When I first saw Cecilia, she was lying in the front of her cage as eight other cage mates, crammed into the same small cage, trampled her weak body. They spent their entire lives standing on that filthy wire floor and their long dirty nails were scraping into her bare featherless back. It had been happening for a long time. I could tell by the scars on her skin, the scabs, and the infected growths on her wings. She was sick and weak. Her body was unbelievably small, despite the fact that she was a full-grown hen.

I ever so carefully remove her from her cage. When I lifted her into my arms, she did not resist. She did not struggle or flap her wings or kick her legs. She looked as if she had given up. This was probably the first time in her life since she was debeaked and crammed into the cage as a chick, that she had been held by a human or had left her cage, but she didn’t seem to be afraid. Her legs were hanging limp. I tried to sit her on the floor to see if she could walk, but her legs simply collapsed beneath her small body.

She was unable to reach the water tube in the back of her cage from where she had been lying, and was probably severely dehydrated. We have her water and she seemed to perk up a little bit. She appeared to be getting back her will to live. She still couldn’t walk and was in obvious need of veterinary care.

We rescued her and took her to an avian specialist where she was later diagnosed as having paralysis of her left leg. She will never be able to use that leg again, but she was able to pull herself around on her other leg once she regained her strength. She was also diagnosed with severe wing hemetone from the sores, but that will heal. She tested positive for pasturella and received penicillin.

Cecilia is now recovering and is enjoying a happy and fulfilling life at the sanctuary.