Freedom Ranger pullet, 9 weeks old, planned for slaughter for the freezer in 3 weeks
Three days ago I noticed she hadn’t moved from sitting in the doorway for the entire day. Other chicks were literally walking on her. I picked her up, and she could not stand. I put her in a wire dog crate (no tray in the bottom so she could peck at the grass if she wanted) with some food and water and she eagerly began eating and drinking. The next day I noticed she still had not moved, so I picked her up and moved her out of a pile of poop that had accumulated, which all looked normal. She still wouldn’t stand, so I settled her down again in a clean spot with food and water still right in front of her so she could reach.
Yesterday was exactly the same, I moved her to a clean spot in the crate. Today I decided to move the crate itself to a clean spot. When I picked her up to check her legs today, I saw maggots all over her vent. I’m very squeamish, but I didn’t drop her. I asked my husband to help me inspect and clean her (he is less squeamish) when he gets home from work today.
She is alert, doesn’t make noise, and seems to have a good appetite and a well-functioning digestive system. Her vent is messy because she can’t move out of the poop as she excretes it. The other birds all have been moving around just fine. They roost at night, and roam the yard during the day.
When my husband got home, we gave her a bath in warm water from the hose that sat in the sun all day. We wore surgical gloves for this. Literally thousands of maggots washed off of her. We needed two baths to do that. After the second bath, the warm water ran out and we had to use cold water to continue washing her up. My husband then used the hose to wash off as many maggots and maggot eggs as we could. Then my hero started handpicking them off of her. Some seemed to be digging right into her flesh. Right below her vent it was very hard to even discern her flesh from the rest of the poop/maggot/egg/wet feather mess. She was a very good sport about all this. She only squawked when she ended up in yoga poses as we cleaned mats of eggs out of her armpits and such. After probably half an hour of cleaning, my husband said she needed a break, so we wrapped her in a towel and I held her while he power washed the dog crate and moved it. We put her back in (still wrapped in the towel) with some food and water and we will go back out and do some more later. She wasn’t interested this time in eating or drinking. I think she was exhausted. We could not see any visible injuries on her legs (or anywhere else besides her vent), so I still don't know why she is lame. My husband suggested she might have survived a rat attack, but her skin was all intact. Maybe she sprained an ankle?
The meat chicks share a free-range yard with our layer flock for a total of 11 hens, 1 rooster, 17 chicks (down from 31 due to predators) and goats (2 does, 4 kids). Their coop isn’t exactly secure as I hadn’t intended for them to live where they are, but we are struggling with a rat problem and the original coop isn’t safe for them. I built a raised coop for the layers, and the chicks moved into the “downstairs”, whose sides are partly boarded to keep the goats out. There is no ramp to the “upstairs” yet, and when they moved outside, they weren’t yet big enough to fly up to the upstairs. This temporary situation has lasted way longer than I meant it to (about a month so far). The birds all come and go as they please, and I just count them at night. Our yard has a perimeter fence made from 4’ goat fencing (4”x4” hinged woven wire). The local feed store ran out of chick starter, so I had to switch them to layer mash for a couple weeks.
My goal is to determine if she can recover before slaughter day in 3 weeks (early July), and if so, to do so on our own. If not, will it be safe to slaughter and eat her? She was always destined for the freezer, so it doesn’t make sense to spend money on vet bills or medication, but I do have a variety of first aid supplies and such on hand. What can we do?
Three days ago I noticed she hadn’t moved from sitting in the doorway for the entire day. Other chicks were literally walking on her. I picked her up, and she could not stand. I put her in a wire dog crate (no tray in the bottom so she could peck at the grass if she wanted) with some food and water and she eagerly began eating and drinking. The next day I noticed she still had not moved, so I picked her up and moved her out of a pile of poop that had accumulated, which all looked normal. She still wouldn’t stand, so I settled her down again in a clean spot with food and water still right in front of her so she could reach.
Yesterday was exactly the same, I moved her to a clean spot in the crate. Today I decided to move the crate itself to a clean spot. When I picked her up to check her legs today, I saw maggots all over her vent. I’m very squeamish, but I didn’t drop her. I asked my husband to help me inspect and clean her (he is less squeamish) when he gets home from work today.
She is alert, doesn’t make noise, and seems to have a good appetite and a well-functioning digestive system. Her vent is messy because she can’t move out of the poop as she excretes it. The other birds all have been moving around just fine. They roost at night, and roam the yard during the day.
When my husband got home, we gave her a bath in warm water from the hose that sat in the sun all day. We wore surgical gloves for this. Literally thousands of maggots washed off of her. We needed two baths to do that. After the second bath, the warm water ran out and we had to use cold water to continue washing her up. My husband then used the hose to wash off as many maggots and maggot eggs as we could. Then my hero started handpicking them off of her. Some seemed to be digging right into her flesh. Right below her vent it was very hard to even discern her flesh from the rest of the poop/maggot/egg/wet feather mess. She was a very good sport about all this. She only squawked when she ended up in yoga poses as we cleaned mats of eggs out of her armpits and such. After probably half an hour of cleaning, my husband said she needed a break, so we wrapped her in a towel and I held her while he power washed the dog crate and moved it. We put her back in (still wrapped in the towel) with some food and water and we will go back out and do some more later. She wasn’t interested this time in eating or drinking. I think she was exhausted. We could not see any visible injuries on her legs (or anywhere else besides her vent), so I still don't know why she is lame. My husband suggested she might have survived a rat attack, but her skin was all intact. Maybe she sprained an ankle?
The meat chicks share a free-range yard with our layer flock for a total of 11 hens, 1 rooster, 17 chicks (down from 31 due to predators) and goats (2 does, 4 kids). Their coop isn’t exactly secure as I hadn’t intended for them to live where they are, but we are struggling with a rat problem and the original coop isn’t safe for them. I built a raised coop for the layers, and the chicks moved into the “downstairs”, whose sides are partly boarded to keep the goats out. There is no ramp to the “upstairs” yet, and when they moved outside, they weren’t yet big enough to fly up to the upstairs. This temporary situation has lasted way longer than I meant it to (about a month so far). The birds all come and go as they please, and I just count them at night. Our yard has a perimeter fence made from 4’ goat fencing (4”x4” hinged woven wire). The local feed store ran out of chick starter, so I had to switch them to layer mash for a couple weeks.
My goal is to determine if she can recover before slaughter day in 3 weeks (early July), and if so, to do so on our own. If not, will it be safe to slaughter and eat her? She was always destined for the freezer, so it doesn’t make sense to spend money on vet bills or medication, but I do have a variety of first aid supplies and such on hand. What can we do?
you should end it's suffering
