I’m worried about Henny Chesney’s leg. I got my son to hold her today while I changed her splint and I could see her leg is clearly bent. It almost looks like the bones aren’t meeting up like they should, like she’ll never be able to use her leg like this.
Again, she’s a chicken. Most people would put her down. Not gonna happen at this point. I actually called several vets, including an avian vet, who specializes in birds of all sizes. They all refuse to even look at a chicken. I find that very sad. We consume so many chickens and their eggs on a daily basis, yet when looked at as a live animal, no one cares about its quality of life. Rant over.
So I called my vet who I use for horses. I know she doesn’t usually see animals like chickens, but I know she’s compassionate towards animals, especially after crying with me when she had to put down my horse last fall.
She agreed to see Henny to make sure her leg is healing, so we load up and Henny takes a ride to the vet. My vet is very impressed with my splint and at how great Henny is adapting to everything, including laying an egg every single day. The point of the break felt hard and seemed to be healed. She tells me the only thing she can do is get an x-ray to see how the bones are lining up. So I agree (hadn’t told my husband I took the chicken to the vet) knowing x-rays aren’t cheap.
The x-ray shows that the bones aren’t perfectly aligned, but bone is forming around the break and with a few more weeks of taking it easy – no jumping off of a roost, no roosters jumping on her, etc., Henny Chesney should be just fine. She’ll always walk with a little limp and will always have a slightly crooked leg, but other than that, she’s in great shape. I’m so relieved!
She is starting to put the broken leg down when she eats. She doesn’t put weight on it, but she is starting to use it to help balance herself while eating, drinking and cleaning her feathers.
Progress! I’ll take it.
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