Dean's Pet

(Just in case you're wondering... still waiting... read previous post for explanation if that makes no sense to you)

Here are the meat 'chicks' or 'the wedding dinner' as they are also referred to. Getting close to the end of their lives. In the meantime there has been one chick who hasn't thrived. His (its become apparent he's a he) legs were not able to properly support him after about a month. This sometimes happens with the fast and heavy growth of meat chicks. (its never happened to chicks I've had before, though). He made do using his wings to get him around on his less than adequate legs. But as his compatriots grew and grew, he had a harder and harder time getting his share of the food and water. I started to call him my 'little friend' and would try to angle the food trough towards him when I fed them. But alas he continued to weaken. I usually let nature take its course with meat chicks and it seemed that his death was immanent. But every time I went out there expecting to see him dead, he would pop his head up and look at me. As this went on for a couple of days, I decided to bring him inside and at least let him live in some kind of comfort for however long he has.

After the first day with his own food and water, he quickly perked up. On the second day, I cleaned out his cage (pet carrier) and washed all the mud and poop he was encrusted with from outside. Here Dean is holding him after his bath. Dean took an instant liking to him and has declared him his pet chicken. Within a few minutes he and Rhiannon had named him George



George's 'drumsticks' are small and undeveloped and he sits there most of the time with his legs splayed out at awkward angles that chickens don't normally do. He turns himself around using his wings. But I notice that even his feathers are not well developed.


I suspect that despite our efforts he is not long for this world. But for now, he is our pet chicken. George.