Topic of the Week - "Special Needs" Chickens

[crity]

I've told this story before. We took in 2 lovely rooster rescued from a fighting ring. They were young and had never been fought. When they came to live with us they took to caring for an old giant blind rooster we had. They would walk on either side of him, made sure he got to food and drink. Slept in a box in the chicken coop with him. When the old boy died the little roosters wouldn't leave him. We had to remove the body and bury him deep. They were so depressed for days they barely ate. We had to coax them with treats. Eventually they started to eat and get back to living. We have had many special needs chickens.

 

[Watermelon123]

Hi all! Okay, not QUITE sure if It was my fault, but I have a rooster, Shouty, with a twisted beak. It's not to the point of scissor beak, we just need to watch and trim it regularly, so it doesn't get to that point.

Out of about two dozen eggs I incubated, only two hatched. With my luck, they were both male. Shouty however, up till about three months of age, looked like a hen. You could imagine our surprise when they BOTH started crowing.

Shouty has always been calm, much like a dog. He will give you hugs, will sleep with you, and he will even respond to you if you say something to him. Using this, it wasn't long until he learned a few tricks. He would jump onto my arm and come when called. My vet asked us if we considered making him a therapy chicken. Since then, we have been to schools, day camps, and hospitals with him.

A little more about shouty is that he sits on eggs? I don't question him, because he isn't bothering anyone (except the hens who are all unhappy about it). I think he just wants to be helpful...

 

[PeepersMama]

He might be showing the hens a nesting place. I've had a couple roos do that - and one who would "coach" them if he was in the coop while they were in a box. XD Just be sure he doesn't break any and it should be fine - but others might have more insight about it.

No, Its like her head jerks to the side and her body follows. Its like a tic, an uncontrolled movement. I thought she might have wry neck, I tried poly visol, but it didn't change anything. Maybe she got pecked in the head or something as a chick.

Huh, weird. She sounds like a character!

 

[Watermelon123]

He might be showing the hens a nesting place. I've had a couple roos do that - and one who would "coach" them if he was in the coop while they were in a box. XD Just be sure he doesn't break any and it should be fine - but others might have more insight about it.

Never breaks any, just sits on them. No noises, no digging. He's very careful.

 

[PeepersMama]

Never breaks any, just sits on them. No noises, no digging. He's very careful.

Huh... Strange,this is. The best roo we ever had got in the boxes a couple times when the girls first started laying, and he'd cluck like he found something for em to eat, but...

Oh yay, I have something to research now!

 

[greymouse]

We have a small farm where we raise a few hens for their eggs, as well as Royal Purple Guinea fowl. This year we started raising Mille Fleurs that we hope to show and perhaps sell to enthusiasts. We have a few apple, pear and apricot trees. During harvest, our flocks love to peck at the fallen fruit, and since we are as organic as possible, they also enjoy the occasional worm or bug too. We plant about 3/4 of an acre in kale, lettuce, sunflower, and several root vegetables. Come winter, the flocks are able enjoy some greenery and vegetables as a treat to go with their pellets and cracked corn.

Right now we have two "special needs" birds in the house. Greedy Gerti, who definitely lives up to her name, is our Barred Rock "service hen." Gerti has been an indoor-outdoor hen for a couple of years now. She has a damaged right leg, but gets around fairly well. One of my family members battles severe anxiety attacks, that Gerti helps to calm. At night Gerti either nests on a towel on our bed, or roosts on the back of a chair at the bed's foot.

Our other indoor hen (who hasn't a name yet) is a Barred Rock too, that recently injured her leg badly. She probably will never walk again. But she is a true FIGHTER. At first we discussed putting her down. However, we always give our birds a chance at living. This lovely bird just won't give up, so now, if we can figure out how to do it, we want to construct some kind of prosthetic to help her get around.

For now our un-named hen nests on straw in a cage by night. In the daytime, when the outdoor flocks are free-ranging, we carry her out to a special "chicken garden" we planted for them. There she is able to spend her day eatting a large variety of greenery, and does well at catching the occasional bug. She's getting stronger and has learned to stand on her good leg. And.... she is learning how to hop.

It's quite wonderful to hear Gerti and "Hospital Hen's" contented trills and purrs at night, telling us they are happy. And that makes us happy.

 

[KentuckyRooster]

Victoria.. oh I miss her so so much. Can't tell her story without Melanie.

I got her as a healthy and beautiful little hen after my flock was butchered by some sort of predator leaving only a RIR named Melanie behind. I rushed to find her company. A small cochin first, but I had to find my beloved polish ASAP and I soon did- Victoria and a beautiful cockerel named Alaric. I brought the pair home and they were lovely. Beautiful and healthy, they were perfect and I was so in love.

