How about a new thread for those of us in wheelchairs?

[silkies08]

Hi I see you are online I hope my sites are an interest for you, and my comments on scooters. Buying a vehicle large enough to be able to load an intact medium scooter into it is a no no, if you are on only the pension as they cost too much to run and are too big an cumbersome for the disabled person to drive about in town centres. There is enough room for two portable scooters and my shopping in my Daewoo car. Two medium scooters would fit with assistance of the second person, as it would take longer to manoeuvre two large scooters into a small car. As far as a chicken coop goes, when I used to breed the birds I had a super cheap carport frame with a canvas roof over it, and cages up at waist height to keep the growing chicks in. Every thing was automatic the water, ceramic heaters and feeders, and I used diamond cut shredded news paper for litter. With a medium size scooter for riding into town with and a portable one that I leave in my car for instant use, when I am in a hurry or the weather is not good or I need to buy more than the big scooter can carry in one trip, and one just for doing my gardening and chicken work on. I don't need to use public transport which like you say has no means for wheel chair use within. Here in Alice Springs the government pays Taxi Drivers reasonable fee on top of the fare to pick up wheel chairs and scooters for transport. But the poor taxpayer has to foot the bill for the service in the long run, so I don't use it, unless my car is out of action We have a lot of taxi vans here with lifting plates on the back and they lift you sitting on the scooter into the van. Don't take notice of people who say if you get a wheel chair you wont be able to walk at all after a while! The gentle bouncing you get from a good ride into town on a comfortable scooter is very up lifting and health giving and will change your whole outlook on life again for you. A ride on a scooter will blow out the cobwebs just as well as a long walk would, if you could go for a long walk that is, and you don't damage your frame in the process. The Americans proved in trials years ago when mini trampoline first came out for use, that just gently bouncing a non walking patient on a trampoline 20 mins a day gave the health benefits of a walk. I can certainly feel the difference a good ride into town, makes when I am feeling Off,

 

[LadyCedar]

I find what you share both interesting and uplifting....I lost the use of my scooter a couple weeks ago....and life became a nightmare....stuck in the house, couldn't even get to our coops. Friends are fund raising to get a ramp on my house, so I can qualify for a newer scooter.
My old beat-up scooter has a seized seat, so we cannot access the batteries anymore, and the seat cannot support my back and neck anymore. I ran over a 2" diameter, 8" high sapling stump, and it ripped a wire off. We found it when a family member flipped the scooter over to see if the stump had done any damage. Wire is patched....but really need the new scooter. We plan to put "skid plates" underneath to protect the power system on the next one. Hoping once we get the ramp on, and I qualify for the assistance to get a newer scooter that they make a scooter with a "taller" stance or at least bigger tires with a more aggressive tread to get around the farm as well as the house.

 

[Blooie]

I use a walker intermittently, depending on how bad the hips and legs are on the day, but I still have the ability to do my chicken chores without adaptation so far. We planned a couple of things for when the time comes to need more changes but they are minor and nothing like some of the ideas I've read here. My people door into the run is wider, and the run itself is a hoop coop. The coop and run are closer to the house than we originally planned to make it easier for me in winter because of the way the property is laid out. Hubby Ken thought it just made good sense. It did, too, until 3 of our pullets turned out to be roosters and the coop is only 15 feet from my bedroom window. <groan>

But the real reason I'd like to join the ranks is for my 2 1/2 year old granddaughter, Kendra. She was born with Spina Bifida and was the youngest patient Denver Children's Hospital ever fitted for a wheelchair. She was just 9 months old in this picture, her first week in the chair and she loved it:


This is Kendra now, learning to use her gait trainer:

She still uses the wheelchair more than the gait trainer, simply because of the learning curve, and the gait trainer is virtually useless in grass or dirt. She does crawl, and has even learned to pull herself up and stand for a few minutes, but her main method of mobility is and will always be her chair. Her big sister, 8 year old Katie, and cousin 9 year old Evan, come over and care for the chickens and they love it. Kendra wants so much to get out there closer, but there a couple of issues. First of all, her chair doesn't have the outer metal push wheel - she has to move it by actually manipulating the tires. That means her hands are constantly touching whatever her wheels have picked up. Yuck, especially near the coop and run. So she sits on the deck, either in her pack 'n play or her wheelchair and watches the other kids with the chickens. She points and says "Chicken! Chicken!" but in order for her to see them we have to carry her. She's now a whopping 37 pounds, so that's not easy for any length of time. She also has to have her braces (AFOs) on 20 hours a day, and getting them yucky is not an option. It should be easy, though, to slip a pair of rubber boots over them when she starts walking a little bit so she can go out there on her own legs, with support of course. But that's a long way off yet.

In the meantime, I guess what I'd like to figure out is a way to cover the tires with something and push her out there so she could get closer like Katie and Evan. We even thought of batting gloves for her hands, but they don't make them small enough. So maybe we can put our heads together here and devise something that would make her feel more like part of the action....

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

Cute kid... A second chair sounds like a better option than covering tires... A powerwheels Jeep would be a good option to.

 

[Blooie]

Thanks, Rebel, for the quick response! We had no end of trouble just getting the gait trainer covered - the insurance company felt that they'd paid for her wheelchair so they'd covered her mobility needs and weren't covering the gait trainer. They denied us both on the first application and then on appeal. (Her first baby chair was a loaner from Children's). So I doubt very seriously if we could afford a second chair. And that still wouldn't solve the problem of her hands touching the wheels - they don't make pediatric wheelchairs with the outer push wheel because children's arms aren't long enough to extend out that far. So whether it's her present chair or a second chair that issue would still exist. With her small size she has to be fitted to her wheelchair and have it built for her. They explained to us that that's critical because of tethering in her back.

