Chick-a-boom, Chick-a-boom, Chick-a-boom

That is the sound a one legged chicken makes when they're scooting across your living room floor.  So, during the crazy Polar Vortex (which many of you might not have heard of since practically NO ONE heard when the derecho hit WV, but seemingly everyone heard when some half-wits in Charleston didn't want to poop in yellow water...)  we tried everything to keep our chickens warm.  I mean, normally we don't get temperatures this low during the winter.

We had heat lamps, trough heaters, copious amounts of bedding, and tar paper stapled to the walls of the buildings, in every effort to insulate from the howling winds that were dropping the wind chills into the negatives.  And, for the most part, we came out of it ok.  It was several weeks that passed before the kids commented the one of the chickens was acting 'broody'.  I thought it peculiar because she wasn't laying.

Upon closer inspection, she wasn't able to flex one of her feet, and her legs were very warm to the touch.  We brought her home, gave her a bath since she had a poopy butt, and set her in a little cardboard box to hang out while we tried to figure out what was going on with her.

We, of course, turned to the Pet Chicken Owners of Virginia Facebook group for answers.  These guys (also found online at http://www.petchickensofvirginia.com) are a wonderful wealth of information.  Fanciers across Virginia with way more experience when it comes to these feathered fellows are on there almost as much as I am, reading, answering questions, sharing pictures and jokes, and even a few good deals.  They organize swaps across the state, and all in all, a great group of people to be associated with.

The first concern everyone had was Marek's, but thankfully that wasn't it.  Someone thought maybe a sprain.  After a few days of her not improving, we consulted a veterinarian.  Dr. Willis is probably one of the most tolerant veterinarians out there.  It is a very rare occasion when he will take any sort of payment for a kid's animal or advice, and that's really appreciated when it comes to livestock.  He felt that there was a good chance she had frostbite!

After a week or so, the pad of her bad foot turned hard and black. Just the pad though, the legs were in good shape.  The veterinarian felt she'd make a full recovery, just needed time.  In the meantime, Gladys as she came to be known made herself right at home.

She had improved, and enjoys daily treats of scrambled eggs (which still gives me the heebiejeebies), oatmeal, and chopped fruit.  She makes an utter mess, which results in daily Dust Buster use, but she seems to enjoy being inside.

Not far from her, in two incubators, we have eggs slowly being rotated by automatic turners, in hopes that in just a couple more weeks, we'll have some fuzzies to join her.  Cross your fingers!!!