Perfectly Imperfect Birds: An Appreciation Thread

[Tookie]

Does she have any trouble getting up on the roost at night?

I have a roost a couple inches off of the floor for all of them and she can use it. I am meaning to put in a higher roost. I'm just procrastinating.
When I have all the chicks out they go nuts and fly everywhere, Angel will fly up like 2ft in the air but quickly falls back down because of her wing.

 

[Quatie]

Hope
1.5 years
Runner duck

Hope has a slipped tendon that she got as an adult. We brought her inside to try and let it heal. Her tendon would stay in place for a while, but never permanently. When she was inside, she was so angry and she hated us. Overtime, she bonded with us and cackled at things. I have to say she has a sadistic sense of humor. She always seemed to cackle when a person fell on TV or other when we would spilled something. We built her own run and coop outside where she spends majority of her time now. She will never be able to be with the flock full time again. She recently went outside permanently, and my husband still turns to talk to her inside but she is not there. We went from wanting to throttle that duck to adoring her.

We let her run around with the flock when flood irrigated the other day in the photos below.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Hope
1.5 years
Runner duck

Hope has a slipped tendon that she got as an adult. We brought her inside to try and let it heal. Her tendon would stay in place for a while, but never permanently. When she was inside, she was so angry and she hated us. Overtime, she bonded with us and cackled at things. I have to say she has a sadistic sense of humor. She always seemed to cackle when a person fell on TV or other when we would spilled something. We built her own run and coop outside where she spends majority of her time now. She will never be able to be with the flock full time again. She recently went outside permanently, and my husband still turns to talk to her inside but she is not there. We went from wanting to throttle that duck to adoring her.

We let her run around with the flock when flood irrigated the other day in the photos below.

View attachment 3190362View attachment 3190363

Hope is beautiful! I love black birds.

I have a chicken with a slipped tendon. How does it present on a duck? My chicken's leg sticks out from her body at an almost 90° angle.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Twiggy
8 weeks
Polish frizzle (chocolate)

Twiggy came to us after I inquired on Facebook to find a special needs companion for Myrtle (post #2 above). I got dozens of responses! So many special needs birds out there! But I thought being another Polish might help them cohabitate well, and Twiggy is just slightly younger than Myrtle.

Twiggy had a slipped tendon from hatch. All the stretching, physical therapy, splints, vet visits between her previous owner and myself could not undo what nature had done. My avian vet wanted to euthanize her, and I thought about it because that vet was a specialist and must know about these things. But BYC and my hubby said she deserved a shot, so here she is. Her leg sticks out so far and is so twisted that when she "walks" she ends up putting weight on the top of her affected foot. She gets around via a combination of hopping and flapping.

These pics do NOT do her justice! She has the most unusual coloring. Though mostly gray and brown, she has gold, silver, and black in there, too.

 

[Quatie]

Hope is beautiful! I love black birds.

I have a chicken with a slipped tendon. How does it present on a duck? My chicken's leg sticks out from her body at an almost 90° angle.

Her slipped tendon happened as an adult. Her leg didn't show the typical signs of a slipped tendon. She was limping but it just looked like a normal leg injury. After about a month of no full improvement, I took a closer look at her leg and found the slipped tendon. I think because she is a runner and paces along the fence when outdoors, it never showed the typical signs. Her foot doesn't sit down all the way. I can get the tendon to stay in place for a while, but her restless nature prevented it from healing. We kept her indoors for a few months to let it heal. And it did improve, but it will never fully stay. Other than a permanent limp, she looks pretty normal. Her condition just massively deteriorates when with the flock and I don't trust my drake not to accidentally drown her.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Here's Polly. Shes a Mille Fleur D'uccle, about 3 years old. She's almost completely blind (she can see light/shadows and maybe a tiny bit out of her near vision eye, but wouldn't be allowed to drive if she were human).

And here is Ratchet, a silver leghorn that I ordered in last year as a chick. She was the one with the leg issue I was telling you about, Auntie.

Forgive the cages, dealing with relocating birds vs raccoons

 

[Aunt Angus]

Here's Polly. Shes a Mille Fleur D'uccle, about 3 years old. She's almost completely blind (she can see light/shadows and maybe a tiny bit out of her near vision eye, but wouldn't be allowed to drive if she were human).
View attachment 3192132
View attachment 3192129View attachment 3192131
And here is Ratchet, a silver leghorn that I ordered in last year as a chick. She was the one with the leg issue I was telling you about, Auntie.

View attachment 3192133
View attachment 3192135

Forgive the cages, dealing with relocating birds vs raccoons

I see her little toes!

What darling birds! I hope more folks start to see that they can live good lives even if they are a lil impaired. So often, people just cull. I agree that's necessary a lot of the time, but if you just want pets or even just eggs, these flawed chickens are fine.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I see her little toes!

What darling birds! I hope more folks start to see that they can live good lives even if they are a lil impaired. So often, people just cull. I agree that's necessary a lot of the time, but if you just want pets or even just eggs, these flawed chickens are fine.

Yep. Both lay eggs and Polly has such a personality that even if I can't hatch hers (hoping the male was the bad one. I can't get hers to develop), she'll probably stick around.

Ratchet is mainly here because I couldn't sell her, but she also lays reliably and Zachary (the male sharing her cage currently) is completely smitten with her.

 

[My Very First 6 Chickens]

Good morning to all the keepers of disabled chickens About 2 weeks ago i watched a fox grab my hen and go to leave. I pounced so quick my cat was impressed! Fox ran off I quickly grab the hen (new pullet from a friend), not knowing the damage. Well, golden chicken got lucky. Her little foot had 2 tiny puncture wounds, but no bleeding. Fast forward 2 weeks and little Goldie cant scratch or jump/roost. She came to me 3 weeks prior so shes a new friend to me and not 100% trusting. Caring for her has been difficult because I have to work around an established flock of 5. Goldie came to me with one flock mate I named Spicy Tuna. Shes a very sweet speckled Sussex. (Thank goodness). She'll squat for me when i need to pick her up for whatever reason. Its sweet. Soooo, Golden chicken and Spicy will have their own coop but while currently building it, I am keeping little Golden chicken in mind. The ramp to the hen house will include railings and lead to a floor sleeping nest in the elevated coop. All of this is very difficult because of working around that established, territorial, flock of 5 wanting to always look for her and stalk her and run her off. Poor Spicy plays keep away in the AM, avoiding the 5 until i come out first sign of day light. I have made Golden disabled chicken her own home under the hen house. We shall see. Loved reading that I am not entirely alone or crazy with the lengths I go to for these hens! Good luck everyone. Your not alone!