In early April, my neighbor called. One of her hens had hatched 3 little babies and she was so excited. Two days later she called to say that one of her dogs had gotten loose and attacked the babies - one was dead, one was injured and one survived - can you take the injured one? Well, since "chicken math" had already gotten the best of me (6+5+5=16, +2 in the brooder) what the heck was one more? So she brought him/her over and the poor little thing had a broken leg/hip, mangled foot and several puncture wounds. I had no doubt it was going to die - this was on April 12th. I happened to have a hamster cage out back which would be perfect! For the first 48 hours it was touch and go - he wouldn't eat or drink on his own so I was taking care of him every couple of hours. Every time I would get near the cage he would start peeping like crazy so my hubby (who couldn't believe we got ANOTHER chicken) soon started calling him Mr. Peeps. By day three Mr. Peeps had figured out that if he wedged himself between the water and food dishes, he could eat and drink without moving!!
I took about three weeks for him to be able to stand on his own without falling over but before I knew it, he was hopping around and peeping (and pooing) all on his own.
here you can see what's left of his mangled foot
Soon after I noticed he wasn't really growing very fast, even for a banty he was pretty small. I was holding him and cuddling him and discovered he was INFESTED!! He was covered in lice and mites - how I never noticed before is beyond me but here was my moment of panic - should I treat him or cull him? He was already weak and permanently handicapped. I couldn't do it - I had to try so off to the feed store to find something non-toxic. Home I came and much to his dismay, proceeded to practically drown him in the kitchen sink. It worked though and within a week he nearly doubled in size.
Of all the chicks I have raised at this point, he is the sweetest little guy - he loves to snuggle up in my husbands beard and makes the cutest little peeping purring noise! He enjoys sitting on my lap and is very devoted to me.
We have started going outside exploring and he never strays very far - if something seems scary he immediately runs or flies to me and gets between my feet until the coast is clear. His absolute favorite thing in the world is taking a dust bath!!! He goes crazy and flips and flops and spins around.
I've tried a couple of times to introduce him the girls but they have been very rude and so for now, he will be our little house chicken. He's moved on to a bigger cage but he's still pretty small. And even though he has a bad foot on the left and a bad leg on the right, he still seems to get along just fine!!
I'm really not sure if he is a he or a she but figured I would just presume he is a he then if he is a she and lays an egg someday I will be happy!!! Either way, he will always be my Mr.Peeps!!!
I took about three weeks for him to be able to stand on his own without falling over but before I knew it, he was hopping around and peeping (and pooing) all on his own.
here you can see what's left of his mangled foot
Soon after I noticed he wasn't really growing very fast, even for a banty he was pretty small. I was holding him and cuddling him and discovered he was INFESTED!! He was covered in lice and mites - how I never noticed before is beyond me but here was my moment of panic - should I treat him or cull him? He was already weak and permanently handicapped. I couldn't do it - I had to try so off to the feed store to find something non-toxic. Home I came and much to his dismay, proceeded to practically drown him in the kitchen sink. It worked though and within a week he nearly doubled in size.
Of all the chicks I have raised at this point, he is the sweetest little guy - he loves to snuggle up in my husbands beard and makes the cutest little peeping purring noise! He enjoys sitting on my lap and is very devoted to me.
We have started going outside exploring and he never strays very far - if something seems scary he immediately runs or flies to me and gets between my feet until the coast is clear. His absolute favorite thing in the world is taking a dust bath!!! He goes crazy and flips and flops and spins around.
I've tried a couple of times to introduce him the girls but they have been very rude and so for now, he will be our little house chicken. He's moved on to a bigger cage but he's still pretty small. And even though he has a bad foot on the left and a bad leg on the right, he still seems to get along just fine!!
I'm really not sure if he is a he or a she but figured I would just presume he is a he then if he is a she and lays an egg someday I will be happy!!! Either way, he will always be my Mr.Peeps!!!