A hen owned by a Massachusetts woman who specializes in chicken rehabilitation and rescue is getting fitted with a prosthetic leg. The procedure will take place Wednesday at Tufts University's Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine according to the Associated Press.
Andrea Martin, of Clinton, says she is paying for the $2,500 operation out of her own pocket. She says the alternative is to euthanize the bird.
The chicken, named Cecily, was born with a damaged tendon in the leg. The surgery will begin when Emi Knafo, a specialist in avian orthopedics, will amputate Cecily's right leg. After a 10 to 14-day recovery period, the prosthetic, made on a 3-D printer, will be fitted.
Similar surgery has been performed on a rooster and duck, though not at Tufts.