|
Home
Donate
Gift Sponsorships
Volunteer
Employment
Tours
Wish List
Events
Gift Shop
Internships
Pasado's Story
Pasado Newsletter
| |
Beauty taking her first
step!
photos by Jenny M. |
The Chicken that Never Walked
Beauty takes her First Steps!
Beauty
came to Pasado's in October 2007 unable to walk due to her being part of
a school's chick-hatching project. Read more about her story
here. And
for the past few months, while we have shared our office with Beauty we
have had the pleasure of getting to know her!
Most
people don't realize that chickens are actually not much difference than
cats and dogs.
Chickens are
incredibly smart. When
they are in their “natural” surroundings (not in factory farms),
chickens form social “clicks” or hierarchies; every chicken knows their
rank on the social ladder, just like dogs and cats. |
|
Beauty on her first day
at Pasado's Safe Haven |
|
Our Farm Animal
Manager, Jenny M says, "I spend a lot of time in the chicken barn and it
is so obvious; some are fearless leaders, some are pranksters (like the
‘egg bandits’), and some are shy and submissive. They greet everyone
that comes through the gate hoping they have treats. They run around
frolicking happily for their favorite foods, they get scared when they
hear a loud noise or if the geese chase them away from the food, they
get angry when I take their eggs away from them, and they bask in the
sun. Just like cats, dogs, and humans… each chicken is an individual
and has a distinct personality." |
 |
Beauty loves being
talked to. We can almost tell what she is saying by her different tones
of cackles. Whether it is “thank you”, “help me up”, “I’m hungry”, or
“yummy… I like corn" (We hear this one a lot because she REALLY likes
corn!)
So you can imagine our excitement to see our sweet Beauty take her first
steps (or flying skips is more like it)!
When she starts to
take a couple of steps, she gets so excited and her walk quickly turns
into a hopping-skipping-flying-cackling-bounce… she does this for about
15 feet. It’s almost like she just can’t control her excitement… she is
getting so anxious to walk. She can stand completely on her own now and
loves pecking at the dirt/grass. |
|
Now that she finally
has the strength to bask in the sun outside as part of her therapy, she
is really starting to shine! She is getting lots of Vitamin
D from the sun and her feathers look extremely healthy.
Her comb is growing
in and is so vibrant.
Her ear lobes are a
healthy pearly blue.
What a little sunshine and some TLC can do! |
 |
Beauty has had physical therapy for the last month and her treatment is
not over yet. We are trying to strengthen her left leg (the one
that had surgery) Her muscles are still weak and her ligament and
tendons are stretched too far
So, what can you do
to help?
If you are a parent,
please do not support inhumane school projects like chick-hatching.
Instead suggest that your child's school use alternatives such as
picture books, models, videos, and classroom drawing activities in which
students must accurately draw specific stages of life, because it is
LIFE that we are talking about.
|
|
Why say
no to chick-hatching projects?
*It is cruel. In nature, a mother hen would turn an egg up to 30
times a day so that the chicks organs do not stick to the sides of the
shell. They are able to maintain the proper temperature, moisture,
ventilation, humidity and position of the egg with their bodies.
*Hatching
projects place a burden on the community, on overwhelmed animal
shelters, and on busy parents who end up disposing of the birds they
didn't want in the first place. |
Jenny M with Beauty |
*Hatching
projects encourage children to want to bring more baby animals into the
world, like litters of puppies and kittens.
*They
teach children that animals are disposable objects instead of requiring
a lifetime of care and commitment.
*Schools
do not have a veterinary budget. All of the birds will obviously need
medical attention.
*“Project
chicks” are taken away from their mother, and many are malnourished so
they become deformed like Beauty and/or grow sick from lack of
veterinary care. Plus, their demanding needs are not met during the
classroom incubation and after hatching. |
|
Pasado's Safe Haven would like to thanks
Dr. Maas and Dr. Ferguson
for all of their generous work they have done for Beauty. We are
extremely grateful to have such an awesome avian vets!
Avian and Exotic
Animal Hospital
10137 Main St. Suite 6
Bothell, WA 98011
(425) 486-9000
|
|
