Back in September our girls earned themselves a few baby chicks after our Island Fall Fair. We brought the babies home, and were lucky enough to get a broody mama hen to bond with them so they could be “raised up right”
A few days later one of the little ones escaped from the broody coop and at only a few days old, succumbed to the cold before it could be rescued.
The other two stayed put, and were loved and nurtured.
Really nurtured. See, these two chicks were hatched with splayed leg, a condition that can occur if the humidity is off in an incubator (and one of the reasons we hen hatch our eggs) Their legs slip to the side, and the chick is unable to stand. Fortunately this is easily corrected by adding a bandaid cut lengthwise to just below the “knee joint” This keeps the legs together in the right position, and as the chick stands, the problem is solved.
Or should be.
Alas, one of the chicks wasn’t getting better, and after 6 weeks of bandaids, and “chicken therapy” I don’t think it WILL get better.
The chick belongs to my eldest daughter. It is cute and fluffy and getting to that awkward stage where it’s feathers all go in different directions. It is half the size of it’s sibling and its little leg has now rotated almost backward.
For the last few weeks I have been talking to my daughter, trying to help her find solutions (hence the chicken physical therapy). We have worked together to try and help this little one, but to no avail. The injury continues to get worse.
The other night we chatted, and I asked her if she thought this pet was in pain? If, even if we help it to survive, will it ever live a full life? Be able to roost with the flock, or mount a hen (if it is a rooster)? Will it be able to jump into a nesting box to lay an egg?
While we would love to have this little one fixed, the reality is that the availability for that isn’t there. You can’t take a 6 week old chick to the vet for knee surgery.
We talked, and we cried, and we talked some more. She was able to make the decision for this little one, on her own, that it is suffering and as it’s humans our best course of action is to help it NOT suffer.
She walked up to her dad as he was working outside and told him that she understands and is ready. He hugged her and told her how brave and kind and smart she is, and said that even for him, this is never an easy decision. That he doesn’t want this little animal to die any more than she does.
For years I was afraid of death, in fact, I probably still am. I was afraid to consider it as an option. I always felt we could do more, try more, wait more, until I could wait no more, and then I would just pretend it wasn’t going to happen.
I want my children to grow up with an honest view of death, and a healthy respect for it. To be able to learn that when it is time, they will know, and to trust their instincts. And that even though they can make a decision to take somethings life, it doesn’t make them any less kind or loving to the animals in their care.
In fact, I think it makes them MORE.