Just amputated a chicken leg

[TundraFang]

So last night i was at a farm helping out with some horses when I noticed a little cockerel sleeping nearby. As I got near him he tried to run away but his leg was dragging behind him. I caught him and they gave him to me for free. His leg was infected so I drained it and wrapped it. This morning I checked on him and the leg had turned completely green and smelled awful. I read some articles on leg amputation in chickens and many chickens have survived leg amputations and lived normally. I decided to try and save him.

 

[TundraFang]

I sterilized some wire cutters and set up a work station. I don't have painkillers or anesthetic so I had two family members helping me hold him. I wrapped the chicken's upper half and good leg in a towel and had paper towels ready to stop the bleeding. I crushed the ball part of the femur and popped it out of the hip and in one clean cut it was gone. I applied pressure and the bleeding stopped fairly quickly. I had plenty of skin to sew the wound closed and he was able to stand an hour after surgery.

 

[TundraFang]

Pixar is doing amazing! He's running around with the other chicks and it's becoming harder and harder to keep him in the brooder run. His incision is looking awesome and the feathers are growing back.

His face is starting to get redder and his waddles are growing so I'm still leaning towards cockerel.

I'm hoping he'll be able to mate with the hens when he's older. He's not very friendly but that's understandable considering I did cut his leg off I think I'll graduate him to the bigger coop in about a month. I'm not sure if anyone is still watching this but I'll keep updating as he grows!

 

[TundraFang]

I'm here to report that Pixar was part of the great chick escape this morning! I have some boards as a removable roof for the coop and I set them against the fence to clean it. Apparently they looked like a fun perch so they all started flying up onto it and Pixar was the first to fly down to the other side. Five or six others followed and my ducks were very confused with the visitors. Luckily they were able to fly back in by themselves so I didn't have to rescue them. Now I need to make the fence higher or make a top for them because they've been flying in and out all day!

 

[TundraFang]

How has little Pixar been?

She's been doing great! I've moved her to the adult coop and she has no trouble at all pushing the others around and getting food. I'd guess she's somewhere in the middle of the pecking order but seems to still be climbing. My Bantam Cochin, Mr. Puffy Britches, has been trying to escort her around the yard. He even gets in the nesting boxes and calls her. She's still young and doesn't seem very interested in the boys yet but I'm secretly rooting for Puffy. She comes when I call her and follows me around the coop but she doesn't like to be picked up. She's gotten a lot bigger and I suspect she didn't have much to eat at her old home because she can get pretty food agressive. It's pretty funny to see a tiny one-legged pullet chasing the full grown chooks. I don't have any recent pictures but I'll take some later today. Here's an older picture of her snuggled up with Chai

 

[Aunt Angus]

If it's a pullet, I vote for "Ilene."

 

[TundraFang]

Do you have any new pics of her?

X2. I’d love full body pics to confirm.

 

[TundraFang]

Here's Pixar hopping around! It was pretty chilly today so he/she was a bit reluctant to move but Pixar is actually really fast.

 

[My Three Chicks]

I wasn't suggesting you should be banned for having a different opinion, I was suggesting you should be banned for animal cruelty.

I wouldn't define what TundraFang did as cruelty. I think when trying to save a life, there is sometimes additional pain inflicted in the process. Her intent was not to hurt the chicken. But to save it. This is just my opinion. And everyone is entitled to their own. I think she exhibited bravery and decisiveness in order to give the chicken a chance.

 

[TundraFang]

He took a few hops and drank some water so I wrapped him into a chicken-burrito and he's been steadily drinking and eating all morning. I'm going to try to keep him off his good leg for a while so he doesn't reopen the wound. I've given him some nutri-drench in his water and fed him some mash.