BJ roo update re: bulge upper left chest - photos of my recovered boy!

[dlhunicorn]

crossing fingers and toes for BJ judy!

 

[Zookeeper9000]

I am still praying here. Hang in there.

 

[Lunachick]

Judy, Oh gosh, I just caught on, how is he now? He's so cute and he looks healthy besides that questionable hump, but you know your bird better than anyone, so I hope you find out what it is along with your vet's analysis. Good wishes to you and your birds.

 

[SpottedCrow]

I found this online, Judy...It looks like it might be his clavicle or his corucoid, but I'm not a vet nor an expert...

Can he still move his head and stretch out his neck?

Wish I could hop the next broom down there Judy.

 

[jjthink]

Brenda, Diana, Ginny, Jean, Maria, Susan, I sooo appreciate all your kind wishes for BJ - thank you!

I got BJ's x-ray results this morning. The vet isn't sure if this is the source of BJ's problem or not but BJ has calcification of a disk in the general vicinity of the distortion area (count about 5 up from the clavicle in the diagram above - thanks Brenda!). I saw the calcified disk on 2 x-rays - it was whitish when all the others had black.... He gave BJ a shot of cortisone which is a one day thing and also prescribed Metacam, an anti-inflammatory, to try, not guaranteeing that any of it will make a difference (understandably). Good luck to me even trying to get it in his beak. BJ is as sweet as they come but he does not appreciate force feeding! And even when I dribble liquid gently along his beak line, he refuses to open his mouth, unlike any hens I've ever had to medicate. Proud boy.

BJ's distortion showed up so suddenly yet you would think calcification of a disk would be a more gradual thing......The vet did feel the hard lump I've been referring to and he said his neck is steering off to the left now and what would normally be in the middle is skewed to the left, like I was thinking. Wish I knew how much that hurts. BJ did some screaming when the vet was handling the area - agonizing! Vet said he didn't know whether it hurt or whether BJ just didn't like being handled there....it sounded like a world of hurt but that's also coming from someone who doesn't want him to feel pain....

Given BJ's eternal 6 month molt (he's still losing lots of the little down feathers, and flaking all over the place every day for months now), and given this new problem that seems to hurt (haven't seen him dust bathe in the 2 weeks since this bulge showed up), it feels like my sweet boy's body may be old at 7ish years of age. He also nowadays seems cold and uncomfortable in windy cool conditions (even in the 50's which should be a piece of cake for a chicken), so of course I worry how he will handle 30's, 20's, teens and below yet to come. I am going to try to keep their house pretty comfortable so he has refuge there, and I guess I'll have to judge his quality of life by whether he remains eager to eat.

Love that boy. Thank you for caring! JJ

 

[jbowyer01]

WHat awonderful chicken mommy you are! Thank you for keeping us updated..He is beautiful!

 

[Wynette]

Awe, your poor boy...I just saw this thread and read all the posts. You've been so worried for so long about him. I'm glad you finally have something to work with!

Wanted to mention...I've (unfortunatley) got lots of experience in hand feeding, and what I found that works best for me with difficult chickens...if you have the meds in a syringe ready, put him on your lap, left leg (if you're right-handed), hold his head with your left hand, and then put a fingernail (thumb works best for me) in between lower & upper beak & then put your finger in between to hold it open...then you can squirt meds or hand feeding formula in.

Hope your boy feels better with the cortisone injection and anti-inflammatories! 7 is a pretty ripe age for a roo - here's hoping he makes it through this!

 

[Zookeeper9000]

Well I for one am glad that we know something. Keeping you all in my prayers. Hug that little roo for us.

 

[Demeter]

just found this thread hope your roo will be okay

 

[vnploveschickens]

Hi JJ,

I just found and read about JJ's lump. He is a very handsome rooster. I really hope and pray that JJ has been healed and everyone is happier.

Being a fairly new chicken lover, I am very interested to read all the different things that can happen to our girls and boys.

Hugs

Val