who has special needs birds?

[kinnip]

I need a little emothional support here. Little Scooter's legs are getting better by the hour, at the hip. One still turns out at the hock, I don't think it'll get better. With the leg straightening, I've begun to notice that those aren't the only problems. Scooter's back is hunched to one side. I think he/she will always be gimpy, and will probably not be able to fly. Scooter is, however, eating, drinking, pooping, kinda scratching, flapping and doing all the things a healthy keet should do. I just can't bring my self to cull. I know Scooter can't roam with the other guineas, but maybe he/she can live in the chicken run?

 

[Barnyard]

I have a special chick. She is a little blue cochin and I have named her Stella. she has a bum leg so to speak. It turns out at the hock and she has a limp, but she gets around pretty good and is eating drinking and pooping just fine. I know she probley can not fly, and that is fine. She is 13 weeks old and here to stay. She is a gorgous little bird and so sweet, I couldn't cull her.

 

[the1much]

i got a blind rooster,,,,1 day he got out,, found him the next day with a pellet hole straight through his head,, right behind the eyes. i grabbed him up,, was gonna cull him,,, then my 2 girls see him,,,soooooooo,,,,, off to the house,,he now is in the baby chick yard with his 1 wife ,, and man will he PROTECT them babies.,, if you start picking them up,, and they start crying,, he charges,, with BRUT force,, and will run smack into ya,, then bite whatever he can reach!!,,after i ripp him off me,, i pick him back up and tell him what a good boy he is.we have to take him to his food,, and have a big kiddie pool that he gets in and drinks from.

 

[horsejody]

I have a Marek's survivor that walks with a limp. She doesn't require any special care at this point, but she is cute. I have a couple that are a bit stupid, but I'm not sure that counts as special needs. One of my silkies ran up to the dog one day and stuck his head right in the dog's mouth. I think the bird with the limp has a better chance of survival than one that stupid.

 

[conny63malies]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=53673

 

[pebblessix]

I have a guinea that is completely beakless and the beak will not grow back. I keep him with my young birds that do not have a mama to care for them. He eats only granules as he cannot pick up anything larger. I do not have to worry about him pecking the young birds. He is VERY NOISY with anything unusual in his surroundings, therefore an excellent warning system.

 

[tfpets]

I have come across a lot of great people here on BYC. I do not hold hard feelings for those that cull, or put an end to the suffering of birds for any reason. I will end a life when it comes to it. I have had to. I have also made the choice in some circumstances to keep some birds with special needs.

The bird on my head, in my current avatar, is a special needs chicken. I have other special needs pets, I have a blind Oscar (very large fish) that I had to hand feed for weeks. I have special needs children, but all children are special!
My personal pages have pics that go with these stories:

Sometimes there is a pet that holds a special place in your heart, sometimes due to their extraordinary nature or their special needs - Even with the large number of pets here at our home, there are some that are just a little extra special.

Bent - The Black Copper Marans - Developmentally challenged but with a will to live - Bent was hatched on June 19, 2008 along with 7 other BC Marans. Bent did not look right when he came out of the shell, he stayed in a really long time, was upside down in the shell and I decided NOT to intervene (that old chestnut of trying to have only the fittest survive)...I left him in the incubator, alone for a really long time, and did not expect him to survive. But every time I checked, he had made a little more progress, slowly, and I mean slowly, but surely, he perked up. Eventually I moved Bent to the brooder. I still did not hold out much hope for him. He was smaller than the others, his neck was turned to the left, and his shape is just not right. To some, he should have been culled. But he is not in pain, and he seems otherwise healthy, and he has some reason for being here, for now? Bent is just that. Bent. One wing lays over the other on top of him, his feathers are very irregular, and he is tiny compared the others. But he's fine so far! We'll let him go on......he has a place here....

Bloodhead: A Marans cross chick, born here in the pet area, the other hens took a disliking to her when she hatched and tore her apart. I removed her and the rest of the hatchlings and put them in a brooder for their protection (I chose not to isolate mom with them). Bloodhead was battered, swollen and bloody. Her comb was torn, her eyes were covered with skin torn from her head, and her head was misshapen due to the trauma. I cleaned her eyes and the wounds - and prepared myself for caring for a blind chicken - I'd heard it had been done by other BYC members! Bloodhead was handfed for the first couple of weeks, I kept her in the house with a few of the other chicks for company (the rest went to the "big kid brooder" outside.) She slowly gained vision in the left eye, and her right eye, although covered with scar tissue, responds to light. Bloodhead now lives in the general population with the "teenagers" and is as fiesty as they are. She does like to be held sometimes, and enjoys the extra treats and being carried around. Otherwise, she is now a "normal" chicken - she just looks funny.

PIRATE - ONE EYED CUCKOO MARANS

Pirate was injured when she was a teeny weeny baby and her eye never healed. Her socket is empty and I have to make sure it stays clean and doesnt get infected. She is very affectionate and lets me pick her up to care for her, she sits on my shoulder while I'm out in the yard, or on my leg or shoulder while I'm visiting them. She's not very far from me when I'm out in the pet area, but she's also very independent. My kids get a kick out of seeing Pirate riding on the Llama. She may look a little different, but we think she's beautiful!

Big Sweetie - Llama

Big Sweetie is an elderly pack llama. She was about 12 years old when we bought her for $50 from a man who had rescued her from being starved to death. She was about half the weight a llama her size should be. She is seventeen years old now, and you would never know she had been so mistreated. She has the sweetest nature (thus her name) and we promised her a better life. Although Llamas have a reputation for spitting, Big Sweetie has NEVER spit at anyone - she is just too sweet to do that.

Its your choice, to cull, or keep. Depends on what you are able to manage. Dont beat yourself up about it. Do what is right for both you and your bird.

 

[Iluvmychickens]

I have a blind Rooster named Frypan, he was born blind. He lives in the house with me & my husband. He goes out side daily with the girls but unfortunately he has yet to master mating. He does what I call the dirty dance and he does court the girls. They get right in front of him & squat and bless his heart he just does not seem to know what to do.

He is the light of our lives. A very special Rooster. We let him run free in the house and when we do dishes he will come to the kitchen and peck my husbands feet as if to say Dad what are you doing? Thats Mom's job. He loves to peck at the cats and has a special love affair with our dog. Macy will lay on the floor & let Frypan walk on her & around her and never growl or gravel.

We will keep Frypan with us till the day he dies or we do.

DeeDee

 

[the1much]

FRYPAN!!! hahahaha

i love that name!! hhehehee

 

[kinnip]

Superb! Thanks kind folks. I think Scooter is in it for the long haul, assuming he/she stops eating the bedding. Now that I've seen a few other fowl with similar problems feel a lot more comfortable. I don't mind a gimpy guinea, if he/she doesn't mind being that way.