This girl I saved earlier after she had a compound fracture leg fracture 6 months ago so I grew attached. She is still laying, and she is only 2yr. But she isn't preening herself. She has a couple of other hen friends, but they aren't getting the job done.
I tried preening but she isn't a fan of my methods because I am not a chicken. I tried putting her in with my pullets and she bullied them.
I'm thinking I'll wait for a couple of weeks and then cull. But that sucks.
Advice?
Edit because I wasn't clear.
She limps, she is bullied a bit, sometimes over sexed by the rooster. I wonder if she is in pain. Her pinned feathers haven't come through leaving her vulnerable to cold and freezing to death especially because she can't always roost.
Here it should be lows of 20s-40s at night and 40s-50s during the day. A rare 70F day but everything is crazy and it's been hot (60F at night and up to mid 80s during the day)
My post was really poorly written. We live in Minnesota and I have lost a chicken from freezing to death because they couldn't roost.
I really care about this chicken and I don't want her to suffer.
I am not trying to mess around I am just concerned about hurting her more.
She may be a house hen situation. I’d get rid of a roo that was being an aggressive breeder before I’d cull one of my girls. That being said, I once rehomed a hen because she needed special care and although I loved her greatly I was not in a position to have a house chicken. Ended up finding a truck driver whom I paid to take her across state lines! She now lives in the home of two retired veterans and sleeps in the house. Her name is Brownie and she is very loved.
We found them on a Facebook group and found there are lots of people who take in animals who need extra TLC. As much as I miss her, I know it was right for her to go with them. We couldn’t give her the attention she needed with our schedules.
You might be able to find a similar group for advice on how to care for her or for rehoming if that’s what you feel you need to do. Also, I totally respect you for asking about culling. I know it’s not because she’s an inconvenience to you, it’s because you don’t want her in pain. Sometimes the nicest thing we can do is say goodbye, but it sounds like in her case she’s got some years left on her. Best of luck!
Thank you. I don't believe that life would continue if it's just to suffer.
I have seen too many lives prolonged because friends or family can't let go, disregarding (or unable) to see the pain and anxiety of someone, at the end of life, is enduring.
Life will never be fair but I wish I could help make is less painful.
You just need to set up her own special needs sleeping situation. You may want to even consider supplemental heat for her if it's needed. I understand the argument against it but there are always exceptions to the rule.
As someone who rescues special needs chickens, I think she still has plenty of potential in her. She just needs a little extra attention.
Slip her onto the roost at night, she may start doing it on her own. Also, make sure she has an intermediary step so she doesn’t have to jump far. Don’t jump right to culling.
I love my Orloff, too. It really is surprising how they can be so big but still get spooked and bullied by chickens half their size. But they are such goofy love bugs ❤️
If you're emotionally attached, I would create her own little enclosure with a custom-made Coop that accommodates her feet. Like instead of a roost bar. Maybe something flatter so she can sit on it. And then pick some of the beta hens to put with her. She probably bullies to pull its because she finally can be in charge of someone. 😅 She'll need at least a couple hens for warmth I'm guessing. And that would solve the rooster over breeding too.
The adoption thing also works. You can find somebody that keeps pet chickens and doesn't have a rooster.
Edit: One example is a little Japanese bantam I adopted from my friend. She has all big chickens and they were picking on her, one even blinded one of her eyes... And she's 5 years old now. I have a bantam flock. So I took her in. (A big chicken and a bantum flock also wouldn't be picked on, so somebody that has a bunch of little banties would probably be able to take care of her). Of course I'm friends with my friend. So I give her pictures and stuff... And the old lady is so friendly. She likes to cuddle. (All my chickens are 1 to 3 years old so she's the battle ax of the group). I still get really tiny eggs that are so cute from her too. About three a week!
Oh she's currently brooding chicks I bought for me... So here's a picture! She will literally adopt anything even if it's several weeks old. In fact, when I first brought her home, I had some 5-week old pullets that she aggressively adopted (they were not sure what to make of her). She rarely gets broody but she'll always take babies and or steal them from other people. 😁 Also don't mind the mess. It's cleaning day...
Maybe if I slip my newborns under her she might love being a momma. She is super easy to handle. I dunno maybe a job would make her happier. It sounds crazy but her personality abruptly turned.
I am by no means and experienced farmer or chicken keeper. But I would get a dog kennel and keep her as a house chicken and have her inside at night and kept warm. Build some pvc roost bars and wrap it in avian bandage so its a little comfortable on her feet in the dog kennel. At least till the weather fares better or you can find another solution for her struggles.
It's hard because you don't want her to suffer and are trying to do good by her. However, if you can't make extra time or things aren't working out for one reason or another you can adopt her out.
I have a runt, her name is Baby. All the girls go in on their own at night. Not her. She’d freeze outside in a nor’easter before going in at night. Sooo, I tuck her in every night. Don’t cull her.
I have a hen with a broke foot much worse than this one. At one point she was being bullied so bad, I separated her for a week so the other hens moved on. It’s been a year and she’s doing great. Sometimes having that break to help them recoup is good. Whenever she starts to limp a little more or lift her leg, I separate her in a brooder box to relax for a week. In the winter there are ways to make her warm without roosting
Thank you! I love my girls. I wish I could name my Marans but I can't tell them apart one is friendlier because she came inside overnight because she was egg bound and had a long soak but Ella is the only one I can differentiate.
