wellwornsoles
In the Brooder
- May 9, 2016
- 4
- 0
- 15
Okay, so on Sunday morning I went to check on our 3 Rhode Island Reds that we got from Rural King. It was their 1st...or 2nd?.... night outside in the hen house over night. Two of then chicks were lively and happy to see us (kind of, they're still getting used to us) but the third chick was just sitting.
We brought her/him in and, after inspecting the chick which I have now named Ruby,I noticed that her feet were swollen. We researched and researched and decided that is was probably gout. It wasn't bumble foot and it was any other contagious disease - all of our other hens are great.
She was looking rather bad and nodding off like she wasn't going to make it. I sat with her a while wrapped in a towel so she didn't get too cold. She slept in my bathroom overnight with a light and she seemed fine. She could not walk but if I put her close enough to the water and food she would eat and drink a lot. Around Wednesday I noticed that she was started to be a little more mobile but only with the left foot, using her right wing to pus herself a bit. ON SUNDAY, We gave Ruby some feed and added some kale and slithered carrots topped with some coconut oil and gave her (extremely) diluted apple cider vinegar water with a capsule of b12. That is what she's been eating for the week, too.
Well, I'll be ****** if that chicken is WALKING NOW! She is downright spunky and read to go...and quite vocal. She does have a little sneeze so I haven't not put her back with her fellow chicks, just encase.
THE REASON FOR THIS POST IS THIS:
I just noticed today that on one of her feet, she has 4 toes whereas on the other she only has 3. Could Ruby possibly be a late developing rooster? I am a first time chicken owner so IDK how to tell those things yet. Or is this a sign of something else?
ALSO, if she/he is acting perfectly fine but sneezing a little should I worry? She has done a 180 from last weekend and, if anyone looked at her without knowing how she WAS feeling, they would have never guessed it.
AND will the chicks ignore her now that she has been separated for so long? I don't want Ruby to be the lone hen...or rooster?... all his or her life. Also, we have dogs and a cat so she just can't be an inside hen. Did I mention we have carpeted floors? LOL
Thanks in advance! I love this sight and I get so much information from it. WOOHOO!
We brought her/him in and, after inspecting the chick which I have now named Ruby,I noticed that her feet were swollen. We researched and researched and decided that is was probably gout. It wasn't bumble foot and it was any other contagious disease - all of our other hens are great.
She was looking rather bad and nodding off like she wasn't going to make it. I sat with her a while wrapped in a towel so she didn't get too cold. She slept in my bathroom overnight with a light and she seemed fine. She could not walk but if I put her close enough to the water and food she would eat and drink a lot. Around Wednesday I noticed that she was started to be a little more mobile but only with the left foot, using her right wing to pus herself a bit. ON SUNDAY, We gave Ruby some feed and added some kale and slithered carrots topped with some coconut oil and gave her (extremely) diluted apple cider vinegar water with a capsule of b12. That is what she's been eating for the week, too.
Well, I'll be ****** if that chicken is WALKING NOW! She is downright spunky and read to go...and quite vocal. She does have a little sneeze so I haven't not put her back with her fellow chicks, just encase.
THE REASON FOR THIS POST IS THIS:
I just noticed today that on one of her feet, she has 4 toes whereas on the other she only has 3. Could Ruby possibly be a late developing rooster? I am a first time chicken owner so IDK how to tell those things yet. Or is this a sign of something else?
ALSO, if she/he is acting perfectly fine but sneezing a little should I worry? She has done a 180 from last weekend and, if anyone looked at her without knowing how she WAS feeling, they would have never guessed it.
AND will the chicks ignore her now that she has been separated for so long? I don't want Ruby to be the lone hen...or rooster?... all his or her life. Also, we have dogs and a cat so she just can't be an inside hen. Did I mention we have carpeted floors? LOL
Thanks in advance! I love this sight and I get so much information from it. WOOHOO!
