Coop for special needs chicken - ADVICE PLEASE

[TJAnonymous]

Wanted to provide my last update. Yes, this poor girl was put down this weekend. We got 4 - 6" of rain in the past few days. Despite my best efforts to place the coop in a sheltered location, the ground inside the coop was thoroughly soaked. Since my special needs girl couldn't stand, she also got soaked which led to her getting chilled. I looked in on her late Saturday afternoon. She wasn't moving and looked dead. I pulled her out. No movement. She was wet and cold but rigormortis had not set in. I started to carry her to the burn barrel and noticed her legs moving ever so slightly. She was still alive by a bare thread. I couldn't stand to see her suffer anymore so I finished her off. Made my heart hurt but needed to be done. I moved her coopmates (a small Silkie and another young pullet who is blind in 1 eye) into the main coop with everyone else. I will probably add a small roost bar and use the coop as an outdoor infirmary or brooder (with a nesting box protected from wet ground)

 

[Mother Clucker 69]

These are good suggestions. I can implement some in my soon-to-be set up.

Here's my dog house to coop so far. It will be in our flower bed area once I get it all assembled. I just need to attach the roof, which has shingles. The coop has a 30 sq ft covered run we still need to assemble, too. It has gable vents and 2 high windows for ventilation. It's basically a 3.5' x 4' box with a wall 8 can open for access/cleaning. Not the most people-friendly set up, but it should work for the chickens (pictured below the coop; ignore the duck - she's an attention hog). The buff is partially blind, and the frizzle has the slipped tendon.
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Question(s) about the frizzle: how did know she had a slipped tendon? Was she born that way? Does she have problems getting around or any other health problems?

 

[Aunt Angus]

Question(s) about the frizzle: how did know she had a slipped tendon? Was she born that way? Does she have problems getting around or any other health problems?

I adopted her specifically because she had the leg problem. An acquaintance got her as a chick from a local breeder as a day old. Twiggy (the Frizzle) was in a big order and the gal who bought her didn't notice the leg right away. When she did notice Twiggy's leg, the gal took her to a vet, and she dud the best she could to straighten it. But the leg is quite clearly deformed. It sticks out at a 90° angle. The vet said she was probably hatched that way and that there was little that could be done to fix it - even within the first few hours - because the leg was so twisted.

Twiggy is perfectly healthy otherwise. She gets around by hopping on her good leg and flapping her wings when she needs to go fast or jump. She gets around very well, honestly, and she's 4 months old, so she's pretty well grown now.

She shares a small coop that o keep in my front yard (well away from my big flock) with my one-eyed Polish, Myrtle, and my two Call ducks, Cheddar and Apple.

Here's Twiggy recently, and the coop I made from a doghouse I bought off Craigslist. I'll upload a video of her moving. If takes forrreeevvveeerrr because of my crappy internet.

And this shows how the run opens for access. These pics are before I added the bedding, feeders, etc.

 

[Mother Clucker 69]

Thank you for sharing. I have a chick possibly 2 months old and her foot looks similar. That's why I had all the questions.
My little girl came in an order of 15 chicks. We tried to splint it during the first days of her birth but it was unsuccessful. She is completely healthy but she is smaller than the others.
Still wondering what I should do for her.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Thank you for sharing. I have a chick possibly 2 months old and her foot looks similar. That's why I had all the questions.
My little girl came in an order of 15 chicks. We tried to splint it during the first days of her birth but it was unsuccessful. She is completely healthy but she is smaller than the others.
Still wondering what I should do for her.

Some folks are able to integrate them with their flocks, but I didn't want Twiggy to be mated. I also have ducks. They're not aggressive, but they are big and clumsy and could run her over. That's why I keep her separate in a small coop/run.

 

[CrystalAnon]

I have a special needs chicken who essentially has only one good leg. She clumsily hops on one leg to move around but generally lays on the ground most of the time. Her other leg is deformed and stretches straight backwards. At times she somewhat uses it for balance but not well. I currently have her in a puppy pen with some friends - 4 new ducklings who will be moving out soon, a young Silkie, and a new chick I had to take from its mother. I am hoping she will bond with the Silkie and maybe the chick but I don't really want to keep them indoors forever more. I was hoping to build a small coop with run or even buy a pre-fab one that could allow these 2-3 chickens to be out in the main run with the big chickens but still separated. It would have to be something at ground level that she could easily navigate. There's no way she could navigate a steep ramp or stairs, for example. If it's ground level, I can put down straw or shavings for them to bed down in.

Thoughts? Advice?

