jennymariegarci
Hatching
- Aug 17, 2016
- 7
- 0
- 9
I rescued Beth from the feed store when she was just a chick. Her leg was completely broken and sticking out in the wrong direction. I had a local vet do surgery on her leg. The joint fused and she was never able to use that leg. It was at least in a better position than it was before, but it was pretty much dead. I regret having the local vet do the surgery even though he saw birds regularly. After going to an Avian expert I learned so much more and they would have probably done a much better job. I found an Avian specialist 4 hours away and took her there this week because my local vet seemed uncaring and made me wait weeks to even get her in to see him. Another huge regret on my part, waiting around for him. I should have made the drive before. I just keep thinking that if I would have taken better care of her she would still be here with me today. She dislocated her knee on her good leg which is much worse than it sounds. Chickens do not have sockets like mammals, so basically even if they put it back into place it would not stay. Her tendons were damaged and painful. She now had 2 bad legs and was in pain and could only lay on her side. This happened because of overuse of her good leg. She came inside often and whenever they'd want to go in the front yard I would carry her, but this wasn't enough. Her hopping around the yard destroyed her other leg and we had to put her to sleep this morning. She was only a year and a half old and she was my favorite pet. I grew closer to her than my cats which is surprising because I've had my cats for many years. She was a beautiful gentle creature and I feel so terrible that I didn't do a better job taking care of her. We had a special bond that I will forever miss.
Now I know that I could have gotten a prosthetic leg, instead of keeping her as a 1 legged chicken. It was done recently by a school in Massachusetts and I'm sure other Avian specialists or Veterinary schools would be willing to do the same. I really wish I would have known that this was an option before. My local vet did not tell me that something like this could happen. It's so tragic that I was not informed. Another option would be making a wheelchair. Chickens can get bedsores just like humans if laying in the same spot for too long so you would need to figure out the best way to make the wheelchair and I'd recommend consulting a vet. Because of this I would first recommend trying to get a prosthetic leg. The cost of surgery was $2,500. That would have probably sounded like a lot to me back then, now I'd pay anything to have her back. If I could have given her a leg that would have been the best thing in the world for her and completely life changing. Please do not make the mistake I did. Figure out a way to relieve the pressure of hopping around on one leg. Bring them inside, get chicken diapers, do whatever it takes to prevent this irreversible injury of the other leg. Also, my other hen became extremely mean to her so keep any injured or handicap chickens away from others because they will peck them in the attempt to kill them to avoid bringing predators.
Now I know that I could have gotten a prosthetic leg, instead of keeping her as a 1 legged chicken. It was done recently by a school in Massachusetts and I'm sure other Avian specialists or Veterinary schools would be willing to do the same. I really wish I would have known that this was an option before. My local vet did not tell me that something like this could happen. It's so tragic that I was not informed. Another option would be making a wheelchair. Chickens can get bedsores just like humans if laying in the same spot for too long so you would need to figure out the best way to make the wheelchair and I'd recommend consulting a vet. Because of this I would first recommend trying to get a prosthetic leg. The cost of surgery was $2,500. That would have probably sounded like a lot to me back then, now I'd pay anything to have her back. If I could have given her a leg that would have been the best thing in the world for her and completely life changing. Please do not make the mistake I did. Figure out a way to relieve the pressure of hopping around on one leg. Bring them inside, get chicken diapers, do whatever it takes to prevent this irreversible injury of the other leg. Also, my other hen became extremely mean to her so keep any injured or handicap chickens away from others because they will peck them in the attempt to kill them to avoid bringing predators.