Finding myself rescuing birds lately

[Lilbit13]

I rescued a chicken yesterday that must of fell off a chicken truck.The other five were already dead.Its eating good now,and starting to stand on own.Its body it bruised badly,its passing green watery poop that smells awful.I started it out on a thick soupy medicated feed,now it's starting to eat the mealworms mixed dry feed.Its starting to walk around slowly,but I know she must be in pain.I take baby aspirin 1/4small piece and crush it and mix with water and give with a syringe for pain.Im hopeful for this little chicken,I've read slaughter chickens don't walk,but this one is trying,and walks a little more everyday.I think it helps when I play chicken sounds with nature sounds on my phone,it seems to calm her.Am I doing the right thing,or prolonging the suffering.

 

[Kale Chips]

It sure sounds like you're doing the best under the given circumstances! Poor baby! Can we have pictures of the survivor? If she makes it that would be an amazing comeback! Im not experienced enough to have any recommendations about the bruising or gross poops, but I hope some others chime in! Best of luck!

 

[Chick-N-Fun]

Welcome to our FUNomenal community!
Kudos to you for helping that lone survivor. If you post pix of what you are dealing with, that would help! Good luck!

 

[feathermaid]

The chicken you found (if in your avatar) is likely a cornish cross, a very popular broiler variety. They are crossbred to grow exceptionally fast, faster than their bones and organs can keep up. This is usually the reason they're not very active, especially as they age, and many will not survive past a few months old before they succumb to heart failure, broken bones or other inherent problems. Some people have successfully raised this breed maybe 10 months or so, but that's with a very restricted diet and lots of exercise.

It sounds like you're doing the very best you can, but typically these birds don't make the greatest pets and they just naturally don't live very long, though they are very sweet and friendly. Do you have other birds? Giving some NutriDrench either mixed in water supply or a few drops directly in her beak could help. May be better to feed a grower or flock raiser feed.
I don't know if you are opposed to reading an article about raising meat, but this one does offer a humane perspective about the breed:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/raising-cornish-x-for-meat-–-the-truth.66015/

 

[Kullas]

From my experience I have found the birds from a commercial chicken house when kept for a longtime will develop problems walking. I think it's due to the feed they feed and how fast they grow.
After they come and catch my uncle's birds there is always some left over I tried to keep some and most of them developed problems. I now get some of them and put them in the freezer.

 

[sourland]

Welcome to BYC - at least you are giving her a chance. Can you post a picture of her ? A Cornish X will have a limited life span, but if she is a spent laying hen her life span might be significantly longer.

 

[BlueBaby]

Hello, and welcome! Good luck with the hen.

 

[SniperGoose]

My dad (who is a semi truck driver) once found a live turkey that fell out of a slaughter truck and brought it home with him one night thinking we could help it. It had a lot of open wounds, and it wouldn't have been able to ever walk anyways, given its weight. So we ended up putting him down. He said since then he's seen quite a few other turkeys that fell off of slaughter trucks on the road dead. Seems like it's not so uncommon for people to find birds that fell off of those trucks lately.
As for a chicken, I think yours might have a better shot at living. It's great that you're giving her a chance. I'm sure she's very sore, but so long as she's eating/drinking and doesn't seem to be suffering, I'd keep her. I don't really have any advice about the bruises or poos, but I do wish her the best of luck in recovering!

 

[Cynthia12]

Aww..so kind hearted. I really wish you the best with your chicken. If this chicken is the breed that grows super fast, and isn't destined to have a long life, you know that you gave it a more pleasant time here for a bit. WELCOME!!

 

[Pork Pie]

Hi and welcome to our community. Good luck with your bird.