After a severe storm here in Central Texas, I saw my Great Pyrenees Dog carrying something white acoss the front yard. He gently placed it in the tall grass by the pond & walked away. I was on my way to work & didn't have time to check it out. When I returned home over 10 hrs. later, I found a white hen huddled in the grass....still very much alive. I took her inside & she walked around on the tiled utility room choosing a hiding place just behind the recycle bin. The next day I took her in a pet carrier intending to turn her over to a wildlife rehabilitator. For many reasons, that didn't happen & I was forced to bring her home again. She was eating & drinking just fine for the first 2 days then stopped eating entirely & began to REALLY go downhill not being able to stand-up. I gave her some antibiotic I had on hand & force fed her food & water laced with antibiotic. She improved & began to eat & drink on her own again but still cannot stand. She has no obvious wounds or broken bones. Her craw fills during the day & appears empty in the morning. She poops & pees normally with a few bouts of diareha. I have been feeding her cracked corn and occasionally sunflower seeds (shelled). That is the extent of my chicken raising knowledge. I can't see myself caring for a paraplegic chicken much longer as I have to work full-time with an hours commute each way. Any suggestions?
Oh, forgot to mention I believe she was lost from the very large Tyson Chicken Barn on leased land just down the road. She appears to be a barn-raised chicken. She is not very hardy & has a body that appears abnormally large. Tyson workers have removed all the chickens & the barns are closed for what I presume is some type of decontaminating operation. So, I can't bring her back there & I don't want my Andre (dog) to get blamed for chicken stealing. Andre does roam but my neighbors (so far) love him because he keeps coyotes away. I don't believe he intended to hurt her. I presume she got loose during the pick-up by the Tyson workers & somehow during the storm Andre found her.
Injured Chicken
GalwayLady it sounds like you and Andre now have a Chicken! I have a neighbor that owns two Beautiful Great Pyranese , and they are so protective of the animals on her farm! They can be so gentle , but take their job as a predator deterrent very seriously! Just keep doing what your doing ,with Chicken baby, and give Andre a great big Hug from Me!!!
She's probably a broiler chicken raised hard & fast to get to market, I have heard that in alot of cases they can not stand on their own. But Tyson might be responding to the food recall - see Nicksmom thread "chickens food" the very last (least it was last I checked) from Crestedchik goes into the recall with more detail.
To Eufaula... Looks like you are right! My Andre (short for Andre the Giant) is an awesome sight when running off coyotes! I've seen him do it twice. He is a huge, gentle laid-back guy UNTIL he chases coyotes. Never would have believed he could move SO fast.
He now has absolutely NO interest in the rescued Tyson chicken though I'v left it out in the yard several times to enjoy the mild spring air. Guess I am stuck with the crippled hen we have now dubbed "Tyson".
To MQN - you may be exactly right about the food recall. It was just a few days after finding "Tyson" that the FDA announced they were holding chickens in several states due to the possibility of contamination of their feed. I also wondered if maybe she had been getting doses of steroids, but I didn't think Tyson did that with their hens. The barns are always VERY well maintained & the chickens appear to have plenty of room on the floor of the barn...no real overcrowding issues.
I think you are also right about her being a broiler. Her breasts & thighs are HUGE and though she has VERY stout, thick legs; she doesn't seem too proportionate. I guess I'll continue to feed her but how often & how much? I'm guessing she weighs in the neighborhood of 5-6 pounds.
I'll check out the feed updates on the feed contamination issue, thanks.
There hasn't been any chicken feed recall and the chickens that were being held from sale have been released. The chicken feed itself wasn't contaminated, it had been mixed with contaminated pet food. There's a lot more detail on the chicken issue in the two news story links I posted in that thread.
Hi there GalwayLady. You definitely have a broiler. They don't stand for too long as they get fatter. My neighbors kept some as pets ( young daughter made them) and they don't walk at all any more. If you think she is really sick, you can try at
http://www.the-coop.org/cgi-bin/UBB/ultimatebb.cgi in the emergency room section.
she should get some chicken feed, probably.
galwayLady,
I think you are doing just great and keep the baby chicken he or she will give you eggs and give that beutiful dog a hug he or she
needs it for saving that poor chicken..You take pixs for us please
we would love to see the chicken and the wonderful dog..
Keep us up dated on how she or he is doing.. Get some egg layers feed you will need to feed him or her...
Treats lettus,bananas but not the peel..
Good Luck and keep us posted..
