I am glad she is better..a few years ago I had a hen that was 12....yep 12 an opossum or something got her while she was sitting eggs..bit a huge hole in her back..it effected her spinal cord I think she lost control of her legs..I brought her in gave her pcn and kept it clean...after a few weeks she gained some control over her legs..I took a cardboard box and cut a hole in the top to sit her so her legs hung down..we tickled them so she would pull them up...she walked like she had to move one leg at a time..very slow and high and animated..I kept her in the house in my dog grooming tub for another 4 yrs...when I worked I put her under the kitchen table on some news paper in a house full of boxers...never a problem and she was always on the paper when I came to put her back in the tub...If I put her outside the door she sat right near the door but if it was evening she would climb 3 stairs and wait at my grooming room door to be picked up and put in the tub...we bought her worms from the pet store in the winters as treats...Henrietta we called her...16 yrs when she died..I still have one of her feathers...
WOW that's a LONG time. I got this hen along with about 6 others and a bad ole Rooster named Tyrone from a lady who was moving to a subdivision that didn't allow chickens - so they were "rescues" . They named 1 hen Floppy due to her floppy comb. They were really nice people and had used the chickens for the children and 4-H.
Anyway several of the hens have died over the years. My neighbor has 2 of them (the Tyrone daughters, Tyrese and Tyronda - they are as bad as their Daddy and beat up other chickens) and I still have 2 of them left. I got them I think 4 years ago (maybe 5?)? I think I was told they were 2-3 years old then. So that's how I calculate 5-7 years - not really sure. I bet that lady reads this forum also <G>. She was probably sad when I reported that Floppy had died.
If she reads this - can you remind me how long you've been at your new house? Then I'll know when I got them <G>. I'll take a new picture of her to post - her feet look funny with the stains from the Blue Kote Spray.
I had one hen that broke her leg and I kept her in the bathroom most of the winter (closed vent in that room) a few years ago. She managed to recuperate but 1 leg looks very different from the other due to the way the break healed. She's about 5 years old now. I've never lost a hen to a predator thankfully.
I've been saving feathers this past year (have about 15 different varieties of chickens and lots of colors) - what in the world do I do with them?