Olly Astro’s blood work is back from the vet. She definitely has some kind of infection.
Before she came to us, she was on 8-weeks of treatment to get rid of pneumonia. She went through 3 different antibiotics to finally get rid of it. So unfortunately, an infection is back. It’s not too bad yet, but her white blood count should be 8-13 and it’s at 22. Our vet tech said that when she was being treated before, she was all the way up to the high 30s. Right now she also has a high calcium level though, which means she should be laying an egg. I haven’t been watching closely, but if she doesn’t lay an egg by tomorrow, her infection could also be an indication that she’s having egg laying issues. We hope this isn’t the case.
We’ll keep you posted as we know more. For now, she’s on antibiotics, active and eating well. We may switch her to another antibiotic if her white count doesn’t come down quickly… especially since the vet already knows that it took three different antibiotics to cure her the last time.
This week has just been full of a whole bunch of random stuff.
On Saturday, Olly Astro and Flapper went to the vet. Olly seemed to be a little under the weather, so we took her with us when Flapper went in for his regular maintenance visit.
As you can hear, Olly was not at all excited to be there, and she lodged many verbal complaints. If she’s sick, we caught it early, so she’s doing just fine. We’ll have blood work results on Tuesday.
Flapper visits his surgeon every 6-8 weeks to have scar tissue cleaned up from a surgery he had two years ago (by his previous surgeon). He had a granuloma tumor at the base of his phallus and had major surgery to remove it. It “cured” him, but he has had recurring problems with scar tissue building up and blocking off his system so he can’t pass waste.
It seems to be improving, and we’re able to leave more time between each vet appointment. He is put under anesthesia and he does just fine. He runs for the door when they’re done, but some extra grapes seem to make everything okay. This time he doesn’t even seem to have any discomfort, so I hope it continues to improve and require less maintenance.
Both Flapper and Olly Astro are on antibiotics… Flapper to ensure he doesn’t get infection from his scar maintenance, and Olly in case her pneumonia or infection is back (she had pneumonia treated for 8 weeks before she came to us). Also, Simon gets a steroid every morning, so right now that means we are pilling a duck, a chicken and a cat every morning. Oh joy! So far, Olly Astro is the toughest patient.
Simon is doing well. He is such a sweet guy.
He has taken on a night shift job as “Chief Bug Monitor.” Once all the chickens and ducks are asleep, he likes to sit on the deck and watch for bugs. He especially likes moths. I sit in the dining room to keep an eye on him, and after a while he’ll come back in to tell me all about the bugs he found.
Janet is doing well. She has a one-track mind: Treats!
She’ll follow me just about anywhere to make sure she’s not missing out on any surprise treats. And did you notice she is hanging out in the main area now? She and Olly Astro are finally getting along with Olivia, so all three of them share the aviary space with Chewy and Flapper now.
Olivia is still good friends with Chewy, whether he likes it or not. She likes to guard him when he’s in the big nest. But he thinks it’s more like being held prisoner.
He’d rather be in the ivy hidey-hole we’re making, with his buddy Flapper.
Flapper continues to be a bright light in my life. I’m happy he is in good health and enjoying life. It’s not easy with arthritis and scar tissue, but he is doing well and seems happy… especially when he has grapes.
He is just about the sweetest kid on the planet, and I’m glad he lets me hold his beak for him.
That’s it from our house this week. Oh! O’Malley and Petunia are doing great too. They just didn’t pose for photos today.
Hope your week was a good one, and we’ll see you soon, with even more stuff!
Okay Flapper. It’s time for bed. Let me tell you a story until you fall asleep.
Once upon a time there was a beeeeautiful ducky.
Are you sleeping yet?
He had a natural charm that made everybody smile.
How about now… Are you snoozing now?
Everyone said he was not only charming, but also veeery handsome. I think you’re getting sleepy now.
Uh oh! Will we hear how the story ends???!