I could look into the Powerwheels jeep, though. Is that the one that is found in the toy stores or is it an actual pediatric medical mobility device? If it's like the one I'm thinking about, that is operated with her hands. I'm afraid I'm coming across as a little dense, but this is all new to us yet and we just learn as we go along.

 

[perchie.girl]

Hi everyone.... I just finished reading after following Blooie over....

And Hi Drumstick....VBG

I am using a bariactric walker at this time.... I can walk about a little but If I need to really go anywhere I need support. And a place to sit when I get there. The nice part about this walker is I can stack two fifty pound bags of feed in the seat and motor on over to where I need to have it.

for what its what I am a retired manufacturing engineer. A gear head not a sparky...

Blooie the Power wheels is a small driveable kids vehicle they are powered by a small battery and they go about one or two miles per hour. Shes going to grow out of it pretty quickly.... BUT you can get them on Craigslist pretty inexpensively and you can resell them for what you pay. They are about 400 bucks new but you can get them for under a hundred on Craigslist.

San Diego Power Wheels listings

With regard to using her wheel chair How about making her some simple chicken mittens just for Poopie travel.... Leather or a canvas in the palm and fabric on the outside. And some wet wipes for the wheels when shes done. Hand sanitizer should always be used when Kids are involved with chickens anyway

Also Putting in pavers for a walk way to fit her chair may help. I use them in the areas of the coop where I need a level surface.

deb

 

[subhanalah]

This is a really cool thread!
I hope I find the time to read all of it!
Hey guys and gals!

 

[perchie.girl]

Happy to help. I guess I should point out where you find 3 inch flex pipe to hook to the PVC so you can vacuum stuff up... Its at walmart in the automotive section directly under the MotorHome toilet paper...


http://www.walmart.com/ip/Camco-10-Heavy-Duty-Sewer-Hose/14504316

Here is something I want to do for transporting feed to feed bins off the truck. I have to work alone and when I have my chicken flock rebuilt I will be having at least a hundred. The following is a diagram intro for a video on using a leaf blower to fill a deer feeder very high up.

When i use bedding for my coop I use Rice hulls. Rice hulls do not compact under their own weight they are incredibly easy to work with. Rice hulls would be transportable with such a device.

deb

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

Here is something I want to do for transporting feed to feed bins off the truck. I have to work alone and when I have my chicken flock rebuilt I will be having at least a hundred. The following is a diagram intro for a video on using a leaf blower to fill a deer feeder very high up.

When i use bedding for my coop I use Rice hulls. Rice hulls do not compact under their own weight they are incredibly easy to work with. Rice hulls would be transportable with such a device.

deb

Yep thats pretty much what I want to do to move feed an bedding. I was working with a vacuum but now I know it can be done with a blower...

 

[Blooie]

Hi everyone.... I just finished reading after following Blooie over....

And Hi Drumstick....VBG

I am using a bariactric walker at this time.... I can walk about a little but If I need to really go anywhere I need support. And a place to sit when I get there. The nice part about this walker is I can stack two fifty pound bags of feed in the seat and motor on over to where I need to have it.

for what its what I am a retired manufacturing engineer. A gear head not a sparky...

Blooie the Power wheels is a small driveable kids vehicle they are powered by a small battery and they go about one or two miles per hour. Shes going to grow out of it pretty quickly.... BUT you can get them on Craigslist pretty inexpensively and you can resell them for what you pay. They are about 400 bucks new but you can get them for under a hundred on Craigslist.

San Diego Power Wheels listings

With regard to using her wheel chair How about making her some simple chicken mittens just for Poopie travel.... Leather or a canvas in the palm and fabric on the outside. And some wet wipes for the wheels when shes done. Hand sanitizer should always be used when Kids are involved with chickens anyway

Also Putting in pavers for a walk way to fit her chair may help. I use them in the areas of the coop where I need a level surface.

deb

Hi Deb!!

As you know I'm absolutely rigid about sanitation - I was a germaphobe even before we got the chickens. In fact, when my daughter Tam found out I'd ordered chicks and would be brooding them in the house her first response was, "You're serious? YOU??" Um, yep, me! So Katie has her own pair of coop boots and when Evan gets back from spending the summer with his dad he'll get his. They aren't permitted past the back sidewalk without them on - that area marks the "chicken border". Before the special shoes they had to tie plastic garbage bags on their feet. And they wash, wash, wash when they come in. It's not only common sense, but in our situation Kendra is on the floor so much, crawling and playing, and what gets on feet in the coop will end up on the carpet if they forget to change shoes.

I thought about making her mittens for the chair, but didn't think about using canvas or leather for the palms. Brilliant! And I will be looking into the motorized car that Rebel and you suggested. The only concern I have there is folding her into it. It's hard now to even get her into the kiddie carrier part of a shopping cart....her braces get in the way and she doesn't bend her legs quite right. It usually takes two of us - one to hold her above the seat and the other to manipulate her legs into the leg openings of the cart. But the motorized car would be easier because it's lower and there isn't a separate opening for each leg to deal with. I'm excited about that possibility. Wouldn't need to be a Jeep - I would think even a Barbie car or something similar would work!

We planned to put in a walkway to the coop already. Pavers won't work so it will have to be a smooth sidewalk. The gaps between the pavers, even if they're packed in with sand, would be a real bumpy ride, and the tires could get hung up. Sometimes when Jenny puts Kendra in the chair to walk up to the Post Office even the bump at the wheelchair access points between the street and the sidewalk give Kendra trouble, and will until her upper body strength is better. They act more like speed bumps than wheelchair access.

I'm intrigued by the design for moving feed and bedding. Hope you guys plan to pursue that! It could help so many people! This entire thread is going to be inspiring!