Questions for those of you with "special needs" chickens

[bibliophile birds]

i think, after so much progress, that i'm going to have to put Madeline down. she'd been doing so well, so this is a big heartbreak. she'd integrated into the flock so long as the Big Boys weren't out and was getting around fine. she'd even been laying better lately- a few eggs a week for the past 2 weeks.

tonight, however, things seem to have taken a bad turn. i went to close everyone up for the night and check on my little broody hen, and Madeline seemed a bit off. she was in her nest but kinda flopped out when i came in. she stumbles around sometimes, so i didn't think anything was wrong until i saw that she had both wings out on the floor trying to balance herself. she'd flop a bit and then lay down, wings out. when i picked her up i saw the problem- the knee that was dislocated (and never healed correctly) seems to be completely twisted now. where it simply stuck at a strange angle before, it now seems to have rotated so that she can't put the foot down at all to stand up. i've tried everything over the past several months to reset the knee, but it just wouldn't stay.

i always felt bad for her being gimpy and worried that it would eventually come to this, but since she seemed to get around ok and was finally a part of the flock i thought we had found success. i dread having to put her down, but i can't allow her to suffer like this. i'll spend some time with her tomorrow and see if there is any improvement, but i'm not very hopeful at this point...

poor sweet girl.

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
I'm sorry

 

[bibliophile birds]

thanks gritsar. i'm really, seriously dreading tomorrow. i've gotten accustomed to (but still not fond of) processing days, but this feels completely different. i mean, i've nursed her along for so long and gotten so attached. and she knows she can trust me to take care of her when the other girls get snippy. she'll come crawl in my lap if i'm out sitting in their yard and demand i hand-feed her clover.

i just can't get the knee to reset. i'm pretty sure it calcified before i realized what the real problem was (i was inexperienced and clueless) and now it just looks painful and too far gone. i just keep reminding myself that this is the not-so-fun part of having them, the hard decisions that sometimes have to be made...

 

[calicokat]

I'm sending hugs 'cause you need em bibliophile

 

[Keri78]

I vote put him in with the babies too! Like others have said... just keep a eye on him...if it doesn't work out at first then...do the dog crate for a few weeks while the babies grow up and then try again. I have a little bantam Frazzle hen(double dose frizzle) who is "Special"....I got her with an order of day old chicks last June and she never could intergrate with them. I've tried numerous times over the past almost year that I've had her now and she would just get picked on and bullied to no end! I'll spare you all of the stories!

But the point is that she does GREAT with bantams and babies...funny thing about it is that she likes to be the head hen now!!

Little brat!

I'm with you...he's a survivor and I would cater to him too...especially b/c he's a sweet boy!

PS. If all else fails make him a cheap little bach. pad and get him a little silkie hen to buddy up with! I've seen on the MPC website those "Trashcan coops"...they look simple enough...I've also thought about a "rubbermaid tote coop"...it can be done..doesn't need to be fancy. Blessings, Keri

 

[speckledhen]

So my questions:
What made you keep your special needs chicken vs culling?
Do you put babies in with your special needs chicken?
Do you put broodies in with them?

Most of you know my BR rooster, Zane. He is two and a half years old and has been crippled since April 2008 from an injury resulting from a fall, and subsequent infections in his hock joint. The leg is in permanent bent position, no feeling or movement in his toes on that foot. He thumps around on his good leg, using his wings as crutches. It's surprising how fast he can get around when he wants to go somewhere. I have been highly criticized for not euthanizing him, just this morning, in fact. We did try to go that route once, but his will to live (won't go into the details) was so strong, we let him make the decision for himself, basically. So, he's still with us and part of the family.

The reason we kept him is that we tried for months to heal the infection, doing surgery to drain the hock, giving antibiotics to fix the infection and finally, we kicked that out. He's been fine ever since. We were about to euthanize him and decided to try one more extra strong antibiotic, which worked beautifully. By then, we were so darn attached to him that we couldn't let him go, however, if he became depressed and didn't seem to enjoy his life anymore, trust me, we would. He's affectionate, holds very still so I can stroke his face and wattles, he snuggles against my chest, etc. He sings when he finds something good to eat, he watches the skies, snoozes in the sun, knows how to lay over on his side to stretch out his good leg and take pressure off the bad one.

Daily, when it's dry and sunny, he is taken from his special cage and placed in a nice spot on the lawn with food and water. He crows like the rest of the boys here, shows interest in his surroundings, etc. When broodies have babies out on the lawn, they all trust him around the chicks. He watches out for them and alarms like any other rooster would. He lets babies jump on his back and eat beside him. He seems to like being Uncle Zane! I saw a tiny chick walk up to him and look him in the face. He reached out and lightly tapped its beak with his and of course, it ran back to mama fast!

Zane even has visits from his favorite hen, my black Ameraucana, Gypsy. She likes him and he does grab her by the head feathers and try to mate, but he can't raise up high enough to complete the task. Still, he shows interest and adores Gypsy.

We must keep his toenails and spurs trimmed, him dusted against mites/lice because he sleeps in a cushy bed of straw and cannot dustbathe, keep his beak trimmed since he can't really do that naturally, etc. It's lots of extra work, yes. Would I do it again with him or any other chicken? No, absolutely not. I question myself almost daily, especially in winter when he can't get out of his cage and go outside. He does have two windows he can see out of, though. I gladly care for him, but also, I would love for him to have a normal life. Someone said to me that he's been like this so long, he really knows no other life, and is content where life has placed him.​

 

[bibliophile birds]

thanks for the hugs calicocat and thanks for your story Cynthia. it's good to hear that Zane has such a good life...

so now the somewhat ridiculous question: has anyone heard of a successful leg amputation and prosthetic? what i'm thinking is that it would be pretty easy to amputate the bad leg from just above the knee joint and fashion her a prosthetic of some sort to balance on. as i said, she'd gotten to the point where she got around fine until now when she can't stand up because the leg is so twisted. obviously she'd have to be sedated somehow. and there would be lots of risks. but just giving up seems weak on my part. i'm grasping at straws.

 

[bibliophile birds]

well, a bit of a positive update. i brought Madeline up to the house and put her in the little isolation coop but left the door open to the isolation run so she could have a nice view and some fresh air. i went out an hour or so later and she was in the middle of the run, laying down, eating grass. i put some treats out for her and she shuffled over to them and gobbled them down. i checked her again an hour ago and she was back in the coop. so, she at least has enough mobility to get up the slight ramp and find her food. she seems content. i guess if she's ok with it, i'm ok with it. i'll continue to watch her for changes, but so far, so good.

Cynthia, if you have video of Zane getting around on one leg, i'd really like to see it. she still seems discombobulated, but she's adjusting to the "crawling" thing.

 

[speckledhen]

I don't have a video of that one yet, but next time he's on the ground, I'll try to remember to get some video. Maybe I'll put Gypsy out there with him, too. Revs him up!

 

[bibliophile birds]

Quote:
ahh, chicken love... it's so dear!