the chicken is named Scooter now, because for the time being, she prefers using both her legs only to SCOOT, but not for long if I have anything to say about it. Rehabilitation attempt number 1 started yesterday. I wanted to make the long overdue clean-up and physical therapy as stress-free as possible, so I introduced her to the sink by calmly settling her down on the warm, damp towel laid at the bottom (so the steel wouldn't startle her I think my logic was?) until she was chillin, then, the longest, most draining part: getting her cleaned up without hurting her (I'll spare you the details, yw), which also doubled as a way to slowly get her used to the water probably so whatever nbd.
After that ordeal, I wanted to make sure she was still comfortable. I offered her some treats, and yep, she was totally unfazed; just greedily ate strawberry pieces from my hand as if nothing was going on. Still, I didn't want to risk it, so I GRADUALLY let the warm water rise around her when transitioning to the actual physical therapy part. I kept a light hold on her to suspend her feet just enough off the bottom of the sink to encourage leg paddling.
but nah. she immediately realized she was buoyant and treated it like a zero-gravity spa. just floated like a rubber ducky, basking in the weightlessness, doing absolutely ZERO work to engage her muscles. so physical therapy session ended early because MY stamina ran out before she ever decided to cooperate. she won.