Found Chicken - Need Advice - Vet wants to amputate leg with gangrene

[stefzbiz]

Awwww Poor Rocky, who knows what he has been through in his life so far, but he found his way to you. Looks like a good fella

 

[confetticrafts]

Whew! Well, thank you all very much for your replies. I'm feeling much better about going ahead with the amputation tomorrow. It just seemed so drastic, and I was afraid I might regret going ahead with it if I found out there was a better alternative later, so I've been reading this website like crazy the past few days, trying to figure it out. Though the vet didn't explain the reasoning and I didn't think to ask about it at the time, it sounds like taking off the bone and flesh where it's damaged will give Rocky the best chance of health. It helps to have some people with knowledge of chickens giving their opinion that it's the best way to go. Thanks again!!!

Over the years, we've rescued a lot of lost, stray and injured animals -- cats, dogs, birds like mourning doves, pigeons, a sea gull, a sandhill crane, turtles, squirrels -- but never in my life did I dream a chicken would appear in our lives needing help. My son and I were doing errands Thursday near a busy highway, in the middle of businesses and deed-restricted neighborhoods (no farms), and he spots a chicken limping by the side of the road! The funny thing is we've talked about getting chickens for eggs a lot over the past year or two, but couldn't quite commit to all the preparation and logistics of caring for them; I even had the book "Living With Chickens" sitting unread on the bookshelf, thinking "Maybe someday." I guess God is trying to tell us something -- LOL! Actually, we're still not sure if we're ready for chicken ownership or may want to try to find Rocky a good home after recuperation, if possible. So, if anyone is interested, please let me know. We're in Florida, a little north of Tampa.

On the feeding issue, besides the crumbles, I'm just kind of winging it based on what we have in the fridge. Are there any common foods that are harmful to chickens, so I know not to feed those?

 

[itsy]

The crumbles would really be the best thing for him to have a balanced diet right now, but here's thetreat chart with some listings as to what not to feed. PS...chickens go crazy for mealworms.

Edited to add:

Good luck with your chicken!

 

[nurse_turtle]

Definitely gotta amputate, no doubt about it. Maybe consider a small bag of game bird starter feed, it has higher protein which may aid in healing.

 

[RhodeIslandRedFan]

Please tell us how Rocky's amputation went

 

[True Grit]

I'm glad you found Rocky. Now he has a chance. Keeping chickens is easy and rewarding so maybe you'll end up getting him some girlfriends. Good luck to you and Rocky!

 

[egglicious]

Update?

 

[Davian]

You gotta amputate there...but chickens can thankfully survive on just 1 leg so he'll probably be just fine.

Good looking Roo.

 

[chickenchick56]

Bless You for helping Rocky. Yes, He needs the surgery, as others have said. Be reassured, that he will adapt well and I hope you can keep him and enjoy him for the rest of his life. I love each and every one of my Girls and 3 boys. Good luck.

 

[confetticrafts]

Well, Rocky had surgery yesterday and did very well. Dr. Sattler said she was up only 5 minutes later, and we brought her home shortly after. It looks like she managed to keep most of the leg, which is great. I was afraid a lot of the leg had to come off due to the gangrene, but it appears that the vet was able to take off to just above the foot (unless the bandage is making the limb look a lot longer than it actually is - but I doubt it). I had forgotten to write before that the vet said a broken foot was what started all the damage. Rocky has only been standing on the one good leg since the amputation, and getting around by hopping, as far as I've seen. She seems to know the other foot is gone, and doesn't try to step with it at all, which surprised me.

The vet said Rocky appears to be a hen, since she didn't see any male parts when she averted the cloaca. We talked about changing the name, but I'm kind of used to Rocky, so I thought it could be a nickname for "Roxanne."

Rocky has had a little diarrhea, possibly due to the anesthesia or stress of surgery, or something she ate that didn't agree with her. A little got on the bandage on the stump, so I'm going to call the vet to ask if we need to change it sooner than we'd planned (at the 1-week recheck).

We're still talking about whether to commit to keeping her ourselves, or try to find a good home for her. So again if anyone in the central Florida area might be interested, please let me know. I love animals, and we'd love to have fresh eggs, but we're a bit intimidated by the extra work of caring for chickens right now. I'd read they're social animals, so we figured we should get at least another bird or two if we do keep Rocky. I'm going to do some more reading about the equipment and care required to see if we want to tackle the chicken project.

Thanks again everyone for all your helpful and supportive comments, and sharing of knowledge! This is such an awesome forum!!!!