Mikal van Oene prepped her kitchen for surgery.
Using as much antiseptic as possible, she transformed her dining room table into an operating table for her beloved friend.
To make the experience as painless as possible, van Oene measured the correct dosage of Children’s Tylenol and blindfolded her before beginning the daunting task.
Van Oene, a 22-year-old UF English senior, worked to save her feathered friend, Doctor Peeps, Ph.D. — a task that came naturally to the steady hand of the musically inclined taxidermist and tattoo artist.
After researching backyard chickens several months before, an ad on Craigslist sealed the deal: van Oene was the proud owner of four chickens — including The Doctor.
The tragic day had been like any other. Van Oene was hanging out with a friend while her four chickens roamed around in the backyard.
Then, van Oene said she heard a swooping sound followed by “terrified screaming.”
Van Oene and her friend looked outside just in time to see a hawk flying away with one of the chickens, a white silky bantam named Doctor Peeps in its clutches.
In a matter of seconds, the hawk dropped The Doctor back down to the earth.
It wasn’t until van Oene was at the bird’s side that she saw the full extent of the damage: Doctor Peep’s wing was dangling by a ligament and the bone was sticking out.
Unable to get in touch with a veterinarian and having no car to search for an open clinic, van Oene went to www.backyardchickens.com, a forum filled with information and advice for chicken owners, to see what options were available to save her chicken — if any.
Van Oene found an article on the website that detailed how to do an emergency amputation, which seemed to be the only viable option.
“At the time, we were kind of freaking out, but we were pretty confident in our ability,” she said.
With shears, painkillers, a syringe and other necessary tools at her disposal, van Oene and her friend performed surgery on The Doctor.
She sewed the outside of the skin loosely to ensure the amputated bone was inside the wound and wouldn’t swell if Doctor Peeps survived.
“A lot of it was ingenuity, and a lot of it was following the steps,” van Oene said.
Doctor Peeps now struts around with multicolored toenails and a diaper bedazzled with a rhinestone American flag.
The road to recovery was tough, van Oene said.
She had to constantly clean Doctor Peeps’wound and rewrap it, and she had to clean the cage twice a day. The Doctor was incapacitated for two days and wouldn’t eat.
But, van Oene soon noticed that The Doctor was beginning to heal and adjust to her new life with only one wing.
“She would slowly come up to us and cuddle with our leg, or she’d want to be held,” she said. “Every time we moved out of the room … she would kind of slowly walk out of her cage and into the other room.”
Now, Doctor Peeps’ life is normal enough that she can lay eggs, which van Oene said are “delicious.”
She said Doctor Peeps has been laying five eggs a week since October.
Eggs or no eggs, van Oene still has fun with Doctor Peeps.
“We go to the park, we go to dances — I’ll dress her up in a tuxedo — and we go on movie dates,” van Oene said jokingly.
Mikal van Oene, 22, sits with her chicken, Doctor Peeps, Ph.D., outside her home. Van Oene performed surgery on her companion after she was attacked by a hawk.
