I hatched my first lot of welsummers ending up with only 5 chicks, all hens. One of them however on the second day I noticed an injury so I isolated her indoors. Each day the leg got worse not matter how I tried to fix it (I assumed splayed legs) so I did a bit more research. Turns out its a slipped tendon, to which its far too late to fix by just rolling around the ankle to pop it back into place.
However, normally I would cull such a chick (if it was one I bred myself I would, but I payed good money for these fertile eggs) but she seems to be getting around really well. She hobs along on the ankle with no issue or sign of pain. I was wondering, considering that she is 100% certain to be a hen due to the auto sexing of the breed, if I got her leg amputated at the hock, would she be fine later on in life? I would not pair her up with a rooster definatly as I could totally see her being singled out and mated with the most because of her disability, but as a layer to live out her life as a free range hen. I've had the crab claw legged chickens (incubator problem) before so I do know that if there is a leg issue, that they can still live a complete and happy life minus a few things like perching and foraging. And considering that it is not at the drumstick, she could still use the stump to balance.
And how much would it cost to get it amputated at a vet? I would rather it done humanely than at home where I can put her through a lot of pain. No silly or rude answers please.
However, normally I would cull such a chick (if it was one I bred myself I would, but I payed good money for these fertile eggs) but she seems to be getting around really well. She hobs along on the ankle with no issue or sign of pain. I was wondering, considering that she is 100% certain to be a hen due to the auto sexing of the breed, if I got her leg amputated at the hock, would she be fine later on in life? I would not pair her up with a rooster definatly as I could totally see her being singled out and mated with the most because of her disability, but as a layer to live out her life as a free range hen. I've had the crab claw legged chickens (incubator problem) before so I do know that if there is a leg issue, that they can still live a complete and happy life minus a few things like perching and foraging. And considering that it is not at the drumstick, she could still use the stump to balance.
And how much would it cost to get it amputated at a vet? I would rather it done humanely than at home where I can put her through a lot of pain. No silly or rude answers please.