- Aug 20, 2014
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Hi there everyone, I live in New Zealand and presently housesitting my cousin's kiwi fruit orchard, two cats, four chickens and rooster and my knowledge of chickens is only what I have learned over the last four or five days on the internet when one of the girls got sick.
Last Thursday morning I went to give the chickens their breakfast and let them out (they can wander around all day here which is fantastic!!). It had been a very wet night and I was horrified to see one of the girls lying on her side outside the coop in the mud. I picked her up (very easily) and brought her back to the house, placed her in a cat crate on some towels with some pellets and water. I kept her in the crate for three days. Then because she was standing up in the crate quite a lot I thought it was time to free her a bit. I found an old strawberry tunnel in the garden (i.e. wooden frame enclosed with mesh and put her in there with food/water and covered one end with a towel (it is winter here but when the sun is out it is quite warm). She seemed to be doing okay so yesterday afternoon I let her out into the garden with the other chickens and she was pecking and moving around freely. She still stumbled now and then and when it came time to go into the coop she could not hop up the step (even with flapping her wings) and definitely could not get up onto the roost. Every night I have kept her in the crate, the first couple of nights in the house and then I found a little old table so put that in the coop with the crate on top so that she was with the other chickens. This afternoon I had to go out @ 4pm so got the team into their run, gave them some feed and planned to put her into the crate when I came home (around 5pm). When I got home she was actually in coop but on the floor on her side with her legs out to one side (pretty much how I found her the first time). I gently picked her up and put her into the crate and now I really don't know what to do.
Her comb is red and upright, her eyes bright and I have checked her for the illnesses I have read about on the internet. I have also spent quite a lot of time observing her. She is gorgeous she lets me stroke her, pick her up (with a bit of clucking), and she responds when I cluck to her. I feel that perhaps I let her go too early and her leg or wing may still be sore. And, I have no idea how old she is. Any suggestions would be so much appreciated thank you
Sorry my story is a bit long winded but didn't want to miss anything out
Thank you
Lorraine
Last Thursday morning I went to give the chickens their breakfast and let them out (they can wander around all day here which is fantastic!!). It had been a very wet night and I was horrified to see one of the girls lying on her side outside the coop in the mud. I picked her up (very easily) and brought her back to the house, placed her in a cat crate on some towels with some pellets and water. I kept her in the crate for three days. Then because she was standing up in the crate quite a lot I thought it was time to free her a bit. I found an old strawberry tunnel in the garden (i.e. wooden frame enclosed with mesh and put her in there with food/water and covered one end with a towel (it is winter here but when the sun is out it is quite warm). She seemed to be doing okay so yesterday afternoon I let her out into the garden with the other chickens and she was pecking and moving around freely. She still stumbled now and then and when it came time to go into the coop she could not hop up the step (even with flapping her wings) and definitely could not get up onto the roost. Every night I have kept her in the crate, the first couple of nights in the house and then I found a little old table so put that in the coop with the crate on top so that she was with the other chickens. This afternoon I had to go out @ 4pm so got the team into their run, gave them some feed and planned to put her into the crate when I came home (around 5pm). When I got home she was actually in coop but on the floor on her side with her legs out to one side (pretty much how I found her the first time). I gently picked her up and put her into the crate and now I really don't know what to do.
Her comb is red and upright, her eyes bright and I have checked her for the illnesses I have read about on the internet. I have also spent quite a lot of time observing her. She is gorgeous she lets me stroke her, pick her up (with a bit of clucking), and she responds when I cluck to her. I feel that perhaps I let her go too early and her leg or wing may still be sore. And, I have no idea how old she is. Any suggestions would be so much appreciated thank you
Thank you
Lorraine
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