Too bad Olly Astro had to bite Olivia on the butt. I guess we’ll never know how the story ends now. Oh well… g’nite buster.
Good night, everyone.
P.S. Olivia is fine. Olly Astro just snuck up on her and scared her. She has a flair for the dramatic arts. Next time when we’re startled we’ll try to not film up our own nose.
O’Malley is always excited to see me when I get home from work. He likes to tell me all about his day and everything that I missed by leaving the aviary and going to the office.
We packed up the visiting muscovy drake and stopped for coffee before taking him to his new forever home. He was very good in the car and preened his feathers to impress his new friends.
Once we arrived, I wasn’t so sure if he would fit in.
But soon after the geese said hello, he followed them into the pond.
After surveying the whole pond, the muscovy drake, who has been named “Manzini,” made his way to the turtle log and decided it was his. Then he enjoyed some snacks with his new family.
After he was settled, I made a new friend.
This is Plymouth the Pilgrim goose. He likes shoes.
“I love you shoes. Mwah!”
Here is Plymouth talking with me about his love for shoes.
Manzini’s new home sent us a text message tonight saying he was doing well, hanging out with his geese and duck friends, and sleeping on his turtle log. We wish him all the best in his forever home. And our shoes send their very best to Plymouth.
In other news, Simon had a very exhausting weekend.
“Yaaaaaawn.”
He has been watching too many scary movies, and they’re keeping him up at night.
Also this weekend, we got to meet Freedom the Eagle and her caretaker Jeff. He wrote a book about his experience with Freedom, and it’s now available in bookstores.
It is a very sweet story that I recommend for any animal lover.
That’s about it from Flapper’s house this week.We had a good conversation with Olivia, and spent some quality time with everyone else. Simon was put to bed early.
My little boy O’Malley will be 5-years-old on Wednesday.
Remember when he was just a sweet little guy?
Well now he’s a big biter duck, but he’s still as sweet as ever. We spent some quality time in the yard tonight as you can see.
We also had a surprise call today. Our friend Peggy called and said a muscovy duck was taken in by PAWS. The duck was found abandoned at a park, too friendly and tame to survive there on his own. We told PAWS we could take the duck if it was a girl, but for people who aren’t too familiar with muscovies, it is really tough to tell boys from girls. After trying to get the duck to talk on the phone with me, we decided I should just come see it.
So tonight we drove over to PAWS to see what awaited us.
This is what we found. Unfortunately he’s a boy.
He seems like a very sweet boy, but we simply cannot have two muscovy drakes here at Flapper’s house (remember Turk & Rex?)
We apologized to this boy for not being able to give him a forever home… but then we decided to bust him out of the clink!
So he’s here, staying with us until Sunday. Our place is larger than this bank cage he was in. And he can enjoy his time at Flapper’s Hotel & Spa until he heads to his forever home on Sunday. He will live with a goose and some ducks on a pond, and get support with food. He should do okay there.
In other news, I have a new shin guard.
Olly Astro has decided that sitting on my shin is a good spot to watch everything that goes on in the yard. She likes to talk to me, too.
We might get her a napkin so she can wipe her beak on it though.
Happy Birthday to my lovable dinosaur O’Malley. And all the best to this new muscovy drake staying at Hotel Flapper until Sunday. We wish he could stay, but since he cannot… we wish him all the best in his new adventures.
This is a video of Petunia, Olly Astro and Janet enjoying their afternoon corn treats. That noise at the beginning is Petunia’s very happy sound. She loves corn treats.
Later, O’Malley thought he could get treats faster if he came inside and helped me get them from the refrigerator. His chicken posse followed along to back him up.
While the ducks and chickens enjoyed their treats, Simon sat with me and watched the little birds that fly into the yard. He knows he is not allowed to chase them, but he sure loves to watch them.
Then Flapper requested that I be his “Official Beak Holder” for his evening nap.
Of course I am more than happy to hold his beak. Anything for my buster.
Happy long weekend from Flapper and the whole motley crew.
