Margo is in Trouble

[micstrachan]

And she was preening g when I let the girls out.

 

[micstrachan]

@casportpony, I caught her droppings on paper towels last night. There was nothing really notable, except they’re slightly under digested and may have been a wood shaving in it. I put the paper towels in a baggie in the fridge in case I take it in for a float test.

 

[casportpony]

@casportpony, I caught her droppings on paper towels last night. There was nothing really notable, except they’re slightly under digested and may have been a wood shaving in it. I put the paper towels in a baggie in the fridge in case I take it in for a float test.

Picture?

 

[micstrachan]

I’m about to head down the hill for work, and peaked in at the girls… I tried to sneak up so Margo wouldn’t know I was coming and show her best body language. She was standing up with her beak down looking like she was taking stuff off the ground and her tail is actually not down! Not sure what it means… I hope she eats something real today.

 

[micstrachan]

You mean a picture of the poop? Hum… I’ll go back inside and pull it out of the fridge and take a picture but I don’t know how great it looks at this point remember some of the moisture got soaked up by the towel.

 

[micstrachan]

 

[micstrachan]

Sorry I’m voice to texting at this point and not bothering punctuation!

 

[micstrachan]

Honestly, I’m hugely relieved that she’s pooping at all. I was concerned maybe she could not.

 

[rebrascora]

Well she is not exactly looking at deaths door sitting on that roost bar and preening Michelle, so I think that is cause for optimism. I do think you are worrying more than necessary still about her food intake. They can survive well over a week on just water and in doing so it will knock their egg production on the head, which wouldn't be a bad thing right now anyway. She is not skin and bone to start with so she has plenty of body reserves to dig into and whilst that is not an ideal situation, it gives you time to figure this out. Also, since she is not isolated and you are not able to monitor her food intake, you cannot be sure of how much she is eating and drinking when you are not there. If they are not producing eggs they need much less water anyway, since the vast majority of egg is water when you break it down to it's basic components.

I still wonder if she has a stuck egg and there are times when she has "contractions" and is actively straining to pass it and other times where she is less distressed by it. Perhaps she makes a bit of progress and can then ease off. I've never had a baby but I would guess it may be like that in giving birth but the length of "tunnel" is relatively short for a baby in a human compared to the length of an oviduct in a hen. Not sure if that makes sense. I'm just throwing ideas out there.

 

[rebrascora]

Whilst she is straining, she is unlikely to want anything to eat, but in between times she may be picking up more than you are witnessing.