Thinking about amputating chicks leg... yes or no...

[ChickieBooBoo]

Iheartchicks<3

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friends?

 

[Iheartchicks<3:)]

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friends?

 

[Ryan McEachern]

For information only, not meant to stir the pot:

We have a Golden Comet hen, about 11 months old now, lays an egg every day (or at least is seems like EVERY day) just like all the other Golden Comets. She has one bad leg, we call her "Limpy", as in "How is Limpy doing today?" or "How is Limpy handling all this rain?" have never seen her put any weight on it, I guess is was slipped tendon, she can move it a bit, but it is held up tight to her body at all times.

She used to roost up with the other hens, but only on a full 2x4. She can't handle the 2x2's very well, but she likes the 2x4 fine enough because she needs to rest herself diagonally across it. Lately she has become a floor roosting hen, and I haven't pushed the issue I did with other hens who have tried that, because I know it is more comfortable for her.

She gets around totally normal by hopping, she is about 2/3rds as fast as the other hens, but has no problem mobbing us when we bring the kitchen scraps out. We have had several Coyote and Dog attacks and although others have been taken she remains, so she's street smart enough. When we have had fertile roosters around, they never tried mounting her, not sure how she would manage that. While she can't exactly scratch at the ground to forage, shehas no problem getting grass and bugs when with a group of other hens.

She keeps herself clean, doesn't appear to be in any pain or discomfort, and is, well - just a totally normal chicken except she hops around instead of walks. She seems to be right in the middle somewhere in the pecking order, and has no problem using the PVC feeders or the nipple watering system. She is probably around #5 or #6 from the head hen out of 24. We have never treated her any differently, except for allowing her to roost on the floor instead of putting her on the roost at night like the other hens.

I am not sensitive about culling in the slightest, have no problem harvesting our own chickens for meat, and I plan to use Limpy for soup once she quits laying. She was raised for a purpose, and is filling that purpose. If she was unproductive, or if I thought she was in pain, I would have no problem ending her life.

This is only the account of one chicken, and is not meant to be taken as advice - do what you want with the info.

-Ryan McEachern

 

[chickened]

This thread just makes me wanna go out and ... well... well... uh... amputate one of my chickens legs just so I can feel the experience for myself.

 

[Iheartchicks<3:)]

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Ahhaha

 

[Minniechickmama]

If you have a 2-legged creature, other than human, and you cut one leg off, you might as well kill it. First off, how are you going to put it under? it is a chick and I can't even imagine how you would gauge any meds to do that without killing it. Second, it comes out of it, and how does one think that bird is going to get around? Hop? And one would not think that it is going to get picked and pecked? How about when a roo jumps on her (if it is a her)? Or it is a cockerel and another dominant one jumps it and beats the crap out of it?
I am not a harsh person, but I have learned to make the tough decisions where my animals are concerned. It isn't always easy, but you have to cut your emotions out of the equation and see the situation for what it is. It is a chicken, though cute it may be, it is still a chicken. They are very populace and the species is not going to die out. Ending its life quickly and humanely is the way I would go.

Whoever said the thing about letting the pandas die out...that isn't nature, that is humans who are killing them off. By destroying the natural habitat of a species for corporate or personal gain is not natural selection. But I don't want to turn this thread into a rant about all of that.

If someone is going to pose a question like the OP did on here, they are going to get replies from one end of the spectrum to the other, but in the end, they have to make the decision on what to do.

 

[tnchickenut]

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Hey! That way you could eat farm fresh chicken meat without killing a chicken!!! BRILLIANT!!!








NOT!

 

[chickened]

I could fit it with a prosthetic leg... scratch, clunk, scratch, clunk...
Quote:
Hey! That way you could eat farm fresh chicken meat without killing a chicken!!! BRILLIANT!!!








NOT!

 

[tnchickenut]

"I could fit it with a prosthetic leg... scratch, clunk, scratch, clunk"

LOL!

If the prosthetic is anything like those saddles for hens... they won't stay in place long. The leg might end up on top of the wing!

 

[Iheartchicks<3:)]

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It has already been decided