Tracey
Thank you all for your helpful information! To "hart" I am so relieved to here the chickens were released by the FDA. To 'BackyardHens' thank you for the link to the coop.org. I have saved the sight to my favorites. To Tracy, 'nicksmom30' thank you for the encouragement! And, I would dearly love to give my wonderful Andre (Great Pyrenees) a hug. But, I rescued him from a Shelter in November and he had been abused by his previous owner. He is NOT aggressive and plays fetch (sort of) but won't let me touch him since I brought him home & let him go in the yard. We are SLOWLY making progress on that but I am OK with him keeping his space as long as it takes for him to come around to human contact. Meanwhile, he keeps guard on my 2 cats, 2 little dogs & 2 horsesand my 1 wild chicken (Road Runner left by the previous owner) All my animals are lovable cast-offs from irresponsible owners except for 1 of my horses.
Last night when I returned home from work, Tyson was VERY energetic but sadly still unable to stand or walk. I put her outside & she ate grass & I think a little sand. I have purchased some 'scratch' feed & added that to the cracked corn. She seems to be having difficulty recognizing her water dish. I held it up to her beak 3 times before she drank and then she drank heavily pausing once for a very comical "Ahh" sound. She is now putting her legs underneath her & pushing herself along the ground with some assistance from her wings. She seems to enjoy the freedom of movement, so I no longer keep her in a carrier. She is on an old quilt in my utility room. This is a temporary arrangement as it is VERY labor intensive to keep it clean. My husband will surely go straight to heaven & be greeted by the animal angels for putting up with me & my motley crew.
I will post a few pictures this weekend. Hopefully one with her on 2 feet!
Sorry for the LONG post. Thanks again for all your help!
Margie
Margie, she'd probably be just as happy in a box full of straw or wood shavings and that would be a lot easier to keep clean. Just change the shavings/straw few days.
I think the animal angels will be greeting both of you. :>)
Well Bless Your Sweet Heart! You are certainly an added angel to our little DG Group! All those lucky additions to your family certainly know you are!
As For Tyson, she will have to learn how to drink from a dish! Most Egg And Meat factories have their "Product" drinking from tiny little nozzles or drip fixtures and they have a hard time adjusting to drinking from anything that isnt above their heads. But I believe Tyson is going to do fine!
Now Your Andre, well all I can say is that you have a magnificent beast there! He obviously trusts you or he woulnt stay there. We all have had certain people in our lives that we didnt trust to hug, but knew that they needed taking care of ! I guess Andre knows there is something about you all that he needs to protect and deserves to give the benefit of the doubt! He will come around, animals know what is best for them, and we all know that they are the best judge of Character!
Well I FINALLY have a minute to give an update on Tyson. She is doing well. She has had a bath....out of necessity. Diareha is gone. Most importantly, this morning she is actually standing up on both legs. My huband & I trade stories on her progress like 2 new parents. Attached is a picture of her with her new best friend, Andre the giant.
One last question to bug you all with...how much should I be feeding her?
As much as she will!!!!
Now that is a beautiful picture!!!!
This message was edited May 16, 2007 6:46 PM
She definitely looks a lot like my neighbors' chickens who are meat birds. I will post a picture of what the future may hold for her, sizewise :) They are so fat now, they hardly walk.
She may not live super long, if she truly is a meatbird. My neighbors' birds are about 15 months and they only have a few left. But she can have a happy life for what it is, thanks to you. She seems so sweet!
If it is cold, you can always blowdry chickens if you have to bathe them. They seem to like it!
I would free feed her as much as she wants. She deserves it!
That picture is so cute! I'm so glad to see Andre's rescue is doing better.
Eufaula, BackyardHends & Hart. Thank you all. Backyard, she really does resemble the pic you posted. I am giving her scratch, cracked corn and occasionally sunflower seeds. She picks at some crushed dry cat food occasionally. She now stays outside (under adult supervision...just in case) for hours at a time. She LOVES pecking at bugs, grit & grass. By the way, she has mastered the water dish just fine. She's quite the guzzler! She didn't seem to get too chilled after her bath. But, it was a very hot day & I towel dried her pretty good.
She seems to have lost a little weight but it doesn't seem to affect her. She now stands for several minutes in place & even takes a few wobbly steps. She uses her wings to stablize herself. I have to laugh cause my husband just had knee surgery & is on crutches. She kinda looks like him with her little wing tips holding her up on each side. I asked him to take her with him to physical therapy. He didn't appreciate the comparison or the suggestion. I told him "Well, she is doing just like you and building up her time on two legs slowly; not overdoing it. Just thought you'd enjoy her company!"
Thanks again for all your help! So glad I found this forum. I love reading all the postings & looking at the pictures. It's like a support group for animal/chicken lovers! LOL.
