The internet is a scary place

We're having some guests over for the afternoon (tomorrow) after I do my Raptor Center shift.  So today will be spent in an attempt to tidy up a bit. 

 

 

After dark tonight we need to catch Mr. Flan, and try to saw off his remaining spur.  It's somehow sharpened into a very sharp point, and sooner or later one of the hens will be badly hurt. It's not like a nail or claw--it's bone. Last time I was at our vet with Lorpie I asked what he thought about using a hacksaw to remove or blunt the tip of the spur.  It's potentially a good method, but the problem is stabilizing the leg, since you aren't going to put the leg in a vice!  He prefers using a dental drill. Much more precise, with less chance for injury of other parts of your bird.  So although my knockoff dremel isn't a wonderful high speed dental device, I figured if I could get the right burr we might just be able to do it.  I found a tungsten carbide burr recommended for very hard materials like metal and ceramics, and it looks almost like my favourite drill bit for the part of K9 carnassial tooth removal (the huge upper 4th premolar) where you cut the tooth in half after exposing the roots. So tonight we'll try it out.  I suspect it will work, and any failure to succeed will be due to my Jobmate dremel just not being powerful enough.

 

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While searching for a radiograph of a rooster leg I came across some horrible advice on a forum called Homesteading Today.  People put up some awful advice, and if they sound confident enough, newbies will do what they suggest. Horrible. The nice thing about the US is that most universities have extension services, where you can call to get advice on livestock management.  Most of them will be production based, but some actually offer advice specifically for backyard flock owners.  Call a university vet school.  Call an exotics vet even if it's not local. Try to get in touch with a vet tech at a zoo, which should be easier than getting the number for the vet. Just don't believe what you read on the internet...

 

 

 

What disturbed me about the things I read was that 'taking a pair of pliers and ripping the spur off' not only could potentially break the leg of the rooster, but cause it to bleed to death depending on the size of the bird.  Chickens have a pretty good blood supply compared to exotic birds, but still, the potential for causing a helluva lot of pain and stress is there. 

 

B is actually the bone extending off the leg to form the spur, which is then covered with keratin like the claw. That part you can trim with large K9 nail trimmers. The bone, not so much. But heh, just crack that sucker off like a carrot. WTF people...
 

Unfortunately I've also found that calling a vet hospital doesn't always yield answers.  I'm not expecting a regular small animal clinic to know much about poultry, but when I worked in clinics I do remember actually trying to help the person on the other end of the line...The standard line now is "I'm sorry, I don't know." Silence. What happened to customer service?? Who's training these front line staff these days? Bloody useless. Vapid. How about "I'm sorry I don't know the answer to that, but I can ask the vet if he/she can refer you to someone who can."

But for the beasts sake, please take the time to do proper research when it comes to procedures like this especially--and don't believe what some yahoo on the internet says! Use your brain. Engage whatever level of critical thinking skills you possess. Your animal's life could depend on it.  It's just like dog breeders who recommend some sort of special diet for their dogs, and it turns out it actually gives them hip dysplasia. Or the folks who don't want to pay for flea prevention meds from the vet and use some over the counter junk from a pet food store, and end up killing their cat. Develop the connections you will need down the road, so that in an emergency you are ready.  Remember, our new farm motto is "whatever CAN happen, will". 





Mr. Flan's look sort of like this-but sharper.




 

Well, that's enough ranting for today. I must get on with things.  Tulip is a little off today and I suspect needs to lay an egg, so I will watch her and leave her inside today where it's cooler and I'm sure she can stay hydrated. The air conditioning is magically working again, so our heat index of 105 degrees won't render me as useless as it did yesterday (I hope).