I came to post a miraculous chick story and I just saw iheartpoultry's story which is somewhat similar to ours!!!
I had a maran hatch and from the moment he/she hatched, it was sticky and finally needed assistance getting out of the bottom half of the shell. It was a sticky DISASTER. Super sticky, pieces of shell stuck to it and the worst part, was it just wanted to lay on its back and chirp. It couldn't get up...we'd try setting it up and it would flop over and fall on its back and just lay there chirping.
As time went on and we'd cleaned it off a bit, we left it in the bator, hoping for the best. Well...we were sure she'd die. She just couldnt get off her back and laid there with her little feet in the air. Now don't get me wrong - I used to be a vet tech - I have been in the OR and I've stood by for animals being euthanized when they've been too injured or too old and sick to go on,
The only thing was, this little one would chirp to high heaven at times - she had some FIGHT in her like she was desperate to live. But the she'd get quiet and a few times, I truly thought she'd pass and I kept telling my husband we needed to cull her and not let her go on (I also noticed one wing appeared shorter than the other and if we sat her upright, she had almost a hunchback appearance. Then she'd flop on her back again, pathetically.
Well my husband was busy and honestly, I just couldn't bring myself to do it!!! Something about this little one just bothered me and I couldn't do it. I told the kids she was dying. And when I checked back again, she was laying on her back still...breathing very shallow. This was it, I thought. Yet something (I don't know WHAT) said "let her be..."
I went to sit on the couch for a bit and take some notes and I planned on demanding my husband cull her if she lived to see him get home.
Well all of the sudden I started to hear frantic, repeated chirping like she was trying to get my attention. It was louder and very repetitive - it was different.
So I ran over to the bator and she was up on her FEET! All by herself!!!! And she was looking up out of the bator like "HELLO??!!!! Lemme outta here!!!"
I thought it was a fluke and she'd fall over again - but no! She stayed on her feet & started running around the bator! I watched her a bit - couldn't believe it. I got a bunch of stuff ready to give her a bath and remove any residual stickiness, shell fragments, etc.
She was a disaster but she chirped and squirmed like crazy for her bath! I noticed her fluff is sparse in some parts...her one wing was smaller...her overall stature was weird. After her bath, I put her in her own little cardboard box in the brooder so the others wouldn't bother her for a bit. I honestly figured "Ok...now she'll likely die after all of that..."
I had an errand to run and fully expected to come home to a dead chick. Nope! She was just hanging out! I let her assimilate in with the others. Still not hopeful.
But here we are and although she's quite awkward and weird looking right now (her pictures actually don't look too bad compared to real life lol) but she's eating, drinking, running around now and her wing seems to not be as misshapen as it originally was. Her fluff is scraggly and her stature is still a bit funky but she's straightened up a bit...but she's AMAZING!!
I'm SO glad I listened to whatever that voice was, telling me not to cull her yet. Because I'm not kidding - this chickie was on death's doorstep and I'd steady counted her as a death.
So even if she's awkward - at least if her quality of life is good and she is eating, drinking and getting around normal, she'll just stay as my pet - no breeding or anything of course...for now I've been calling her Frankie for "Frankenstein" due to her wonky physical appearance lol but today has by far been her best "looking" day.
I hope she has a long, happy life with us
Don't always give up...& sometimes if there's a little voice telling you something else, it can pay to listen!
