I have a Rhode Island Red hen that was given to me. She had been the last hen of my neighbor's that did not get eaten by coyotes. Red was always kind of a loner chicken and would be out by herself away from other chickens. She laid a brown egg almost every day. One night we heard a ruckus in the hen house. I went out there and opened the door. There was a possum in there grinning. It had not killed any chickens yet and I ran it off with a stick. Counted the hens, and Red was missing. We went out and found her in the dark. Something was wrong with her. She was ataxic (loopy). She had sustained a head injury flying out of the henhouse. The next day she could not stand, eat or drink. She would just flip upside down. So for several months I kept her propped up on towels and hand fed her bites of chicken mash wet with vitamin water by putting it into her beak. By golly, she got well. But she still wasn't quite right and had a crazy look in her eye. I had to leave to work on my place in Oregon and I took her with me because I knew the other hens would be mean to her because she was different and probably kill her. So she rode across the country in a cage in the back of my truck. Whenever we crossed agricultural inspection stations I hid her under my coat. She lived in Oregon in a horse stall laying eggs every morning. Here she is
I brought her back to Texas and now she holds her own in the hen yard. She is actually quite high in the pecking order because the other hens know she is crazy. When other hens approach she fixes on them a crazy red eye and moves her head in a circular motion just before she attacks. Even dominant hens want no part of that. She is still a good layer of brown eggs. I am glad I saved and doctored this chicken.
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