're not sure of anything other than that it's getting worse. She now sits on a soft bedding in the house all day and is limping (although on two legs).
We originally thought that she might have eaten something bad that she found in the house, but she's alert and has a good appetite. But she just wants to sit on something soft all day and not walk around. If we take her outside to see the other birds, she just wants to go back into the house. If we walk out of the room, she panics when she can't see us.
I wonder if her indoor diet had something to do with this. She gets a mixture of several good quality chicken feeds, live meal worms, fresh fruit, nuts, and canned corn. One of the feeds has some grit, but I don't know if she gets enough. I put a tray of grass out for her, but she only picked at it. I wonder if something in her diet is wrong, since she hasn't been eating outside for most of her life.
There are no vets anywhere near us who seem to know anything about birds. So we're on our own. I just want to be able to get her outside, where she can interact with other birds and get a more natural diet. But until we know that she can survive out there, we'll have to keep her inside.
Anybody have any suggestions? She's an adorable little thing (not so little! She's now starting to get her grown-up voice) but are running out of ideas. Not sure if posting a photograph would help b/c she looks like a normal pullet in every way except for her limping and behavior.
D
