Marcy started filling up again on Friday. I check her daily and noticed she was suddenly a bit squishy in the back. So I started her on the aloe detox. Been giving about 3-4ml on a piece of bread daily. (She hates the taste and is an exceptional fighter, so I don't trust syringing it into her beak.)
On Sunday (day 3) she wasn't feeling well and hung out under the bench most of the day. She was definitely more full.
But she was in a better mood yesterday (day 4), despite a little heavy breathing later in the day and waddling a lot. The swelling had reached in-between her legs.
Today (day 5) she's in an even better mood. Trying to run after bugs and such. Active, eating, drinking. I'm hesitant to drain her when she's so spirited. She's gained a limp now. I notice when she fills up, it seems to bother her feet. Maybe they're a tad numb (and also splayed out from the swelling). But, I think the swelling has softened up? It doesn't feel as tense and tight as yesterday. It's also not between her legs anymore, but is about an inch away now. Not sure if it has gone down or has just shifted.
All this to say: I'm not sure if the aloe detox is working or not. I imagine it should've by now if it was going to. I'm in a dilemma about draining her again. I have seen her go back to normal on her own (after being as full as she is now) and after what happened with Cleo, I have been avoiding the risk of draining until Marcy is in a dire state. I hate doing that, I want to step in sooner, but if she's breathing normal again and eating, drinking, foraging, and everything as normal... I feel she's better off without me sending her into another week of shock recovery. I know she'll die soon-ish anyway, due to whatever is wrong. But the point of all this is just for her to continue living and being a happy bird as long as I can help her accomplish that.
Please ignore my dog, haha, I didn't mean to swing the camera her way and then youtube makes her the thumbnail. lol Mainly just sharing to show that Marcy is active and enjoying foraging. She's got a strong will and hasn't given up, so I'm definitely not giving up either. I think she has more time left to enjoy life. But I feel I need to make my choices carefully on how I intervene.
I do have one question though:
Would using a smaller gauge needle and me physically draining some of the fluid off her be more likely to prevent her from dripping the rest out on her own? I use an 18 gauge needle and every time I've ever gone to drain a chicken, one prick with that needle has them dripping out everything and going into shock. I never syringe off any of the fluid myself. So I'm thinking, maybe the hole of a smaller gauge needle will be more likely to close up sooner and maybe even nearly immediately after I remove the needle? And if I syringe off some of the fluid, I can help relieve pressure without her going into shock by managing how much comes out?
