Mia Carter What happened to the chicken?

[Moki]

I have read all the posts and the story ended with out finding out if you took the silky chicken that wears a diaper. Please end the suspense and let us know what happened. Thank You.

[lovezebs]

Moki

I'm afraid Mia, hasn't been on the Forum for the last little while. We don't know what happened with the chicken , or with Mia...

[Moki]

Thank you Lovezebs, I wondered why there was no end to the story. Hope all is well with Mia.

[Babs _Owner]

Moki

Great, now I am looking up youtube videos of chickens with diapers. Oh this cant be a good sign

[lovezebs]

I miss Mia......

[delray]

lovezebs me too, i hope she is ok....

[lovezebs]

delray

I even texted her, and nothing.....

[delray]

lovezebs i Pm'd here a month ago, because i was getting concerned. nothing. It says the last time she has been on the forum was in July, and she hasn't really updated her website....

[lovezebs]

delray

All we can do is hope for the best, Brian....

[delray]

lovezebs I know, I'm going to pray..

[Atbird]

according to her profile statistics she was on tonight (this morning...whatever time it is now ;) )

[MiaCarter]

Atbird delray lovezebs Moki Sheather Sally

Thanks, guys.
I apologize for my absence
Of course, there's a story.

You all know my pets are my kids. I don't have human children (yet), so they're my "kids".
I don't know if you recall, but a couple months ago, our Chihuahua Gus got very sick. At first they thought it was an inner ear infection. I hoped that was the case but in my heart, I knew it was something much worse - something fatal. Though we never found out exactly what it was while he was alive, despite gobs of tests. We put him down before his MRI appointment, but we did have a necropsy. He had a brain tumor.

HIs balance was totally off. He developed severe agitation that couldn't even be treated with valium and pain meds. It was horrendous. I couldn't comfort or calm him in any way.

The worst part was he'd try to wander due to the agitation. He'd get "stuck" in corners. He went totally blind. It seemed like he was going "crazy" - it's a broad term, but it's the best way I can describe it. There's a lot more to it, but he was literally losing his little puppy mind.

I had to literally make a padded room in my shower for him and he even then, he found a way to hurt his bad eye, causing a corneal ulcer (he'd experienced an incident of "protrusion" as a pup when he went to run under the bed rail and hit his head. His eye literally popped out of the socket. We'd put it back in surgically, but he was always blind in that eye from that point on.)

It was horrific.
My hope was that whatever it was could be fixed. He had so much fight in him; I was loathe to give up on him before we could get a diagnosis or at least get the MRI, especially since he was just 9 (only middle aged for a Chihuahua). But it was just too much. It was like I was torturing him keeping him alive so we put him down.

And after the fact, I felt horribly guilty for keeping him alive for that horrific week. I'd never have put him through that if I'd known he'd never recover.

In retrospect, I've come to terms with it. But it took time. He had so much fight in him. He didn't want to give up. He never did. The only way I was able to come to terms with my decision to euthanize him was through the necropsy knowing that the tumor was only growing and it only would have gotten worse. (I always say I'm not a God; I don't make life/death decisions. I let the animal decide when they're ready to go. Well with Gus, I broke this rule and **I** made the decision, even though he clearly had a lot of fight left. Turns out it was the right decision as he was terminal, but it didn't make it any easier, of course.)

So what does this have to do with the forum?
Well, the experience was just so emotionally draining and it left me with this emotional aversion to sick/unwell animals.
The thought of a sick or unwell animal just sent waves of anxiety and sadness through me; brought back that horrific experience with Gus.
So I just did my best at avoidance for a while, until the emotional scar scabbed up a bit.

I apologize for not coming on here and writing a note. To be honest, I thought "Just a couple more days. Then I'll be back on." (So no need to write a hiatus note.)
Then more time has passed and I realized that I'd have to tell the story to explain where I'd gone. I'd started thinking of what I'd write and I realized I just wasn't ready for it.

Then Elana wrote me a text and I realized how long it had been. I realized I was finally ready to tell the story, so here I am.

