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0 The operator of a farm sanctuary in eastern Ontario saved a rooster who had to have his lower limbs amputated because of frostbite, and she wants others to think twice before abandoning feathered friends.
Last winter, hikers found the young male Faverolle chicken — who they’ve named “Roy” — dumped in the Limerick Forest, just south of Kemptville, Ont., and about 70 kilometres south of downtown Ottawa.
Though badly frostbitten, the French breed heritage rooster was wary of his rescuers. It took two days of leaving seed in the forest and building the bird’s trust before they could bring him to the sanctuary, called Contented Clucks, in nearby Oxford Mills.
Even in the warmth of Lynn Kennedy’s kitchen, the bird’s distinctive red comb and both of his lower legs turned brown.
“I had never dealt with frostbite [for a bird],” said Kennedy, who has run the sanctuary since 2016 and looks after about 15 birds at any time.
Costly surgery to amputate
Determined to see Roy survive, she took the bird to an animal hospital where surgery to amputate Roy’s lower legs cost $2,400.
Now the bird spends his time in a roomy wire pen in Kennedy’s kitchen where he also serves as an “organic alarm clock” each morning, Kennedy said.
Each member of the poultry “family” around Contented Clucks have unique personalities, said Kennedy, and Roy is especially affectionate and cuddly, although anxious about visitors.
“They are as deserving of a life as anybody else,” Kennedy said of the chickens.
She started an online fundraising auction to help offset the cost of the amputation and for two prosthetic lower legs for Roy.
Kennedy wants “some way for him to have an outside life like a normal guy and be able to see other birds.”
She recently learned about a California man who turned his 3D printing hobby into a company that makes prosthetics for pets. Nam Duong creates flexible thermo polyurethane (TPU) feet and legs for dozens of dogs and cats, but especially domestic birds.
Birds like Roy are actually a major part of his business, said Duong, who said he has learned his new trade on the fly after losing his job as a window installer during the pandemic.
For a flat rate of about $90, he prints a custom, flexible leg or foot for any bird, including pigeons or turkeys.
“Once I get their picture, I start studying, then I show the customer the diagram,” explained Duong.
Kennedy is still considering this option for Roy. She also hopes people hear this story and think twice about abandoning birds in the wild.
