Amy_thechickenlady
In the Brooder
- Oct 26, 2021
- 2
- 27
- 32
Hi everyone! I am normally not a poster, more of a reader of posts and comments to get answers to all my strange chicken questions. But my almost 11 year old hen, Nugget needs a community.
I raised Nugget, a gold sex link from a chick and she was part of my original backyard flock of 4. All the others are long gone, but she is super special, strong and smart and has been with us at 3 homes. She has outlived a raccoon attack, and has seen dozens of hen friends come and go over the years. She even graced the cover of the garden section of the Sacramento Bee newspaper back in 2012.
Back in August she had a sore on her butt and we washed it and kept her inside in a cage for several nights to keep her clean. She got back to normal, but this last year she has been understandably slower and likes to stare at a fence or a wall. But she still did her tricks like jumping up in the air to get a treat. The other 9 birds are super respectful of her. Then on September 21, I noticed she was lethargic and when she walked she seemed to be blind or at least double vision or something. She would stumble on the edge of the deck and peck and miss her food. Very neurological it seemed. I hand fed her indoors and even fastened a disposable medical style face mask around her wings as a diaper! Not sure if she liked this or not.
Over the past month she has continued to decline. She no longer can walk at all. She hasn't been able to walk for 3 weeks in fact. She's eaten very little. I've tried all the best treats. She will occasionally go for it, but very rarely
And so she lives on a towel that I change like an old lady's bedding in a nursing home twice a day in a chair in our living room. Sometimes she gets to sit by the fire. Sometimes the dogs come by to say hello with a lick. Sometimes I bring in one of the young chickens for visiting hour and she seems to love it.
BUT, I feel like this is hardly a life for her. I tell her everyday that it's ok to fly away to the great chicken afterlife, but she's not going. She really is just living on air at this point and rarely takes a sip of water or eats any food. I try so hard to get her to eat. I know she's not going to recover, she's almost 11 for God's sake, but I can't NOT feed her.
If anyone has any suggestions on how to spur her along to the other side of the rainbow, please let me know. I've talked with my husband about taking her to the vet to be euthanized, but he insists she's not suffering so why bother.
Best part about all of this is that this sweet old bird is teaching me about tolerance and patience and it's all pretty damn cool.
I would love to hear of anyone else's experience that is similar.
Thanks!
I raised Nugget, a gold sex link from a chick and she was part of my original backyard flock of 4. All the others are long gone, but she is super special, strong and smart and has been with us at 3 homes. She has outlived a raccoon attack, and has seen dozens of hen friends come and go over the years. She even graced the cover of the garden section of the Sacramento Bee newspaper back in 2012.
Back in August she had a sore on her butt and we washed it and kept her inside in a cage for several nights to keep her clean. She got back to normal, but this last year she has been understandably slower and likes to stare at a fence or a wall. But she still did her tricks like jumping up in the air to get a treat. The other 9 birds are super respectful of her. Then on September 21, I noticed she was lethargic and when she walked she seemed to be blind or at least double vision or something. She would stumble on the edge of the deck and peck and miss her food. Very neurological it seemed. I hand fed her indoors and even fastened a disposable medical style face mask around her wings as a diaper! Not sure if she liked this or not.
Over the past month she has continued to decline. She no longer can walk at all. She hasn't been able to walk for 3 weeks in fact. She's eaten very little. I've tried all the best treats. She will occasionally go for it, but very rarely
And so she lives on a towel that I change like an old lady's bedding in a nursing home twice a day in a chair in our living room. Sometimes she gets to sit by the fire. Sometimes the dogs come by to say hello with a lick. Sometimes I bring in one of the young chickens for visiting hour and she seems to love it.
BUT, I feel like this is hardly a life for her. I tell her everyday that it's ok to fly away to the great chicken afterlife, but she's not going. She really is just living on air at this point and rarely takes a sip of water or eats any food. I try so hard to get her to eat. I know she's not going to recover, she's almost 11 for God's sake, but I can't NOT feed her.
If anyone has any suggestions on how to spur her along to the other side of the rainbow, please let me know. I've talked with my husband about taking her to the vet to be euthanized, but he insists she's not suffering so why bother.
Best part about all of this is that this sweet old bird is teaching me about tolerance and patience and it's all pretty damn cool.
I would love to hear of anyone else's experience that is similar.
Thanks!
Glad you joined.
