We've got a gimpy chicken.
Apparently Steveo looked outside this afternoon and saw two chickens frolicking in the yard and the third laying under a bush. He went to investigate and found that the chicken in the bush was Stella, who proceeded to hop to him on one leg. When we went outside a bit later and found them all hanging out, Steveo caught us up on the situation. Chickens are not the most graceful animals, so Stella looked pretty pathetic hobbling around on her one good leg.
We couldn't see any visible injury—she didn't step on a nail or anything—so Kelly held her while Steveo felt around on her leg and her foot. She didn't seem like she felt pain in response to anything he did to her, and aside from general chicken resentment at being held and poked, she didn't react much at all.
So, we aren't really sure what happened to her, nor do we know how the chickens ended up outside of their pen. My theory is that they were feeling adventurous and Stella kung-fu kicked the door of the pen open, hurting her leg in the process. Or maybe not.
She's mobile and she can hop up into their house, so we think she'll be fine. She also puts her pain aside and breaks into a lopsided, limping sprint when you trick her into thinking you've got food. Damn birds.
Sorry 'bout the shaky camera work ... I was trying to outrun the chickens.
They move quick when there's food involved
7 comments:
ha ha - I loved the image of the kung-fu kick. Maybe it could happen!!! Poor little Stella...she sure can move fast when she thinks treats are in store!
My Rhode Island Red chicks are developing the most beautiful wing feathers....it appears that they are going to even out into one solid color, but right now they are light and dark red, tan, some varieties of brown...all mixed together. Pretty!
You know, your girls look so...pugnacious with those beaks of theirs! Like, don't mess with ME.
I hope Stella's fine. (Is she named after the Streetcar character?)
Keegan LOVES the chickens, guys!!
Nice blog ;-)
-Cousin Cyn and Keegs XO
Danni, I think her ability to overcome pain in the face of food is part of the reason why she's the fattest chicken by far.
El, ha! You're right, they look kind of scrappy--like 1920s NYC street urchins.
Cyndi and Keegan, glad you guys like the chickens! I'll tell them you said hello ;) Thanks for stopping by!
I dont know if you figured out the foot thing yet, but one of my Golden Comets bottom of her foot became swollen and hot, I was hesitent to poke it, vet poked it and suggested soaking it in epsom salts (yea right, how do I do that) $40 out of my pocket.
It happened to another hen so I poked it this time right at dusk, gave it a squeeze put antibiotic cream on it and set her on her perch to give it overnight to set in, and within a couple of days she was better. I hope this helps.
I'm glad to read that she's feeling better now. She has quite a stubby cute beak, doesn't she. Most of our hens have super sharp pointy beaks. I wish they were stubbier. haha
Our hens are super needy and love to be held, petted and in your face. So whenever I walk into our coop, they are always underfoot....and literally under foot. I often step on little toes, even though I tend to tip toe among our girls.
They squawk at me to get off their toes, but they just never catch onto the idea to back off and give me some space! haha
Silly birds.
Sugarcreekstuff, good to know! Thanks! I've also read about soaking their feet to hep with an injury, and I had the same thought as you--how the heck do you do that!? I hadn't thought of putting antibiotic cream on there, but I'll definitely remember that for the future.
Twinville, isn't it funny how they swarm you when you come into their run? I'm always afraid I'm going to stomp on one of them, and I know I've gotten some toes in the past.
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