Sick Pippy

Unfortunately our little Pippy has fallen ill.

This week we noticed that she had a bit of trouble breathing and this morning was gasping each breath. So it was a quick visit to the vet and the initial prognosis is a bacterial infection.


We initially thought it was because of her blocked nostril. She has had this plug in her nose for months and months. We tried to remove it with warm water and a bit of hydrogen peroxide (to soften it) but we only managed to remove part of it. During that period we actually isolated her for about two weeks and gave her a dose of Sulfa3 (an antibiotic) since she was looking a bit peaky. She improved quite a bit and that was when we placed her with Buffy's group, since she wasn't happy being around Penguin.


This was in the beginning of the year, now just a few months on and she is currently spending the night at the vet. We've taken her to the Somerton Park Vet clinic (at Somerton Park) as they are known to specialise in various other animals and we have taken DumDum there before when she was ill. This is what she sounded like a few days ago, tonight, it was much harsher.

The vet's prognosis was an ongoing bacterial infection, which he thinks has been going on for a long time. He also pulled from her throat some pieces of half digested corn. Somehow she couldn't swallow them? Hopefully that helps her breathe a bit easier. So far, it has been $200 just to drop her off. Things we do for our pets.

Unfortunately, Pippy is one of the chickens that we own that hates to be handled, and trying to catch her is extremely difficult. So being able to give her a regular check up was a bit difficult. Plus, she has always preferred to be by herself, so we didn't notice that much change in her behaviour. It shows how ill she is when we could easily pick her up, she did not show any resistance at all. Normally she would be screaming each time you picked her up.

Just a few days ago, she was eating and drinking, so we didn't think too much about it.

Eating the breakfast yoghurt, muesli and redhen

Because it is a bacterial infection, we have to make sure the rest of Buffy's flock doesn't catch anything. We'll be making an early morning trip tomorrow with as many of Buffy's hens (and Buffy) was can catch,

Wish us luck that none of the others have caught anything!!!

Edit (20 June): The vet requested to see the rest of the flock, so early this morning, we brought Buffy, Fromage, Chocolat, Spot and Goldilocks for a trip to the vet. They were given a clean bill of health and were said to be in good condition. The vet also told us that Pippy was responding well to medication and was eating and drinking. So good news so far!