We've had an injury here at Chicken Scratch. NOT our first, by any stretch, but the first caused by a child. Since it was about to rain, I asked my daughter to go out and get the little chicks from the outside brooder and bring them back into the inside brooder so they wouldn't get rained on. The outside brooder is a heavy 2x4 box covered in chicken wire-- top, sides, the whole nine yards. That means that the top is heavy, too. And it's tempting to lift it on it's hinges and then let it drop to the ground, which is what my kids usually do. Of course, they usually do this when there's no one around. But there were many someones around the outside brooder today, getting a look at the "new" chicks. Unfortunately, my daughter didn't really look when she opened the top and let it fall onto the grass, and BANG!
We now have a hospital resident.
This is one of our two little Welsummer pullets. We call her Yellowlegs. Actually we call them both Yellowlegs because they look exactly alike. This Yellowlegs got her leg caught in the path of the heavy falling lid and *snap* it's now broken.
Yeehaw.
I'm not much accustomed to having a chicken in my living room as a guest, but I will say, this one is pretty personable. She was calm and relaxed as I splinted her leg, and was sweet and sat to be petted. (Not that she could run away!--poor little monkey) She talks when I walk past her from her cage in the living room. I hear little bock-bocks directed towards my ankles. It's pretty funny, really.
She's not staying in the living room forever. She's got a 24 hour pass to be here, so I can make sure there are no stupid complications from this, and then out she goes to be in the garage-barn in her hospital cage. She won't get back into gen-pop until she's all healed.
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| See my craptacular splinting prowess? Four popsicle sticks, a bunch of Vetwrap, and a whole LOT of athletic tape. That sucker's not moving! |
Isn't it funny how, when you run a farm, you wind up with the most unexpected animals in your home? I've had geese in my bathroom for first aid, goslings and ducklings in my bathtub for warm swims, chickens in the kitchen accidentally, and now a chicken in the living room. C'est la vie!
Aw, poor little guy. We've had plenty of babies in the house but no sick ones yet. The brooder is empty so it has been used as a sick bay far too many times in the little while then I like to admit. It's kept in the horse barn away from the other chickens.
ReplyDeleteWe have an injured chicken in our house right now too. It is from our dog! They have been together coexisting for the 5 months we've had the chicks without any problems, and yesterday, she decided to pounce and pull feathers off of our little one, Blondie. We (hubby and I) are still in disbelief that the pup did that.
ReplyDeleteWe are new to raising chickens. We read that we cannot introduce her back with the other chickens until she is 100% because they will peck at her. What has been your experience? How long does it take and how do you know when they are ready to go back with the rest?