Just Nicky

Crook chook update June 3, 2008

Finn and I took Lola to the vet last night and I’m pleased to say she came home with us. I really wasn’t sure she would so I didn’t want to take Finn, but he insisted on coming with me. Most vets know little or nothing about birds and chooks in particular so I wasn’t sure we’d get any kind of diagnosis. The vet we saw grew up on a farm with lots of chooks and is partial to them which helped a great deal, I think.

We don’t have a definitive diagnosis but it seems that our feathered friend has some digestive issue which led to a build up of undigested seed and a resulting infection. I’ll spare you the details of how we found that out, but suffice to say it involved a glove and smelled dreadful. She hasn’t been eating much for a while and I’m pretty sure she’s eaten and drunk virtually nothing in the last few days so she’s lost a lot of condition.

We came home with antibiotics to be syringed into her mouth twice daily and instructions to syringe as much water as possible down her throat at 2-3 hourly intervals. I gave her some water last night before putting her back in her house and she really didn’t resist at all. This morning she looks a little brighter and the antibiotics went in without a problem, but she was less happy about the water and it took 3 or 4 attempts to get 15ml of water into her which is definitely a good sign.

I’m going to restrict Lola to her house while she recuperates so that she has nothing to do but eat and rest (and so that the wild birds aren’t pinching all her food). After Finn and I have taken Leila to childcare we’ll head off to Bunnings and get some fresh straw to put on the floor and freshen up the nest boxes so that she’s warm and comfortable. The fridge is stocked with silverbeet and we have a vitamin tonic to put in her water. I’m cautiously optimistic that our chooky girl will recover. Fingers crossed.