my fiance just found a rooster on the side of the road... *now w/PICS*

[lovemychix]

Everytime I hear this story I thing about the movie "chicken run"

We watched that the other night. I love it.

 

[WalkingWolf]

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This is my thought I have seen them fall out of the trucks before. She is probably about 2 years old and being sent to become dog food. She probably has many useful years still in her. I think 2 years is about when they pull them from production.

 

[BarkerChickens]

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(in a sad way though

)

I was thinking road rash too. The eye injury could be from an injury at the plant (if that is where she is from) or from the her from the injury that caused the comb sores. Is the eye injury fresh or an old wound?

I am so glad that you guys rescued her!

 

[Sillystunt]

It's as if battery hens are starting their own movement in the USA

 

[paoniapoultry]

looks like a hen to me... and the blackened comb looks to me like dried blood from fighting...

 

[HollyTree]

she looks exactly like my Cinnamon Queen hen; I think she is a Cinnamon Queen.

 

[noitulover]

thanks for all the input!
Here is the full story:

My fiance was driving the work truck around and was going down the highway in Chester, VA. He pulled over to the side when he saw a chicken perched on a guard rail facing the woods. Her eye was swollen shut on one side so he picked her up pretty quickly and put her in a box they had in the truck, and brought her back to the shop. (On the way back he gave the hen half his lunch!)

When she got here, we made her a vet appointment. I was concerned about the excessive black scabbing on her comb/wattles. I didn't think it was fowl pox, but I wasn't going to take any chances with my healthy hens.

The vet was almost positive that she was an egg production hen who was about 1.5-2 years old that was going to be butchered, when she fell off the truck.

Currently, her right eye is infected and definitely lost. The vet said he would remove it if necessary once she was a bit stronger. He said from the look of her scabs and wounds, she was out there for several days. It's a miracle she didn't get hit all that time!

She drank a lot of water and ate some grapes and bread (all they had in the truck when they found her). Once we got her home from the vet, we gave her the pain medicine he gave us, as well as the prescription for her infection. She ate those up! Then we fed her some raw egg (from our own hens), through a syringe, as she wasn't too interested in the solids. She lapped that right up though and licked the syringe for more. She got about 3/4 of the egg down before we placed her on a roost to sleep for the night in our quarantine pen. Our quarantine pen is about a 40" long rabbit cage with a solid plastic bottom (we covered in an old sheet). It's about 30" high and maybe 24" wide. She's looking good and we hope she'll make a full recovery so that she can run around the farm with our other hens!

 

[Reinbeau]

Oh, I hope she makes it, poor thing. Keep us posted - and your fiance sounds like a wondeful guy, you'd better keep him!

 

[noitulover]

oh yes, and not to be morbid, but my fiance has named her...

her name is "Captain"... he said she was just like a pirate; all scarred, one-eyed, and limping on one leg like she had a peg leg...

 

[noitulover]

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thanks! i will keep you posted, and i'm definitely keeping him!