lookin' good!

Crossing fingers and knock on wood, it looks like all of my sick banties have recovered from the terrible illnesses that suddenly plagued them two weeks ago.

If I had gotten home from my vacation on time, I could have saved my poor sweet Una (the only hen that died) but alas, it was not to be... I don't feel safe leaving them for a whole week anymore :-(

I have to thank this miracle product called Oxine (AH) for clearing up some of the nastiest lung gurglies ever, and Tylan-200 injectable for the other infection.

A friend of mine recommended the Oxine, I had never heard of it before.

Did some research online and flock owners are raving about it left and right - I knew it was my last chance to save my babies so I called the company HQ in the States who pointed me to their Canadian distributor, who then called me after business hours as my message was quite desperate. Lovely man, awesome service. The next morning they put a bottle on the UPS truck for me and I had it in my hands 24 hours later.

The treatment for "percolator lung" is to put your sick bird in a small, enclosed space (I used a small plastic pet carrier and draped a towel over it to cover the holes) and fog the inside for a good hour or so once a day using a cool mist air humidifier - or an ultrasonic one if you can afford it.

The bird is forced to breath in the the gently misted air which contains the spore-killing Oxine, plus it gives them a nice "spa" treatment between bouts of quarantaine. Keep them warm and offer Sulmet in their drinking water, protein-rich wet foods and their grains.

Now if only there was a miracle product to treat sprained legs...

Yep, a hen from one coop and a pullet from the other both suffered leg injuries the same day last week, it's a never-ending run of bad luck. One has a sprained ankle and the other has something wrong with her hip.

Besides quarantine in tight quarters and twice-daily doses of Arnica (a homeopathic treatment), any advice on treating such injuries? I gave them small doses of aspirin the first few days but don't want to damage their tummies so I stopped... Still no improvement after a week. :-/

My poor babies!