Fontaine
Songster
Well guys, this might be the conclusion to the saga. I took Ildi for her re-check today, and the vet has given her a clean bill of health!
He thinks the small size discrepancy between her left and right eyebrows is probably due to scar tissue (not surprising since she had it cut open 3 times), and the little air whistling sound isn't anything to freak out about. It'll go away or it won't, but it's not hurting her. Her lungs still sound great, she's putting weight back on and isn't dehydrated anymore, and her color has come back nicely. Everything looks great!
He was really surprised to see her looking so well this time, given how grave things were looking when we were last in. I asked him if at any point he thought she wasn't going to make it, and he said that last time she was in he wasn't feeling very hopeful since she had already been through pretty much all the antibiotics we had available she she was still so sick. He asked at what point she started improving (how far through the Tylan we were). I didn't want to lie, so I told him not to judge me, but the Tylan wasn't helping after days of it, so "I drove her down to the BAY, and we listened to the birds TRIL" and that seemed to help her. He said he doesn't care what I did as long as she's better. I think he's probably frustrated about the stupid rules where we live as well. He says she definitely wouldn't have made it without the tube feeding/all the supportive care that I gave her. I just said that I really felt like she could beat it if I could just keep her alive long enough for her body to have a chance.
It was a really nice visit. All smiles and good news. I'll be returning her to the flock this afternoon when my mom can be there to see it too, since she helped a lot with all the extra laundry and things that come along with having a sick chicken indoors. (Plus Ildi's her granddaughter, and she loves her)
Thank you SO much to everyone who helped me through this, whether it was with technical advice, well-wishes/support or both. This is such a great place, because there's always going to be someone there in your time of need. Thank you BYC. Ildi thanks you too.
Oh that’s terrific! You made my day
Between Azygous introducing her amazing Buttercups and Ildi, I have a short list of birds that I want, or actually that I NEED! I am so happy to read the great news 
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