DogwoodMtnFarm
Chirping
LK/Bonnie is still hanging in there but I think we may be at the end. It's been such a roller coaster with her the past 6 weeks and then add Clyde (RIP 6/26) into the mix and I'm exhausted.
For those who didn't read my previous posts: At 1 week LK (little keet) had slipped tendons in BOTH legs that I was able to treat successfully. A couple weeks later my only other white keet, BK (big keet) developed a slipped tendon so I put LK and BK in the Keet ICU (wire kennel w/cardboard panels) with a large pied, PK (yeah, I know, but it was easier) since it had wonky feet that needed to be stabilized. BK went on the chick-chair while LK and PK were awaiting treatment. PK perched on BK's head (keets can make a LOT of noise if they're unhappy) and picked on LK so before its feet were in shoes it went back into general population with the other 13 health keets. PK's foot isn't bad and it's STILL a bully.
On the way to bed at 3am I check in on the ICU and there's BK and LK staring up at me post-escape. I laughed and said "you two are like Bonnie and Clyde, total criminals" and it stuck. They were very bonded. I could never get Clyde's tendon to stay put, the hock was terribly swollen and the leg was more like a paddle so after visit to vet #2 on 6/26 I decided it was best to let him go. On the 1hr 45 min drive home from Atlanta in our Dually little Bonnie injured her tendon again. Oh joy. She refused to stay on the chick-chair so I taped and braced it behind her and after the 3rd shot the tendon stayed in place. She's hated being a solo keet but she's way too tiny and fragile to put in with the 14 HUGE keets. I found a super soft chicken dog toy that she will cuddle with.
Bonnie is a VERY feisty little keet who likes to fly up and perch on the carboard panels in the cage. She talks to me and likes it when I sing to her while changing bandages, preparing her aspirin mixed in with food, etc. or just visiting with her. She doesn't like being handled but will let me pet her. She always greets me with cheeps and bright eyes in the morning and gets very excited when I give her BSF larvea. She's quite the character even at this young age.
The tendon doesn't appear to be the problem any longer. It stays in place despite the hock being very swollen. I hobbled her above and below the hock for a couple of days to see if the leg would straighten beneath her but no such luck. It won't touch the ground well and she uses it more as a paddle to keep her balance than a usable leg. To make things worse, she has terrible curled toes on her good leg. Ugh.
More research had led me to a rotated femur. He leg looks exactly like Clyde's did. The Avian/exotic vet I took Clyde to said there were structural issues that were genetic with him and now Bonnie has the exact same thing. Since they're the only 2 white keets and the other 14, which are 4 different colors, are extremely healthy, vigorous and HUGE, it appears to be a genetic problem.
We finished the new outdoor coop and the other keets will be going in it tonight when it's a bit cooler out (or less hot.) We had a plan for Bonnie to be in the coop with them but separated by plastic mesh until she caught up in size but that doesn't look like a possibility any longer. If it truly is a rotated femur there's nothing more I can do and it's not fair to her to live in pain. I don't plan to breed my guineas but they seem to do what the want regardless of what we plan and I definetely don't want her genes in the mix.
Just in case it's something that I can fix I thought I'd post some pics to see if anyone has any ideas for correcting this. The hobbling actually helped a little but the leg is still off to the side and she can't put weight on it. The foot doesn't extend the way it should, either.
I'm open to suggestions as I would love to keep her around since she's got a great attitude. We're training our Guineas to return to the coop at night since we have lots of predators. They LOVE their larvea and run to the end of the stock tank each evening when I call to them and give them their treat so we're hoping that will continue once they're outside. We'll do the "let them out 1 by 1......" training in a couple weeks when they're finally old enough to start their careers as tick assassians.
Thanks and God Bless,
Trish
For those who didn't read my previous posts: At 1 week LK (little keet) had slipped tendons in BOTH legs that I was able to treat successfully. A couple weeks later my only other white keet, BK (big keet) developed a slipped tendon so I put LK and BK in the Keet ICU (wire kennel w/cardboard panels) with a large pied, PK (yeah, I know, but it was easier) since it had wonky feet that needed to be stabilized. BK went on the chick-chair while LK and PK were awaiting treatment. PK perched on BK's head (keets can make a LOT of noise if they're unhappy) and picked on LK so before its feet were in shoes it went back into general population with the other 13 health keets. PK's foot isn't bad and it's STILL a bully.
On the way to bed at 3am I check in on the ICU and there's BK and LK staring up at me post-escape. I laughed and said "you two are like Bonnie and Clyde, total criminals" and it stuck. They were very bonded. I could never get Clyde's tendon to stay put, the hock was terribly swollen and the leg was more like a paddle so after visit to vet #2 on 6/26 I decided it was best to let him go. On the 1hr 45 min drive home from Atlanta in our Dually little Bonnie injured her tendon again. Oh joy. She refused to stay on the chick-chair so I taped and braced it behind her and after the 3rd shot the tendon stayed in place. She's hated being a solo keet but she's way too tiny and fragile to put in with the 14 HUGE keets. I found a super soft chicken dog toy that she will cuddle with.
Bonnie is a VERY feisty little keet who likes to fly up and perch on the carboard panels in the cage. She talks to me and likes it when I sing to her while changing bandages, preparing her aspirin mixed in with food, etc. or just visiting with her. She doesn't like being handled but will let me pet her. She always greets me with cheeps and bright eyes in the morning and gets very excited when I give her BSF larvea. She's quite the character even at this young age.
The tendon doesn't appear to be the problem any longer. It stays in place despite the hock being very swollen. I hobbled her above and below the hock for a couple of days to see if the leg would straighten beneath her but no such luck. It won't touch the ground well and she uses it more as a paddle to keep her balance than a usable leg. To make things worse, she has terrible curled toes on her good leg. Ugh.
More research had led me to a rotated femur. He leg looks exactly like Clyde's did. The Avian/exotic vet I took Clyde to said there were structural issues that were genetic with him and now Bonnie has the exact same thing. Since they're the only 2 white keets and the other 14, which are 4 different colors, are extremely healthy, vigorous and HUGE, it appears to be a genetic problem.
We finished the new outdoor coop and the other keets will be going in it tonight when it's a bit cooler out (or less hot.) We had a plan for Bonnie to be in the coop with them but separated by plastic mesh until she caught up in size but that doesn't look like a possibility any longer. If it truly is a rotated femur there's nothing more I can do and it's not fair to her to live in pain. I don't plan to breed my guineas but they seem to do what the want regardless of what we plan and I definetely don't want her genes in the mix.
Just in case it's something that I can fix I thought I'd post some pics to see if anyone has any ideas for correcting this. The hobbling actually helped a little but the leg is still off to the side and she can't put weight on it. The foot doesn't extend the way it should, either.
I'm open to suggestions as I would love to keep her around since she's got a great attitude. We're training our Guineas to return to the coop at night since we have lots of predators. They LOVE their larvea and run to the end of the stock tank each evening when I call to them and give them their treat so we're hoping that will continue once they're outside. We'll do the "let them out 1 by 1......" training in a couple weeks when they're finally old enough to start their careers as tick assassians.
Thanks and God Bless,
Trish
