the chicken infirmary

My partner went out to the coop yesterday afternoon, and came back panic stricken. 

One of our precious little ladies is sick!

 

My favorite little hen, Dominique...

wheezing and sneezing and gasping for breath, so weak she couldn't get up to the roost!!!

 

So we read about what to do to help her.

Everyone says to either cull or quarantine a sick bird from the rest of the flock.

 

We have no clue what's wrong with her.  After reading a bunch, it could be a

"chicken cold" type infectious bronchitis or air sac disease or some other even scarier thing...

 

Since we couldn't imagine culling her in our wildest dreams,

we had to create a last minute infirmary to see if we could help her get better.

One that would keep our girl safe from the dogs...

 

Behold our emergency infirmary!

Our extra shower is impossible for a dog to open, and easy to clean.



 

But little Dominique doesn't know she's being quarantined...

We didn't want her to panic in her weakened state,

so we told her she won a winter vacation to a spa retreat in Florida!

 

She likes the temperature in here a whole lot better than the 23 degree coop.

In addition to all of the petting and coddling from her crazy mammas,

And she was delighted to see that her trip came with an all-inclusive meal package.

There's an all-you-can-eat buffet!!!  

There's her usual organic feed, some rice and mealworms, oyster shells, grit,

a little medley of quinoa and lentils... some baby lettuce...

and of course lots and lots of water. 
(Little does she know we've laced the water with a homeopathic remedy!)
 

But no tropical vacation is complete without some coconut water.

She loves the coconut water and doesn't even know about 

all of the electrolytes it has that are helping her recover from dehydration! 

 

(Dommy was very sick once as a baby chick

and we had to hand feed her coconut water for a few days...

We only wish we had a tropical cocktail umbrella to put in her coconut water

to make drinking it even more fun!)

 

 

She's hardly stopped eating since she arrived at "the healing spa!"

 

The other chickens typically prevent her from getting as much food as she'd like

and she doesn't like to give up her spot by the coop heater to go get food and water,

so we suspect she became mightily malnourished. 

Poor little thing!

 

Now she has unlimited access to everything she could want. 

Her goal in life is to be a nice fat fluffy chicken, but I just don't think it's in the stars for her.

Try as she might, she's always been a tiny thing. 

 

We'll do our best to fatten her up a little before she goes back outside to the coop,

which may not be for several days or even weeks. 

 

She's doing remarkably well, though.

We're celebrating because today she started drinking on her own again...

Hopefully, no more need for the dropper!



We've also been using a vaporizer in the bathroom, steaming up the air

with some essential oil blend called VetRx (it's like Vicks for chickens)...

 

The more she eats and drinks, the more she perks up.
It's like magic! 
Maybe it's the warmth, the moisture, the food, the homeopathic medicine...
Or all of the above...
 

She's still wheezing some, but her immune system seems to be rallying.

 

Our hope is a) that we can get her through this  and b) do it without antibiotics...

(That way we can still enjoy her delicious eggs when she starts laying again...)

 

Keep strong, little Dommy! 

You can do it, girl!

 

In the mean time, kick back, and enjoy your tropical vacation! 

 

She even has her very own perch made with a small round piece of firewood,

some yoga blocks, and duct tape. 

 

Maybe tonight she'll be strong enough to get up and roost!

I can see that she's thinking about it...