Dear Karen, I was delighted to talk to you at the conference last month about my former battery hen, Queenie. However, on June 27, Queenie somehow broke
her leg.
Karen: I’m very sorry. What happened?
Liz: Well, we got a new rescue horse that day and while I doubt Queenie got kicked, somehow her higher leg bone broke. I took her to my vet who x-rayed and
set the break in a cast. Queenie could not use her leg at all with the cast on, but it was crucial for her healing. My vet took the cast off after 10 days
as further x-rays showed the bone was healing and Queenie has been doing better ever since. I am so inspired by her spirit that I wanted to share her story
with someone I knew would understand.
Karen: I do indeed! You say Queenie is a former battery-caged hen – how did you get her?
Liz: I got her from Helping Hearts Equine Rescue in Perrineville, NJ. She had been in a battery cage facility that was closing, and she was going to be
shredded! Helping Hearts was able to save about 20 hens from that awful fate, and I took two. Sadly, one died after only 2 days with me, but Queenie said,
“This is the life for me!” and adapted immediately.
Karen: It’s great that you have good veterinary care for Queenie. Can you add a little more?
Liz: Queenie got great care from my veterinary hospital, Atlantic Animal Health, in Galloway, NJ. Dr. Gordon Stull and Dr. Lori Nordt did the surgery and
inserted a pin in her leg. They removed it after 10 days when the radiograph showed that the bone was knit. They were very impressed with Queenie’s
spirit, her tenacity of life.
Karen: And how is Queenie now?
Liz: After the cast was off, she was confined to a stall for about 2 months and then I let her out for an hour a day, watching that no one bothered her.
Then we did a few hours a day until she was able to be out all day unsupervised since last weekend. Her grip with that leg is getting stronger, but until
she can roost comfortably, she is staying in the stall at night. Today is September 21st and here she is, not just walking, but running! She is so
determined to live her life.
