Hi all,
For those who know Gloria, my barred rock, who has a major stink eye glare, a stubborn attitude and is a rescued hen with a leg problem.... she recently has become really sick. Sicker than I have ever seen her before (thats saying alot, this girl has had a lot of problems throughout her life.)
To sum up her life, when she was a pullet, she was abandoned in a small pen crammed with 15 other chickens, and to this day only herself and Penny (my other blind hen who is very healthy right now) are alive from that bunch, as far as I know. A friend of ours rescued all the chickens, and brought them to her ranch, where she owns horses. From what we know, on of her feet was stepped on by a horse. It has always been twisted and had problems, from scabs, to maggots, to scaly leg mites and who knows what. She and Penny wouldn't of survived well there, with horses around, so we took them in. We have been raising them along with other special needs chickens since October of 2010. She has always, always pulled through everything life could throw at her. (If I made a list of what she has seen and gone through, it would be very long, longer than you'd want 1 special chicken like Gloria to go through.)
2 days ago, we came home to find her laying down in the water dish on a cold 40 degree day. She was chilled to the bone and shivering. We brought her in and kept her warm, and after a few hours we put her in the coop for another night with the other hens. We didn't know it was so serious, until the next morning (today) She stumbled out of the coop and yet again fell into the water dish when she tried to dip her head and drink. All day, she stayed inside with us. For the first 6 hours, it was torture for us. (Me and Gloria.) She was in a acoma, it seemed. Heavy breathing, shallow breaths, not eating or drinking, cold and shivering and not opening her eyes or moving. I thought within hours she would be gone. Those 6 hours, I was crying. Crying, because she was one of the first chickens i'd ever owned, and one of the best. Crying, because I loved her and over the past 2 years have hated to see her in pain. Crying, because (once again) i knew there was nothing i could do.
Finally, around 4 oclock today, she woke up. Eyes popped open, flapping her wings and trying to escape her box with some angry clucks and stink eye glares. We took her out onto a towel and gave her some water with apple cider vinegar. That darn chicken drank a whole cup of water, but no food. As of right now, I don't think she has eaten anything today and is refusing eggs, cut up apples, vegatables and pellets. She is in her box, wrapped up in towels with warm water bottles nestled into the blankets, and a heater blowing on her.
Just thought I would post this, so all you Gloria lovers out there can send some prayers our way. She'll need all the prayers she can get for the nest few days.
For those who know Gloria, my barred rock, who has a major stink eye glare, a stubborn attitude and is a rescued hen with a leg problem.... she recently has become really sick. Sicker than I have ever seen her before (thats saying alot, this girl has had a lot of problems throughout her life.)
To sum up her life, when she was a pullet, she was abandoned in a small pen crammed with 15 other chickens, and to this day only herself and Penny (my other blind hen who is very healthy right now) are alive from that bunch, as far as I know. A friend of ours rescued all the chickens, and brought them to her ranch, where she owns horses. From what we know, on of her feet was stepped on by a horse. It has always been twisted and had problems, from scabs, to maggots, to scaly leg mites and who knows what. She and Penny wouldn't of survived well there, with horses around, so we took them in. We have been raising them along with other special needs chickens since October of 2010. She has always, always pulled through everything life could throw at her. (If I made a list of what she has seen and gone through, it would be very long, longer than you'd want 1 special chicken like Gloria to go through.)
2 days ago, we came home to find her laying down in the water dish on a cold 40 degree day. She was chilled to the bone and shivering. We brought her in and kept her warm, and after a few hours we put her in the coop for another night with the other hens. We didn't know it was so serious, until the next morning (today) She stumbled out of the coop and yet again fell into the water dish when she tried to dip her head and drink. All day, she stayed inside with us. For the first 6 hours, it was torture for us. (Me and Gloria.) She was in a acoma, it seemed. Heavy breathing, shallow breaths, not eating or drinking, cold and shivering and not opening her eyes or moving. I thought within hours she would be gone. Those 6 hours, I was crying. Crying, because she was one of the first chickens i'd ever owned, and one of the best. Crying, because I loved her and over the past 2 years have hated to see her in pain. Crying, because (once again) i knew there was nothing i could do.
Finally, around 4 oclock today, she woke up. Eyes popped open, flapping her wings and trying to escape her box with some angry clucks and stink eye glares. We took her out onto a towel and gave her some water with apple cider vinegar. That darn chicken drank a whole cup of water, but no food. As of right now, I don't think she has eaten anything today and is refusing eggs, cut up apples, vegatables and pellets. She is in her box, wrapped up in towels with warm water bottles nestled into the blankets, and a heater blowing on her.
Just thought I would post this, so all you Gloria lovers out there can send some prayers our way. She'll need all the prayers she can get for the nest few days.