This is her as of today... She is a little under 2 months old now.
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My dad has a Barred Rock hen where one of her legs was injured in a predator attack. They have a fenced yard with a small area that has short fencing/border around the base of their guava tree. She just enjoys herself outside all day, under that tree. She never tries to wander. She just hops her way over to a raised steel bird cage at dusk & my dad closes her in there for the night, in case any raccoons happen to come around. She seems to be a very contented hen. She even lays eggs almost every day.
She used to have a pal with her in there that had more of the type of issue your hen has, but she could not hop around. It was more of a scooting/shuffling thing. They suspect she was the Australorp chick that fell into a bucket with water in it & almost drowned. The chick came back fine for a while, but one day they found her laying on the ground, unable to use her legs. Both legs were stretched behind her like that. My dad tried to strengthen that hens legs, doing little hen leg exercises with her. My dad actually made a little chicken sling chair for her… like those jumpy things, for babies, that go in the doorway… so she could sit up, instead of being on the ground all day. (I’ll see if I can find a pic of it) She seemed happy too! She even laid over 30 eggs in her life. She actually did get better for a while. And even walked a few times. She hung out with that other hen under the guava tree & they kept one another company. But my dad would have to carry her to the bird cage every night, to sleep with the disabled Barred Rock hen & keep eachother warm.
She ended up passing away, of unknown causes. It was after a heat wave, but it does not seem like that was the cause. She had been through heat waves before & did just fine. Though it might have stressed her enough for something else to go wrong. RIP Henny!
(I’ll post that picture of the chicken sling, if I can find it.)
Can I post a video here? Or do I need to upload it to YouTube first?

 

[Aunt Angus]

My dad has a Barred Rock hen where one of her legs was injured in a predator attack. They have a fenced yard with a small area that has short fencing/border around the base of their guava tree. She just enjoys herself outside all day, under that tree. She never tries to wander. She just hops her way over to a raised steel bird cage at dusk & my dad closes her in there for the night, in case any raccoons happen to come around. She seems to be a very contented hen. She even lays eggs almost every day.
She used to have a pal with her in there that had more of the type of issue your hen has, but she could not hop around. It was more of a scooting/shuffling thing. They suspect she was the Australorp chick that fell into a bucket with water in it & almost drowned. The chick came back fine for a while, but one day they found her laying on the ground, unable to use her legs. Both legs were stretched behind her like that. My dad tried to strengthen that hens legs, doing little hen leg exercises with her. My dad actually made a little chicken sling chair for her… like those jumpy things, for babies, that go in the doorway… so she could sit up, instead of being on the ground all day. (I’ll see if I can find a pic of it) She seemed happy too! She even laid over 30 eggs in her life. She actually did get better for a while. And even walked a few times. She hung out with that other hen under the guava tree & they kept one another company. But my dad would have to carry her to the bird cage every night, to sleep with the disabled Barred Rock hen & keep eachother warm.
She ended up passing away, of unknown causes. It was after a heat wave, but it does not seem like that was the cause. She had been through heat waves before & did just fine. Though it might have stressed her enough for something else to go wrong. RIP Henny!
(I’ll post that picture of the chicken sling, if I can find it.)
Can I post a video here? Or do I need to upload it to YouTube first?

Awwww! That's absolutely precious!

You first need to upload to YouTube or Vimeo or something similar.

 

[CrystalAnon]

Awwww! That's absolutely precious!

You first need to upload to YouTube or Vimeo or something similar.

Thank you! Will do.
I joked with my dad… “are you sure you’re okay with me posting a video of you online? You might go viral!”

 

[CrystalAnon]

Awwww! That's absolutely precious!

You first need to upload to YouTube or Vimeo or something similar.

Okay… finally got the video uploaded to YouTube.
My step sister made the frame & my step mom sewed the cloth part of the chicken sling…

 

[CrystalAnon]

Wanted to provide my last update. Yes, this poor girl was put down this weekend. We got 4 - 6" of rain in the past few days. Despite my best efforts to place the coop in a sheltered location, the ground inside the coop was thoroughly soaked. Since my special needs girl couldn't stand, she also got soaked which led to her getting chilled. I looked in on her late Saturday afternoon. She wasn't moving and looked dead. I pulled her out. No movement. She was wet and cold but rigormortis had not set in. I started to carry her to the burn barrel and noticed her legs moving ever so slightly. She was still alive by a bare thread. I couldn't stand to see her suffer anymore so I finished her off. Made my heart hurt but needed to be done. I moved her coopmates (a small Silkie and another young pullet who is blind in 1 eye) into the main coop with everyone else. I will probably add a small roost bar and use the coop as an outdoor infirmary or brooder (with a nesting box protected from wet ground)

So sorry to hear that. RIP chicken
I posted the solution my dad & our family collectively came up with on this thread. Hopefully it may help someone in the future, dealing with this issue.
We had Henny for a lot longer than we would have otherwise, I believe, due to this contraption.
Blessings!