The Evolution of Atlas: A Breeding (and Chat) Thread

[kitkat5505]

Got a call from Dd #1 tonight. Her cousin was going to mow their property, and decided to go out to the far "shed". Years ago, it was used as a produce stand. It's on the far side of the property, with it's own entrance. It hasn't been used in years, and is just sitting out there. Well, when her cousin looked in the shed, he got a surprise. He called the law. He found lots of syringes, pill bottles for mental medications, and tarps hung up to section it off, as into rooms, cans of food, and lots of garbage. There were cardboard signs saying "Will work for food", and "Homeless-please help". Obviously they've been living there for quite awhile. The deputies are running the names, and prescription numbers on the pill bottles. It took 3 people about 4 hours to get it cleaned up, after the deputies left. They're having it torn down, and hauled away tomorrow.

She lives right next to her grandmother's house. I'm so grateful my daughters, or grandkids didn't go into that area, and encounter any of the people residing in there. Especially since the grandmother, and my daughter have sworn they've been hearing noises outside.

Oh my! That is crazy! I’m glad their kids didn’t go back there.

 

[speckledhen]

The little Brahma pullet is hopping with her right leg held up in the air. I separately gave her some scrambled eggs with vitamins added, plus some shaved aspirin for the inflammation I see in her hock joint. It's noticeably larger than the left. We are gently flexing it for her to keep it from becoming stiff, hoping it will heal.

 

[Leahs Mom]

You might try some thiamine and niacin. Often is the issue with leg issues.
[Natural sources: good quality, raw, tiny chopped raw liver; Brewers yeast (Not fortified - Lewis Labs). Not natural: poly-vi-sol drops no added iron.]

And choline too.
https://www.merckvetmanual.com/poul...ement-poultry/vitamin-deficiencies-in-poultry

 

[1muttsfan]

Hopefully it's just a sprain. Infections and injuries that cause damage inside the joint can be catastrophic at that age.

 

[getaclue]

Hope it gets better, and the chick is ok.

 

[speckledhen]

Hopefully it's just a sprain. Infections and injuries that cause damage inside the joint can be catastrophic at that age.

Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of, that because she is so super young, it won't be like Lizzie. This girl's right hock is definitely inflamed. She gets around hopping and we'll try to help her, but time will tell. If she can get better with just a limp, I need to find her a home without a rooster because those injured joints are always weaker in my experience.

 

[speckledhen]

Here she is on the left with her foot cocked up. Looks like she's stepping, but she's not, that's how she holds it. It just happened in the last couple of days, wasn't like that in the beginning. Wonder what bigmouth is yelling about on the right, LOL.

Sue, she's getting the polyvisol. I don't have anything else here, vitamin-wise.

 

[Leahs Mom]

I had a young cockerel once that injured his leg - I assume jumping off something. It was just after he began to start breeding.

Now I have to say that it was hilarious watching this injured fellow try to mate. The girls learned how to side step when they didn't want his advances

But back to the story...
He was perfectly healthy otherwise. I tried to give him extras like the liver, etc., but he'd feed it all to the girls. Even when I separated him he'd feed them through the wire.

I tried separating him a bit so he could rest it. Nope. Wouldn't have it. He literally made his comb bloody by pacing up and down along the hardware cloth and it was rubbing on the wire. So I just let him out.

He learned to run by hopping on one leg - and was fast. He'd go everywhere they went - still hopping on one leg and still being the "protector".

On occasion I'd see him put a little weight on the leg, but mostly hopped everywhere.

Then about 3 months later, he began to use the leg more and more untill, by the time he was about a year old, you wouldn't have been able to tell he had an injury at all. Even after having hopped for at least 3 months and probably more like 4-5.

When he first started favoring the leg, we looked him over very well - trying to find a break or any obvious injury but could find nothing. Since he was bright eyed and not showing any signs of illness, we just let him go to see what would happen.

I did keep trying to give him extra nutrition that should have been helpful for healing that kind of injury but I'm not sure he kept enough - or any - for himself.


This is Mister. At about 2.5 yo, he went to a new home in Ohio and lived for several years with his new flock until a dog broke into their chicken yard and he was killed in the attack.

I kept the larger rooster in this photo.

 

[speckledhen]

Aw, too bad he was killed, handsome guy! @Leahs Mom my BR rooster, Dutch, hurt his leg, too, once, but he just limped and limped until one day he didn't. And you remember us treating Lizzie, who fully recovered.

I think adults can recover easier than the tiny chicks. Leg injuries can be fatal, too, sadly, from unseen infections. If I had not been told by a vet to treat Zane when he injured his hock joint falling from the roost as a teenager, he would have died. I had no idea about the soft tissue injuries becoming infected like his did. It took a powerful antibiotic to finally kick out the infection, though, after two rounds of penicillin didn't do the trick. I probably won't give antibiotics to this chick, but will continue the vitamins and extra protein, making sure she gets that without being in the fray of them going nuts over the same goodie.

 

[petitor]

Good Morning!

How is that little chick with the injured leg doing this morning? Any improvement?