_____

So let's see.....
What's been happening?!

Well, we've got a new little baby! A couple, actually.

During Gus' illness, I must have done shoddy nest checks and a single zebra egg got past me!
I'd went in to pull all of the nests to scrub and wash them. Imagine my surprise when a newborn came tumbling out into my hand! So that baby turned into Morris. (though I think HE is actually a SHE)

Poor Morris had a rough go of it. Both of his parents decided to pluck him from the time he'd started feathering up. I tried fostering him out to societies, without any luck - due to his age and lack of ability to prep them properly.
And of course I tried all of the tricks with offering lots of feathers and nesting materials. But the plucking persisted. Fortunately, he was able to make it to weaning (which took longer than normal due to the plucking)
But he's just fine now. Still has a few thin spots, but he's doing well, feathering up.

This pic was taken right when I started to notice the plucking. You can see on the edges of the wings near where they sit against his back.



______

We also got a new puppy, Lizzy.
It may seem like an attempt at a "replacement" for Gus -- and I wish that was possible -- but alas, Gus simply isn't replaceable.

But Lizzy was a bright ray of sunshine precisely when we needed it.
She is the HAPPIEST little dog I've ever met.


_____

As for the chicken in the diaper, we decided to pass on her.
Ultimately, it was the arrival of a chicken-eating cougar in our neighborhood that made me decide it wasn't a good idea. She wasn't an outdoor chicken, but I hoped she could enjoy *some* time outdoors. But the arrival of the chicken-eating cougar made me realize that we weren't going to be the right home for her.

[lovezebs]

MiaCarter

Welcome back, honey.
I'm so glad to hear from you again. I can't begin to tell you how much you have been missed, and worried about.

I am so so sorry for the loss of your baby Gus...... I know how much it hurts........ I know...... All I can do is send a big hug your way.

Lizzy, is adorable ! You just want to kiss that smoochy little face. As for Morris (Morrisia ?) a little darling to be sure. Is he/ she feeding itself yet?

There is something about babies, that has healing qualities. Between Lizzy and Morris, I think life will begin to take on meaning again. Babies, are like Springtime, filled with hope and sunshine, and new beginnings. Allow yourself to enjoy .

Although, I don't have any babies as yet, I just discovered 5 new egg babies today.... and, there have been some new arrivals In my home lately......

Looook~~~

[MiaCarter]

lovezebs --- Oooh, look at all the pretty new babies!
Especially jealous of your lovely owls! I need to make the drive down to Miami to get some new lovelies myself!

Morris just stopped begging on Monday, thank goodness! So I was finally able to take him/her away from the plucky parents. Not sure what spurred them to do that, as they've never had problems before. Quite odd.

It took him what seemed like forever to fully wean. I imagine it was due to the plucking, since that clearly slowed development, as he was growing new feathers.

Yes, new babies do have a way of making things better.
They're never replacements (if only they were replaceable!) but there is something wonderful and exciting about getting to know a new little spirit.

Lizzy's sheer joyfulness has been so lovely. You can't help but smile at her!


Oh --- oh! ---- and I got some great pics of my gouldians during their moult. It was quite the event! I've got to dig out those pics to share.

know I've seen some people here say that gouldians (or other species) never go "bald" in areas during moult. But I've got some crazy photos to dispute that! LOL I've never seen such a hard moult!

All 6 had large bare spots where skin was visible for a couple days before the pin feathers unfurled. I've never seen anything like it! It happened so suddenly. It was like all their feathers exploded out of them! Like a cartoon. LOL

They most certainly enjoyed their heat lamp!

[lovezebs]

MiaCarter

I always think how uncomfortable it must be, when those feathers pop through the skin. Must itch like crazy.

I've got one of last Spring's kids, that still has some weird little bare spots on her face. Can't figure that one out..... post those baldy picts when you get a chance

Regarding the plucking, I've got somebody (s) in my Zebbie flight, who is being a little plucker. Have had to pull 4 out lately with half of their heads plucked bald . Drives me nuts, seeing as I haven't really had a big issue with this before.