Matilda is going to lose her feet. :(

[Chicalina]

Will she be able to raise and protect chicks while still learning to walk on stumps? I would honestly think twice about putting that burden on her, or the risk on the chicks. She will also lose weight and condition while brooding, which doesn't seem fair after what she has just been through.

I'm sure she would be much happier with you focusing on her being a therapy chicken.

Broodiness is just hormones. She doesn't need to hatch eggs to live a full life.

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

Will she be able to raise and protect chicks while still learning to walk on stumps? I would honestly think twice about putting that burden on her, or the risk on the chicks. She will also lose weight and condition while brooding, which doesn't seem fair after what she has just been through.

I'm sure she would be much happier with you focusing on her being a therapy chicken.

Broodiness is just hormones. She doesn't need to hatch eggs to live a full life.

You made some very good points. I actually think she and her chicks would do fine. My broody pens are separate enclosures fully wrapped in 1/2 hardware cloth, so no need to protect the chicks nor walk/hobble very far.

Although I am fine helping Her raise chicks, allowing two other broodies to incubate eggs to share with her seems like more than i want to deal with this year. The extended february freeze followed by nearly daily spring rains & resulting mud has taken a huge physical toll on Me! (Also got bombed by golfball size hail last month. 2021 weather has been rough.)

Anyway, shes not quite actively brooding yet, because she laid another egg yesterday. That meant she had 3 eggs, since i left her 2 from last week. This morn i decided the idea of chicks for Matilda this year is just not in the cards. So I took all 3 eggs away from her. She immediately started bawawking, pacing and carrying on. So I gave the eggs back and she quietened down. Geez.

 

[pennyJo1960]

You could buy a few ceramic and give those to her ..
she just is not up to brooding in my limited view

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

You could buy a few ceramic and give those to her ..
she just is not up to brooding in my limited view

Since you make two votes that chicks are not a good idea at this time, im going to defer to yalls Objective wisdom and pull her eggs again. (No ceramic eggs either, since that wouldnt break her broody hormones). Shes not gonna be happy.

Btw her right stump continues to heal well. The "scab" on top of pad looks similiar to last week but has diminished in size. Been 3 weeks today since top of foot and toes came off, & has healed much faster than i expected. Not planning to post photos this week since no obvious change from last week. Just continued slow and steady healing.

 

[pennyJo1960]

Wow ya guess if she can ever resume her life with her coop mates then I would say let her brood

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

Wow ya guess if she can ever resume her life with her coop mates then I would say let her brood

I dont ever expect her to resume full life with her former flock since she cant roost. Her flock of older hens is much too large to have a formal pecking order, but i dont yet know if/how they will react to her disability when she is outside during the day. They wont notice anything unusual when she is resting on the ground, since she appears to be sunning or dust-bathing. It Could be an issue when she moves. When she was out with her friend the "big red hen", Matilda flapped her wings to help propel herself forward. I noticed the wide-eyed alarm/surprise in her friend's eyes. The red hen clearly knew something wasnt right with Matilda, but didnt understand the problem.

I wasnt able to get Matilda outside this past weekend after all, since a Not in-the-forecast thunderstorm rumbled thru saturday morn. So Still too wet and muddy to risk infection to the healing stump. Going outside will definitely help break her broody hormones.

And yes, i think raising some chicks will eventually give her something good to focus on. But since i dont want chicks this year, i appreciate you and @Chicalina saying it would probably be premature anyway. What i Do know is baby chicks wont care if Matilda has no feet. She will simply be their "mommy".

 

[pennyJo1960]

So cannot visit them ? I know you said she will be in her basket most her life now.. Oh this year may be too soon
very right.

Real hard squall came through here today may have passed here now

 

[Chicalina]

I think you are being very sensible and putting Matilda first, even though she may not appreciate it!

I strongly suspect she has gone broody from all that time sitting on her belly while her feet fell off and then healed. He undercarriage has been cosy and warm on bedding in the basket and not cool on a roost, so it was only a matter of time before her hormones kicked in. But it's only hormones, not emotions as such. She will get over it.

Matilda is truly amazing, when you think about it. The pain and trauma she has gone through, and yet she still wants to live and do chickeny things, and lay and brood. She is a chicken superstar!

Her situation hasn't been for very long, and she hasn't got used to her new legs yet, or settled into her new life, whatever that is going to look like. I would just take each day as it comes, see if you can reintegrate her back into the flock. even if she sleeps on the floor of the coop or in a nesting box, or if you have to create a miniflock to be her new family, I think she will benefit from chicken company massively.

Maybe next year you can reassess how she is coping, and if adding in chicks will help or cause her too many difficulties. She is really still in the rehab stage after injury right now.

Do keep updating this thread as I'm sure I'm not the only one who wants to know how she is getting on.

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

So cannot visit them ? I know you said she will be in her basket most her life now.. Oh this year may be too soon
very right.

Real hard squall came through here today may have passed here now

She will be soon be able to spend summer morns outside, & ensuing mild days too after foot finishes healing. (As long as temp is not too extremely cold nor hot. I have learned since her injury that once an animal (chicken, human or otherwise) suffers severe frostbite, they are from then on much more sensitive to temperature extremes). I plan to bring her inside my house to sleep in her "basket coop" at night since she cant roost.

At least the preceding are my hopes and plans. While Matilda was calm and content the past 4 months as her injuries healed, long term, life in a basket isnt much of a quality life. Even if she can no longer scratch and hunt for bugs, she can still enjoy sunshine, laying in dirt, and friends! If she gets bullied, i will figure something out where she can still be outside.

 

[Chicalina]

we cross posted!