One evening in May 2016, at Aark, someone dropped off a white chicken they had found walking along the road somewhere in NE Philadelphia. Nothing was wrong with it. We don't really take in domestic animals, but since there are already chickens there, this one was let out to wander with them.
I loved this chicken. It was very friendly and walked around like it owned the place. And it laid an egg here and there. One day in May 2016, when I was performing my normal chores, I saw a pile of white feathers out where we put the baby ducks. I ran over and realized it was the white chicken and she had been attacked by a hawk. She was still alive, but in bad shape. I took her inside and we washed her up. Apparently the hawk tried to lift her by her head. She had a couple of big gashes and was seemingly blind. My supervisor gave her some Arnica and I set up a nice cage for her in the barn.
I checked on her during the week and was told she was doing fine, but when I went in the following week, she was out of the cage, just sitting on the floor. I went to pick her up and she dashed under a cage and stayed there the four hours I was working. I decided I wanted to take her home and try to nurse her back to health. Eventually, I was allowed.
She was a mess. One eye completely shut and blind in the other. Chickens don't eat in the dark so she was getting really skinny. I knew if I didn't get her to eat, I would lose her. John bought some chicken vitamins, so I mixed some in water and when I would splash my fingers around in it, she finally came over to drink. I also was putting eyedrops in both eyes. I gave her the vitamin water for a few days, then decided to mix the vitamins in with some chicken feed and egg yolk. I mixed up the mash, John held her, and I force fed her the food. I did this for a few days. Then I put a bowl of food in the coop with her and tapped my finger on it like I was a chicken eating. Nothing happened. I took care of my other animals, came back and peered in the coop and saw she was eating on her own!!!
Now, a year and 3 quarters later, she if a healthy chicken. Her head is a little cocked to the side, and she can't see really well, but she sees enough. Her name is Georgie Girl. My other two chickens don't care for her. At first I kept her with Chuck, but once Frankie grew up, I had to separate them. So Georgie was all alone.
I had Georgie Girl for 4 years. Brought her home from the Aark on May 4, 2016 and had her put down January 30, 2020. In 2018 I brought home another chicken from the Aark. She was limping and her beak was trimmed. She and Georgie Girl became friends. The stayed in the same coop together separate from my other 6 chickens. Tina died two years later from an infection. Georgie didn't last a year after that. She stopped eating and just stood around the run. I tube fed her, but that didn't help. Just prolonged whatever she was going through. I took her to Dublin vet. They did an x-ray and discovered a tumor. I didn't want her to suffer. I knew if I took her home she would just starve to death. So I had her put down. Very sad day for me. She was my favorite chicken. Always came when I called her. RIP my beautiful Georgie Girl.
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