Thanks for the birthday wishes.
We arrived at the vet clinic this morning ready to collect Elwood, pretty much on the dot of 10:00am, when our appointment was booked. As I opened the door to enter the building, I could hear Elwood in another room, chatting to someone & sounding frustrated. Not excessively so, more a sort of "Let me out of here" frustration than anything else, methinks. It didn't last long, but for a chook that doesn't often vocalise at home it was. Having heard her bagurk on arrival, and as Corrie advised me on the phone on Monday morning about Elwood's chattiness, I commented to Mr Winglet that I expect she's been annoying them with her chattering more than even an aggravated parrot might. One of the receptionists / nurses (?) chimed in that Elwood had indeed been vocal throughout her stay. The staff member was clearly trying to avoid sounding peeved by it, but a little tone of not being displeased to see said chook head home couldn't help but slip out. I don't blame her, considering the tone of Elwood's bagurk, and I'd only heard it the once.
Before long Corrie appeared & fetched the fetching Elwood, carrying her into a consultation room with us following behind (Corrie carrying Elwood, not the chook carrying the vet). As Elwood was placed on the table, another slightly frustrated sounding bagurk was emitted, with quieter but equally frustrated noises emitted regularly for the next 10 minutes.
Elwood's back end is a thousand times improved, and Corrie is pleased with how quickly her poos firmed up after starting her on antibiotics on Saturday. We continue the course of antibiotics (Enrofloxacin & Metrogyl / metronidazole) until finished, in about five days. The drips are cleared up, although still more improvement to come to have her pooing completely normal again. The skin infection externally is no longer visible which is great. Paw paw ointment is to be applied daily to provide a barrier against her poos sticking to the skin after each daily clean, too. So all is looking great.
In the consult room Corrie said that Elwood had been making it clear to everyone there that she's a free range chook & that being caged up was completely unacceptable to her. We were of the same opinion that as annoying as it might be, a noisy chook from chattering due to wanting to go home is preferable to a completely quiet one. I had opened Elwood's carrier at this point, into which I'd put some freshly picked clover-like shoots from the nature strip just before we collected her, as I know how much she enjoys them. As she spotted the little bunch of greens just inside the open door, she made a bee-line for them & gobbled several with more gusto than I think I've ever seen. She did eat in the clinic, but not as much as Corrie would have liked however she put that down to Elwood being in a new place with different food to usual & her not being outdoors as she might normally be. She wasn't worried about her & said that if she has a chook in there that seems to have lost interest in life she will take it outside to put it on some grass or in the garden which can perk it up enough to get it interested in life again, especially if it likes to eat grass. I don't recall ever seeing Elwood so happy as she was as she attacked that greenery.
By the time we returned her to the car, a distance of less than 30 metres, she had comfortably settled down for the drive home, laying down looking out at us & eating the feed I'd put in there. Part way back we stopped to get the paw paw ointment, and on the smoothness of the tollway roads she stood up & started enthusiastically scratching through the fresh wood shavings to look for more food. She was putting far more effort into the joy of scratching than into looking for anything to eat, and obviously using an excuse to get her legs moving again.
Once home I released her outside (having left the flock inside the coop this morning) to allow her to roam around as she pleased whilst I prepared something for her to tuck into. A couple of tins of chunky tuna in spring water later, with avtycoon's spice blend mixed in, and Elwood was most pleased with my offering. I allowed her to take several chunks & then let just two of the main flock out, MyShell (her second in command & close sister in breeding & relationship) & Audrey (our little barbu d'Anver) who managed to fly out over my head before I closed the coop door. The plan was to see if I could have Elwood safely & smoothly reintegrate after four full days away with just small number of familiar faces to deal with first, and if that went well to gradually increase the number of her flock for her to deal with.
The following ensued:- MyShell met Elwood at the treat bowl, and MyShell took a large chunk of tuna from it, some of which dropped to the ground. Elwood sidled confidently towards MyShell & the dropped tuna, at which MyShell gracefully moved aside as usual & Elwood took ownership of the piece of fish at her feet. It was a deliberate move that showed clearly both Elwood & MyShell were very content to be back to their usual positions in the flock, despite Elwood's absence. The two followed that up with a short chase of Audrey, just for show, as the little hen raced off with a giant piece of tasty seafood that she'd taken (rightfully so) from the large bowl. Neither continued the chase for long, both breaking it off & returning to the bowl in unison. I felt privileged to watch them reassert their strong bond to each other, and you wouldn't have known that Elwood had been absent. Next I let Julia (Rhode Island Red bantam) & Tomato (buff Leghorn bantam) out, both of whom have quite different characters & both piglets, so a good test of whether they'd behave any differently towards their illustrious leader. I needn't have worried. As is their usual behaviour when the treat bowl has been filled, they raced to it & shoved their greedy heads in. Elwood stood her ground as the two hurtled headlong towards her & the bowl, and stood tall & proud, making herself appear larger, with MyShell by her side. The food in the bowl stopped them & Elwood chatted to MyShell, possibility along the lines of a slight laugh & comment along the lines of, "I don't know why I thought they'd have a go at me, what with that whopping great bowl of tuna there !" Elwood relaxed & returned to her normal stance, followed by her surveying her realm & its inhabitants as she's prone to do. I let the remainder of the flock out, and watched for a while as they went about their usual business, as if Elwood hadn't left at all.
After a short while inside the house I thought I'd do another check on Elwood, just to be sure I hadn't misread anything earlier. She was no longer near the treat bowl where some of the usual gang were still helping themselves. She wasn't near the entry to the coop, or inside it, where I thought she might be having a drink of water or a bit of food from the treadle feeder. I had a look towards the gate that goes to the front yard, and saw the most beautiful site. Elwood was having a full on dust bath in a well formed shallow in the dirt. She was rolling herself in the soil like a freshly washed dog rolls on grass. Nothing had stuck to her clean butt, as I saw it during her writhing & wriggling. I'll check on it through the day just to be sure. Again, it's so lovely to see her thoroughly enjoying herself after missing out on her usual routine for almost a week.
A great way to start my birthday.
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) of a chook with remarkably similar colouring to Elwood, perhaps also a bantam blue Australorp, that seems to have an identical issue with her behind & has had the same bottom bath process done to her. Obviously I don't want to betray Elwood's trust by showing photos of her particular situation on the internet, but I'll upload photos of this other random chook to show what Elwood is also going through. 