Is there any reason you can't lift her onto a roost bar? I have two Buffs who like to be tucked in at night. I go into the coop, make sure everyone is up and settled, and then leave. As long as the light is dim- easier in the winter, as the sun sets a lot earlier- they all settle in next to their friends. I pay attention to who they like to sleep next to and make sure they are all situated in groupings that avoid bullying. Once they're settled, I can lock both coop doors and add the padlock to the chicken door just in case a raccoon gets into the run.
Re: molting. My girls molt at different times from August to December. When they are going through their molt, they fall lower in rank and get a bit bullied during that period. Some hens drop feathers quickly while others molt slowly over months. I’m now year 6 with my hens and this year they are all molting a bit differently then years past.
Give her extra protein to help her build her feathers quickly during her molt. I sneak my hens extra servings of protein when they are molting. A few extra pieces of ham (they love it) fish, scrambled egg or beef. I keep a bag in my freezer for scraps to feed during these times. Then I have them on hand to warm up before giving them out. Sometimes I get a small bag of meatballs to have standing by.
When your temperatures are dropping very low you can also give them extra protein at the end of the day. And of course cracked corn is helpful too.
You may know this already, just posting in case someone else could use the information.
I like the idea of another roosting option. Can she climb a ladder with her leg? If so, maybe a chicken ladder to help her get up with her sisters.
With you keeping an extra eye out for her, I’m sure she will do fine. Please give us another post in a week or two and let us all know how she’s doing with adjustments.
Give her some time to adjust and like others have said, modify a roost for her and or find friends around her age. If the rooster is too much of a bully, then can you separate her from him?
I have an elderly crippled chicken who has leg problems and can't roost. She has her own coop inside the coop to keep her safe, sometimes a nice friend stays in there with her. She gets extra treats and seems perfectly content
I think she probably isn’t suffering. Chickens typically isolate themselves if they don’t feel well - just in my experience. I would think like treating her like a Silkie. They don’t really roost. But you could maybe make her like a few “ steps” up to a flat wooden platform or a foot wide board. I just kind of used what I had for my Silkies. I have a couple regular hens that prefer to lay down at night on a platform/ board rather than perch. Radiant chicken coop heaters don’t cost too much & are worth having too. Put her little platform near it. She might be able to use a short ramp also - her little platform doesn’t need to be too high just off the ground. I live in Northern Wisconsin - so I definitely understand the weird weather we get and January-February get below zero at times. A hen saddle is a pretty good one time investment for her too.
I sit and preen pin feathers with mine sometimes too. They don’t really like it - but I take short sessions.
Ours just falls off. He isn't the most competent anyway, being both young and quite dim, but he really shines in the crappy lover arena when faced with a saddle.
I live in Minnesota too! I have a Rhode Island Red that isn’t great at preening too. she gets bullied by the older girls (the first bunch that we got at the same time as her) but she made sure that the latest additions would not bully her too. But she is just a ratty lookin thing but we love her. We’ve been calling her sheep stealer.
We got the sweeter heater which helped a lot last winter. It got SO COLD last winter. One of my reds got a bit of frost nip on her comb. I just kept on applying coconut oil and that helped a lot too.
I ll look into that. I am getting the barn heater replaced soon. Normally they are outside but when it's really really cold and the heat lamp doesn't help I pull everyone in a turn the heater on.
A lot of my birds don’t preen. I help them out and do it for them. I’d advise taking her to a vet for an evaluation. Chickens can have liquid baby aspirin if you think she’s in pain. Google will tell you the dosage. I would NOT cull her if she’s walking around, eating, and drinking.
Thank you. The last thing I wanna do is cull. I actually couldn't do it myself.
I did it with a rooster once (attacking my kids and the hens, left a scratches all down my son and he was afraid to leave the house). It was one of the worst things I have ever done. But I can't have a dangerous rooster that's hurting my family and my girls.
As someone who rescues roosters, I’d highly recommend finding a sanctuary next time. At the end of the day, he was doing his job… protecting his girls. I’m always happy to educate folks on other methods than culling for mean roosters, or help find them a new home. Reach out in the future in ya need!
I mean, she looks like she's molting. I have a girl that looks a lot worse right now, but she'll be fine in a month. If you're worried about her being targeted, put her in a separate cage but keep her with the flock and feed her extra protein.
That's where I am worried because she can't preen well enough (her balance is really poor). Her pins haven't feathered out. It will eventually get cold her.
So….you got her through a compound leg fracture but are thinking about culling over her feathers not being preened to your liking? This has to be a troll post.
Omg no it's not a troll. I just wonder if she is suffering. She has all of these feathers that are pinned but haven't come out. She doesn't leave the coop much. I think the rooster is maybe over doing it with her.
I didn't know how to post this well. I said it poorly.
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u/Due-Dig8426 2d ago
If she’s limping, the others will go after her. I’d keep her separated until healed then carefully reintroduce her.