- Apr 18, 2009
- 16
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Just wanted to share what I consider a unbelievable recovery of my 3 week old Ameraucanas (Large Marge) after a run in with my Jack Russell Terrier (Bailey).
A little background...I'm new to chickens, I have 5, three week old baby girls...2 Ameraucanas, 1 RIR, 1 Jersey Black Giant, 1 BPR. They are staying in my garage in a rabbit hutch type of deal. I live in the city and am turning part of my shed into a hen house and the dog run into a chicken run.
Yesterday morning I went out to the garage to change the chicks water and get them more feed as I do every AM. I had the front door of the cage open and the more social girls were standing just outside the cage on a chair I sit in and watch them. I didn't realize that my dog, Bailey, was already awake and when I went back into the house to get fresh water (hands full) she darted out in the garage and grabbed Large Marge. Before I could get there Bailey had shaken her like a rag doll. I just knew the results were tragic...I immediately started crying uncontrollably while holding the lifeless chick. My partner, after hearing all the commotion, ran to the garage and grabbed Marge to check her out and said, "She's still breathing!" I got ahold of myself, and we looked closely at her....she was bruised pretty bad under her right wing but not bleeding (externally anyway). She still looked pretty bad but was picking her head up some...she couldn't stand but it was obvious her neck wasn't broken. I still had thoughts of needing to put an end to her suffering as she still did not look like she was going to make it. I work with a lady that keeps chickens on her farm so I decided the best thing to do was to take her to work and see if she thought Marge had a chance or not.
All day at work yesterday, I kept her warm, and fed her honey water with a syringe a drop at a time. I kept it dark in my office and she seemed to sleep all day...as the hours ticked by, I was becoming somewhat hopeful! She ate some organic yogurt last night and was moving around a little bit. I got up several times during the night to give her some honey water and this morning, she's almost back to normal! I've got her at work with me again just to be safe, but she's walking around the "cage", eating and drinking on her own. It's still a little swollen and purple under her wing, but she doesn't seem to mind and seems to be on the road to a full recovery.
Who knew how tough these little guys can be...I'm just amazed every time I think about it! She is one of the chunkier ones (thus the name Large Marge), and that may have helped her survival.
I know she's "just a $2.40 chick" but she means WAY more to me than that, and I'm just ecstatic that she was seemingly on death's door, and bounced back like you wouldn't believe.
Brooke
Austin, TX
A little background...I'm new to chickens, I have 5, three week old baby girls...2 Ameraucanas, 1 RIR, 1 Jersey Black Giant, 1 BPR. They are staying in my garage in a rabbit hutch type of deal. I live in the city and am turning part of my shed into a hen house and the dog run into a chicken run.
Yesterday morning I went out to the garage to change the chicks water and get them more feed as I do every AM. I had the front door of the cage open and the more social girls were standing just outside the cage on a chair I sit in and watch them. I didn't realize that my dog, Bailey, was already awake and when I went back into the house to get fresh water (hands full) she darted out in the garage and grabbed Large Marge. Before I could get there Bailey had shaken her like a rag doll. I just knew the results were tragic...I immediately started crying uncontrollably while holding the lifeless chick. My partner, after hearing all the commotion, ran to the garage and grabbed Marge to check her out and said, "She's still breathing!" I got ahold of myself, and we looked closely at her....she was bruised pretty bad under her right wing but not bleeding (externally anyway). She still looked pretty bad but was picking her head up some...she couldn't stand but it was obvious her neck wasn't broken. I still had thoughts of needing to put an end to her suffering as she still did not look like she was going to make it. I work with a lady that keeps chickens on her farm so I decided the best thing to do was to take her to work and see if she thought Marge had a chance or not.
All day at work yesterday, I kept her warm, and fed her honey water with a syringe a drop at a time. I kept it dark in my office and she seemed to sleep all day...as the hours ticked by, I was becoming somewhat hopeful! She ate some organic yogurt last night and was moving around a little bit. I got up several times during the night to give her some honey water and this morning, she's almost back to normal! I've got her at work with me again just to be safe, but she's walking around the "cage", eating and drinking on her own. It's still a little swollen and purple under her wing, but she doesn't seem to mind and seems to be on the road to a full recovery.
Who knew how tough these little guys can be...I'm just amazed every time I think about it! She is one of the chunkier ones (thus the name Large Marge), and that may have helped her survival.
I know she's "just a $2.40 chick" but she means WAY more to me than that, and I'm just ecstatic that she was seemingly on death's door, and bounced back like you wouldn't believe.
Brooke
Austin, TX
