Day 13: I'm going to keep adding on to this thread, for those who might be interested, because things continue to change, with some interesting dynamics of this small flock of four birds.
As I mentioned, the moment our injured bird rejoined the others, she re-asserted dominance.
However, her wing being damaged, and the stress of it all, means she sits, not stands. And what's interesting is that the other three are sitting as well, mimicking her actions. This is inside the barn, not outside, so they may feel safe enough to do that.
Last night, her first night back in the coop, she slept on the floor of the coop, not the perch. And the others slept there too, on the floor. Not sure why--deference? protection of the injured? Simple case of follow-the leader?
Today, when we opened the barn doors, the other three can't wait to get outside to free range. Shaggy will go outside, but hesitantly, and requiring a bit of encouragement. Still skittish, I guess--understandable.
With her limited movement--she does not forage as actively as the others, nor eat as much--I assume she will eventually decline in strength and vitality, and no longer be top of the order. Not sure how long this will take.
Finally, as mentioned above, I now understand how stress is such a big factor in their recovery. We're trying to help them, but the 'help' can turn to harm if we're not careful.
Yes it would be good for the bone on a broken wing to be set straight, by wrapping it. But if the wrap absolutely drives them crazy, that 'help' might be harmful. With that wrap on, she walked and stumbled, almost as if she had neurological issues. And the instant we took it off, she walked normally; visibly calmer.
Looking at the calendar, it's been about one month since our Campine, Shaggy, was attacked. And because of the holidays, it's been a couple weeks since I posted an update.
The update is a good one, the final one for this thread, with a happy ending. Shaggy has fully rejoined the flock. And on Christmas day, about 3 weeks after the attack, she resumed laying. Not frequently, but enough to indicate her health has returned. She has a fairly good, although not full, range of motion on the wing that was broken,and if you weren't aware it had been injured, you probably wouldn't know at at glance.
We've had unseasonably warm weather this 'winter' so far, and that was a Godsend, I believe, in her recovery, because it allowed for them to be outside and free range much of the day--supervised by yours truly, under an umbrella, with a cold drink, pretending it's summer
, and refusing to even think about the ice storms, which, knowing Texas weather, will be here in just a few weeks.
I have only a few years experience, with a tiny flock, but I've come to see these birds as both frail and resilient. In past experience, when one has gone down, due to sickness or injury, we've done everything we can for them. And the heart-breaker is that in most, almost all cases to date, it hasn't worked, and we lost them soon after.
But this time, I'm going to claim victory, resiliency has trumped frailty, and it's very rewarding. As I write this--yes, not kidding, under an umbrella, under sunny skies, with a cold drink--Shaggy and the small flock are nearby, in a cloud of dust (bath), in the raised-bed planters that are vacant for the winter.
If she runs, I do see afterward a very small amount of the open mouth breathing, but she returns to normal within a couple minutes. The vet said that if the lungs were damaged, they would eventually heal over a period of weeks--and to think, with all seriousness, that only a couple weeks ago I had sketched out a plan and where to get the equipment, for making a chicken oxygen chamber. First world challenges...
We suspended the antibiotics and pain meds after about 10 days of treatment--mostly because it was a full-on battle royale to catch her, which risked aggravating the wing injury, and to get them down her throat with a syringe, all while avoiding aspiration.
So it's a victory, a life prolonged, to begin this new year.
Cheers, Y'all and Happy New Year, to you all your fine feathered friends!
