so, i wanted to share this story.
a few years ago, my husband and i were driving home,when we see an idiot co worker of my husband's sitting on the side of the road,looking lost with a very young chicken in his hands. we stopped and found that he had seen this chick get hit by a car and he didn't know what to do. After trying to get in touch with the people in the nearby houses to no avail, i decided to take him home ( the chick not the idiot). the chicken had a fractured leg and could not walk on it. now in this area at least, vets do not treat chickens..
so i splinted the leg myself and kept him inside the house in a dog crate. after splinting, he was able to bear weight on the leg again and he slowly started to get better. We decided to name him Commander Nugget.
after several weeks he no longer needed the splint and could run like a pro again, but at this point he had gotten VERY used to the comfortable life inside the house, he was even potty trained! and he would also sleep at my feet like some strange feathered dog. but now he needed to be outside and do chicken things, so i took him outside and thinking he would enjoy himself, i started to walk back inside, and he followed me. i closed the door before he could get back inside, figuring he would just walk off and enjoy the yard, instead he sat on the porch in front of the door and pouted like a champion, he even ignored the dogs incessantly licking him on the head. i had never seen such a thing
. he stayed there all day until i came out later that night to bring him back inside for bed.
the next few days the same thing happened no matter how far away from the house i placed him,or how quickly i moved, he was always back on the porch until bed time.
SO i decided to do a little test with him on day 4. instead of placing him outside and walking away, i opened my living room window ( the closest to the ground) and scooped him into my arms, leaned out of the window as far as i could, and just plopped him onto the ground ( it was a 6 inch drop)
. when he had no one to follow back to the house, he decided to actually explore and eat bugs and do basic chicken things.
and at night I would walk outside and call him, he would run to my arms and come in for the night. and so our routine of "throwing the chicken out the window" began. everyday he got lowered out and every night he was carried inside. it became an inside joke in the family. my mother was always asking me which pet i was going to throw out the window next.
sadly we had to re-home him about 4 months later and i miss him terribly. below is a picture of him after he got his splint off
this story always makes me feel warm and fuzzy and bittersweet at the same time. i hope you enjoyed reading it as much as i enjoyed telling it.
a few years ago, my husband and i were driving home,when we see an idiot co worker of my husband's sitting on the side of the road,looking lost with a very young chicken in his hands. we stopped and found that he had seen this chick get hit by a car and he didn't know what to do. After trying to get in touch with the people in the nearby houses to no avail, i decided to take him home ( the chick not the idiot). the chicken had a fractured leg and could not walk on it. now in this area at least, vets do not treat chickens..
after several weeks he no longer needed the splint and could run like a pro again, but at this point he had gotten VERY used to the comfortable life inside the house, he was even potty trained! and he would also sleep at my feet like some strange feathered dog. but now he needed to be outside and do chicken things, so i took him outside and thinking he would enjoy himself, i started to walk back inside, and he followed me. i closed the door before he could get back inside, figuring he would just walk off and enjoy the yard, instead he sat on the porch in front of the door and pouted like a champion, he even ignored the dogs incessantly licking him on the head. i had never seen such a thing
the next few days the same thing happened no matter how far away from the house i placed him,or how quickly i moved, he was always back on the porch until bed time.
sadly we had to re-home him about 4 months later and i miss him terribly. below is a picture of him after he got his splint off
this story always makes me feel warm and fuzzy and bittersweet at the same time. i hope you enjoyed reading it as much as i enjoyed telling it.
