Arnold has a bad leg

chrismahon

chrismahon

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Big softy Arnold, our last remaining Blue Laced Wyandotte cock has been irritated by Claude once too often. Arnold is, I would say, well over 6Kg. Claude (avatar) got into the veggy plot today. The only thing between Claude and Arnold was a temporary chicken wire fence. Judging by the bent fence wire and the BROKEN fence post Anold has hurled himself at Claude. Trouble is he got his leg tangled in the wire and had badly damaged it. Don't think it is broken anywhere as he can stand on it and tuck it away under him. But the knee joint is hot and his hip hurts a lot. Given him half an Asprin and put him in a cage in the lounge with a rolled towl under his chest to keep some weight off his leg. He seems settled. Has eaten loads of Bottom's feed, had plenty of water and loves grapes (but they all do -perfect appetite maker).

See what he's like in the morning. Problem is he is an extremely loud crower -Wyandottes are and big Wyandottes more so. So if the neighbours thought Bottom was loud they are in for a shock !!!
 
chrismahon said:
See what he's like in the morning. Problem is he is an extremely loud crower -Wyandottes are and big Wyandottes more so. So if the neighbours thought Bottom was loud they are in for a shock !!!
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I do not know if this help to you but recently my youngest cockrell was in fight with his mum and afterwoods started to limp.I was hoping that it get better fairy quickly but had no improvment for 3 days and I had given him homeopatic medicine Arnica 5 pillutes twice a day and I can see improvments allready.He takes this without any hesitation and is easy to give it to him.
 
Hi Tygresek. We're rubbing Arnica infused oil on his knee joint. He's no better yet and is very hot. So we let him out of his cage and he's flown up and settled on the sofa!

Given him a little Cod Liver Oil and started him on Metacam anti-inflammatory for 5Kg. He is a bit heavier than that, probably over 6 Kg, but isn't eating much. Double dose as instructed then single until the bottle runs out. He has some grip in that foot and he has been standing already with a bit of weight on his leg looking for a place to roost. Because he is so noisy and started at 4.00am and absolutely hates his cage we've assembled a rearing coop in the cellar and he's gone to bed in there. Quiet, nice and cool at 12 degrees and he's settled immediately. He'll be in for a few weeks yet so it's just as well Rosie retires at the end of next week to help look after him.
 
So two weeks down the line. Metacam anti-inflammatory course finished and as Rosie put it "He's hobbling better!" Been applying horse leg treatment soothing gell to his knee joint which has stopped the redness above the joint. It will be another 2 weeks before he can rejoin the girls, perhaps 4 weeks?
 
Glad to hear Arnold is improving. Has he been noisy and upsetting the neighbours yet?
 
Big time Sue! He is without doubt LOUD, even sitting down. But by the time the environmental health get involved he'll be long gone. If the neighbours were even remotely decent we would put him in a nursery in the Orchard, but they are not -absolutely hideous people. So we have him in the house to make our life much easier -he even likes a cuddle before bedtime now!
 
Out with his girls Sue or asleep in the downstairs bathroom. He's not best pleased with this cockerel crowing in the lounge upstairs.
 
We took him down to his girls today as he seemed very depressed. Had they missed each other or what! He was accepted immediately and within half an hour he was standing guard and his three hens were asleep around him. Not wanting him to overdo it he was brought back in this evening and he was not happy at all! Moaned non-stop for half an hour. So the perch is coming out of the coop tomorrow and he can go back. Risk is he will overdo it and be crippled, but at least he will be happy. If he can't tread his girls we will have to come over for hatching eggs to get another cockerel.
 
For the best I think as his leg was getting bad again. Big Softy Arnold had a heart attack today and died. He was were he would want to be- with his girls and not stuck in the house on his own.

5 weeks to go until the export blood tests so a hurried search through the Wyandotte Owners Club members list revealed just 6 breeders of Blue Large Fowl. One is us, one is our near neighbour Poultry Breeder who I have just found out has gone out of business and of the remaining 4 the closest is the wrong side of Oswestry. She is stopping breeding the large fowl and has two cocks that she could let us take. One is a one year old highly strung quality Show bird with a second at the National, the other,his dad, is a big softy who is two years old. No prizes for guessing which one will be coming home with us tomorrow after 5 hours driving !
 
Oh Chris, I'm so sorry! Poor Arnold. You're having a bit of a rough time at the moment. At least it would have been quick and with no difficult decisions having to be made.
 
Oh I am sorry Chris, poor Arnold. :( :(

Hope you can get another nice one sorted before the deadline of blood tests!
 
He looks happy and peaceful now anyway both and will be badly missed. No more pain from his leg. His girls are looking lost again though.

New one should be tomorrow Foxy. By description he sounds very much like Arnold, but we are trying not to get our hopes up. Choice is exceptionally limited -they are apparently rather rare, with many breeders having discontinued with them due to the breeding wastage, as only 50% of the hatch are blue, the remainder being the very colourful golds and the rather scruffy looking buffs (because they always have obvious rogue feathers). We kept all the gold laced hens because they are so pretty -much brighter colours than gold laced Orpingtons.
 
I really hope it all turns out well, the new boy will never replace Arnold though :(

On a brighter note..sure I can't tempt you with a pair of large faverolles?? ;) :D
 
What a lovely way to go, though, in the arms, or should one say the wings, of his loving wives. Gone before, but not forgotten.
Looking forward to pics of the new boy, Chris - drive carefully tomorrow!
 
Really sorry to read that Chris - you are going through it a bit at the moment aren't you. Hope things improve when you get back from Wales with your new fella.
 
Well everyone. A trip to Oswestry and then into Wales finally got us there. Lovely stone built place with loads of outbuildings -wish we could afford something like that over here. Trouble for the seller is she's English, married to a Welshman for 20 years and still treated as an outsider. Chickens are in fantastic pens in a small coppice with a stream running through it. She's had all the same problems as us with cannibalism- definitely a Blue Wyandotte problem. Her Silvers and Golds are fine!

Anyway a choice of two. Young chap from the show pens or his dad. We chose his dad. All thoughts of naming him Arnold 2nd have gone. He's quite a bit smaller, much smaller comb and with darker feathering (current breed standard) and reminds us of Gandalf, so we've called him Gordon. Hopefully in breeding with Arnolds true sisters (his mum died with Gandalf) another Arnold will emerge. But its really only now we realise what a very special and perhaps unique cockerel Arnold was.

At the moment Gordon is in a separate run and coop and will remain there for a couple of weeks. Just heard him crow -pityful ! But without him we have nothing to build with. We'll breed him next year and see what we get and we'll make sure we either keep hatching eggs continuously (keep eating day 6) or have spare cockerels or both.
 
Glad you managed to source a good quality boy so quickly, hope he settles in well and erm photos? :D
 
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