Well I had planned to go to Newcastle today but the other half was up all night sick so I'm staying with him a while. Maybe I'll get to come down in a few hrs
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I sent you a pm on the expenses. Surgery with anesthesia can be cost prohibitive for a $15 - 20 bird.
Meds actually cost more than the individual surgery, but good followup is essential to a healthy recovery.
With these two birds I felt the investment was worth the cost.
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I sent you a pm on the expenses. Surgery with anesthesia can be cost prohibitive for a $15 - 20 bird.
Meds actually cost more than the individual surgery, but good followup is essential to a healthy recovery.
With these two birds I felt the investment was worth the cost.
I've had a horrible 2 wks. I'm not the type to talk about stuff that's wrong at the time so aside from using Michael D as a sounding board (sorry, Michael
) I've kept it to myself. 2 wks ago the gorgeous black LF Cochin pullet I got from Carl got lame and wobbly and was gone almost before I realized she had a problem (I'm so sorry, Carl). I was just sick to my stomach and scared of what it could possibly be. Mareks is what scared me the most and that's what I thought it was. I've keep all the adult birds separate from the babies all this time but most diseases can be tracked back and forth on your feet. Well then a week ago one of the Cochin babies I hatched from an egg got sick, same thing as the 1st one. I've been literally up most the night every night this week worried sick, hand feeding her and keeping water down her. I was so sure it was Marek's I almost didn't take her to the vet yesterday. But I did, thank God. He knows a lot about chickens (Jackie, it's Dr Zinn at Four Corners). He said normal temp was 105 and hers was 108.3 and Mareks didn't normally give them a temp. She also had full use of her wings and legs but was wobbling and 'lame' because she was so weak. He was pretty sure she had e. coli and gave her an injection of Ceftiofur antibiotic and Vit B. Within 2 hrs of her vet visit she was perked up, *standing (something she hadn't done for days) and looking around.She's been eating, drinking and preening herself. I cooked her morning egg for her and she gobbled it down. The vet didn't think she'd live because he said he hasn't seen many live that were as sick as her. I told Michael I just bet he hadn't seen any as LOVED as her either. She's got a 10:30 appt this morning and he said if she was improved he was going to send home Tylan50 for the rest of the group. Some of their stools are bright yellow which is one of the signs, but not always.
So I did lose my black Cochin, she went down so fast I didn't have a chance to see what was happening and get her to the vet in time. But with luck, prayers & meds my others should be ok. My fingers are still crossed. What's really strange is the Cochin pen is the most protected and closely watched set of birds. But the vet said it's as simple as a bird flying overhead pooping in the yard and me tracking it into the Cochin's covered pen on my shoes. Babies are just way more susceptible.
The good news is this sick one is doing really good and I've found a vet who knows more about chickens in his sleep than I'll ever know.
So Michael, thank you for listening to me.
Oh, and while most of you wouldn't even have noticed I was gone-I'm back now!
hang in there hun- sometimes it happens and we always learn from it! we can't always know everything- and your birds are very protected- so don't blame yourself!!
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You're always so sweet, Robin. Thank you.
It's really hard not to think "if only I'd done this. Or this..." I'm always so overly cautious about quarantine and it feels like I got blind-sided. I feel like I let the little black pullet down and it cost her her life. That's kind of hard to swallow for me.
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You're always so sweet, Robin. Thank you.
It's really hard not to think "if only I'd done this. Or this..." I'm always so overly cautious about quarantine and it feels like I got blind-sided. I feel like I let the little black pullet down and it cost her her life. That's kind of hard to swallow for me.
oh i know that feeling so well!! If only.... all you can do is bring some good out of it- i have a graveyard for those i've lost, one of the first i lost was a buff orp, Sugar - found her in the nest box, to this day i still wonder, what if i had been more aware- what killed her? i even tried to give her mouth to beak respiration- i am serious about my animals- and lose part of my heart every time i lose one.... so you see, you can't blame yourself, you learn and honor them by learning some more and hugging those you have....
Ksane, thanks for sharing. I'm sorry for your losses, but it good that the one seems like it will make it. Thank you also for sharing the symptoms and solution, should that ever happen to any of our flocks we'll have another point of view as to what to look for. I had a little hen get sick and I "put her down" a few weeks ago, but the symptoms you have mentioned sound way similar, although I did not do a temp check.
Wish you and your little hen continued health.
Ksane...so glad to hear you baby is improving and sorry to hear about the Cochin.
Wild birds bring so many problems for our tame birds....mites, e.coli...the list goes on. There is no way to keep the wild birds out of your pens unless you use really tiny grid. Even the one inch chicken wire allows the sparrows to come in and feed in some of my pens. And a bird flying over can poop into any pen with a wire cover.
We lost one of our BLRW hens about a week ago. Carl and Stephanie came that day to pick up eggs from the BLRW and Carl checked her over. She had not been sick the evening before and he could find nothing wrong with her. Sometimes a bird just dies and there is no explanation. All you can do is take care of the rest and do what you know best to care for them and enjoy them.