I carefully introduced them to my little flock. The cochins and Mel seemed alright and I watched them for a few days and there were no issues. I went to school monday though and came home to an utter bloodbath. Melanie had tried to kill Victoria. She was lying on the ground, her whole crest scalped off, her eye gouged open, blood from her beak. Couldn't get up. She was in shock. Alaric was bloodied too, clearly trying to protect his friend. Melanie seemed frantic and furious.

I was able to pull Victoria out of shock. It took hours. But she had suffered such trauma to her brain she could no longer walk or eat. Alaric stood over her fussing. I have never seen anything like what I witnessed with those two. For a few weeks I had to syringe feed her. But I swear to god that rooster not only helped teach her to eat, he taught her how to walk again. He stood next to her and walked leaning against her body and when she lost her balance she would fall on him and he would fuss and it was incredibly sweet. I would never believe someone who told me a chicken did that but I swear he did it.

Victoria was never quite the same. She relearned things but was always a bit funny. She lost her upper beak and had part of her eyelid gone, but she loved me so much. I would say her name and she'd wait to be picked up. Even with her special trouble she always laid big white eggs for me. I treasured those eggs.

Alaric lived another year and unfortunately passed from an injury. It was horrible for Victoria. She lived a long life, 8 years- she just passed away last month and she was my heart. I miss her very much.

Here they are together.

 

[DuckPro]

Victoria.. oh I miss her so so much. Can't tell her story without Melanie.

I got her as a healthy and beautiful little hen after my flock was butchered by some sort of predator leaving only a RIR named Melanie behind. I rushed to find her company. A small cochin first, but I had to find my beloved polish ASAP and I soon did- Victoria and a beautiful cockerel named Alaric. I brought the pair home and they were lovely. Beautiful and healthy, they were perfect and I was so in love.

I carefully introduced them to my little flock. The cochins and Mel seemed alright and I watched them for a few days and there were no issues. I went to school monday though and came home to an utter bloodbath. Melanie had tried to kill Victoria. She was lying on the ground, her whole crest scalped off, her eye gouged open, blood from her beak. Couldn't get up. She was in shock. Alaric was bloodied too, clearly trying to protect his friend. Melanie seemed frantic and furious.

I was able to pull Victoria out of shock. It took hours. But she had suffered such trauma to her brain she could no longer walk or eat. Alaric stood over her fussing. I have never seen anything like what I witnessed with those two. For a few weeks I had to syringe feed her. But I swear to god that rooster not only helped teach her to eat, he taught her how to walk again. He stood next to her and walked leaning against her body and when she lost her balance she would fall on him and he would fuss and it was incredibly sweet. I would never believe someone who told me a chicken did that but I swear he did it.

Victoria was never quite the same. She relearned things but was always a bit funny. She lost her upper beak and had part of her eyelid gone, but she loved me so much. I would say her name and she'd wait to be picked up. Even with her special trouble she always laid big white eggs for me. I treasured those eggs.

Alaric lived another year and unfortunately passed from an injury. It was horrible for Victoria. She lived a long life, 8 years- she just passed away last month and she was my heart. I miss her very much.

Here they are together.

View attachment 1079339

Darn I shouldn't have come here now look I'm crying..

 

[KentuckyRooster]

Darn I shouldn't have come here now look I'm crying..

Me too...I miss her. She was a special bird. Here's another ride on the feels train for ya.

Melanie lived a long life too. 8 years- she was a year older than Victoria. She showed symptoms much like a human with post traumatic stress disorder and I think that is why she attacked my girl. After that, she was unable to integrate at all. I built a separate pen for her. I had her from a day old and she had been raised with a polish, and I think it was too much for the poor thing to see another one. She saw the others in her flock die and when I found her hiding she looked shellshocked.

After a while, a rooster came into my life. He was mean. I loved him right away of course but he was a great big bird and nasty. I decided to try to integrate Mel again. She attacked him horribly. He got hurt and had to be pulled and needed recovery time. Every day I set him in a small pen by her cage so she could look at him, and once he was better and had grown bigger I introduced him again. She attacked him again but this time he attacked her back and they fought. This sounds terrible but bear with me. They went at it a while and I watched for injury while they sparred and I prayed that Mel could come to terms with Rex.

Finally. FINALLY. she did. They came to terms with eachother and ignored eachother. At first. Then over the years as I watched them, they slowly became more than reluctant fellows and gradually became friends. They lived together until she died.

 

[DuckPro]

First I got a batch of some minorcas, wheaten Marans, and one silkie and an araucana. My dads brother got two turkeys (from the bazaar) and they had chicken cholera.
They were wheezing and coughing. We put them in this basement thing to prevent it spreading. But it was too late..