When I went to Tractor Farm Supply to get my first chicks, Lady was one of the first ones I picked. She was fluffy, yellow, and sitting sweetly in the chick pen. I got her and her sisters home, and put them in their new home. As the weeks went by, she started acting strange. She didn't move around, and just sat quietly by herself. I really thought that she was going to die. But amazingly, she didn't. We realized that she was having a hard time walking, but we couldn't see anything physically wrong with her. So we just let her be, and made sure she always had food and water close by. As she got older, she ate more, and moved less. She got fatter, and then we saw it. Both of her legs were severely bowed. The other chickens started picking on her, but she always made that daily struggle to the food and water dishes.
I finally had to separate her from the other chickens, because they constantly were beating her up, the rooster never let her be, and she could get out of the elevated coop by herself. So, she stayed in her new pen, quiet and satisfied. She learned how to use her wings to help herself move around. But I was always waiting for the day I would go out and find her dead, because if something got in her pen, or if even another chicken got in the pen, I was sure it would kill her. And she wouldn't be able to get away.
I have an odd-ball chicken. Biddy. She honestly believes she is a rooster. She has started attacking the other hens to get them away from the rooster, and she is even starting to attack the rooster. Today, Biddy accidentally got into Lady's pen while I wasn't home. I went out this evening to check on the chickens, and I found Biddy and Lady happily cuddled up together under Lady's heat lamp. I put their feed out, and Lady hobbled over to it with Biddy by her side. But Biddy didn't eat. Being the rooster she thinks she is, she stood by Lady's side, "growling" and watching me to make sure I didn't come too close.
I think Biddy is happy to have a Hen to herself, and I think Lady enjoys the company. And to be honest, I think Biddy would protect Lady if anything were to happen.
So now my two little odd hens are cuddled up under their heat-lamp, happy to be together away from all the others. I'm going to be keeping a close eye on them, of course. But as long as they get along and behave themselves, I say let them be.
I finally had to separate her from the other chickens, because they constantly were beating her up, the rooster never let her be, and she could get out of the elevated coop by herself. So, she stayed in her new pen, quiet and satisfied. She learned how to use her wings to help herself move around. But I was always waiting for the day I would go out and find her dead, because if something got in her pen, or if even another chicken got in the pen, I was sure it would kill her. And she wouldn't be able to get away.
I have an odd-ball chicken. Biddy. She honestly believes she is a rooster. She has started attacking the other hens to get them away from the rooster, and she is even starting to attack the rooster. Today, Biddy accidentally got into Lady's pen while I wasn't home. I went out this evening to check on the chickens, and I found Biddy and Lady happily cuddled up together under Lady's heat lamp. I put their feed out, and Lady hobbled over to it with Biddy by her side. But Biddy didn't eat. Being the rooster she thinks she is, she stood by Lady's side, "growling" and watching me to make sure I didn't come too close.
I think Biddy is happy to have a Hen to herself, and I think Lady enjoys the company. And to be honest, I think Biddy would protect Lady if anything were to happen.
So now my two little odd hens are cuddled up under their heat-lamp, happy to be together away from all the others. I'm going to be keeping a close eye on them, of course. But as long as they get along and behave themselves, I say let them be.
