I have an 8 month old duccle (she's been the victim of a mysterious lameness/weakness for quite some time now) ... it gets good/bad on/off... ... but her balance is off a bit ... day 1, I found her flipped upside down outside (totally calm) but both of her feet feathers had been pecked pretty badly - bleeding ... so inside she came , bandaged up - warmed up ... she seemed to be doing better so back out she went ... day 2 (some time later) I found her again, upside down with a fairly descent amount of her neck feathers plucked out ... (brought her in, cleaned her up, inside she stayed until she was doing well again ... day 3(some days later) found her again, upside down with a large amount of her vent feathers plucked and bloody ... x( ... I know the culprit is her "sister" d'uccle - so they're going to be separated indefinitely! (done easily enough for the time being).
Right now, she's inside, in the hospital with vitamin water ... she's getting my chick starter (since that's what i have crumbled) with egg and yogurt and mixed chopped greens.
She was making a noise like a peeved off chipmunk when she tried to poop, so I soaked her in warm water for 10 minutes 2-3x a day (as needed) to loosen up the poop that was stuck (but I think it was stuck because of the scab from when her sister bloodied her up x( ) ... so I made sure to clean it up as best I could... after each "bath" she would poo an almost normal poo - only a little softer than normal... and then be content again - back to eating / drinking ... I put her outside with her sister Silkie (the VERY good sweet one!) for a little bit each day so she had "hope" ... seemed to work ....
Tonight - EVERYTHING was finally totally clean (without her distress call) - she's almost gotten to the point of 'no protest' to the soak ... (sometimes i thought it may be easier to soak my cat!) ... now that everything was totally cleaned (no scabs) ... I did take some preparation H on a q tip and rubbed it around her vent... ... and then tucked her into bed on her heating pad (she seems to really like that!) ... and then gave her tylan 50 & poly vi sol drops.
Is there anything else I should be doing? ... if she has a clear vent area tomorrow (all day) ... I may let her back out with just her silkie sister (she WILL NOT terrorize her) ... I'll probably put a red light in a corner of their pen too (since she seems to be comfortable with the extra heat - it's still pretty chilly here in NH on and off) ...
she's one tough little bird! ! .. I hope this is the end of her bad luck !
Right now, she's inside, in the hospital with vitamin water ... she's getting my chick starter (since that's what i have crumbled) with egg and yogurt and mixed chopped greens.
She was making a noise like a peeved off chipmunk when she tried to poop, so I soaked her in warm water for 10 minutes 2-3x a day (as needed) to loosen up the poop that was stuck (but I think it was stuck because of the scab from when her sister bloodied her up x( ) ... so I made sure to clean it up as best I could... after each "bath" she would poo an almost normal poo - only a little softer than normal... and then be content again - back to eating / drinking ... I put her outside with her sister Silkie (the VERY good sweet one!) for a little bit each day so she had "hope" ... seemed to work ....
Tonight - EVERYTHING was finally totally clean (without her distress call) - she's almost gotten to the point of 'no protest' to the soak ... (sometimes i thought it may be easier to soak my cat!) ... now that everything was totally cleaned (no scabs) ... I did take some preparation H on a q tip and rubbed it around her vent... ... and then tucked her into bed on her heating pad (she seems to really like that!) ... and then gave her tylan 50 & poly vi sol drops.
Is there anything else I should be doing? ... if she has a clear vent area tomorrow (all day) ... I may let her back out with just her silkie sister (she WILL NOT terrorize her) ... I'll probably put a red light in a corner of their pen too (since she seems to be comfortable with the extra heat - it's still pretty chilly here in NH on and off) ...
she's one tough little bird! ! .. I hope this is the end of her bad luck !
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