Once Sebastian made it through the night, we knew he had a good chance of recovery - though it would be a slow process.  Once he had a little more energy back, we brought his best friend Sebastian in to visit him.  We could tell how much it cheered him to hear his friend (though he still couldn't see him due to his eyes being swollen shut) and to do "normal" chicken things again.  They hung out for a bit and ate dinner near each other.  Hearing Jareth eat made Sebastian hungry and helped him to find his food on his own, though he still required hand feeding and watering for a few more days.  

Finally, one of Sebastian's eyes opened and his head started to heal.  He was becoming restless inside, so we let him have some time in the sun with Jareth.  

Sebastian had a bad day yesterday.  Probably the worst day of his life.  It was a very bad day for us too.  When we found him, he was unconscious.  We genuinely thought he was dead.  Tia the turkey had snuck into his area with her kids Rachel and Betty - something she had never done before.  Tia and Sebastian have had a long-standing feud for reasons we still don’t fully understand. While these tensions have existed for some time, we have taken steps to mitigate their ability to see each other through fences, which has helped tremendously.   However his outcome was far more serious than anything we had ever expected.

Over the past several weeks, we’ve noticed that Indy the hen has been losing weight, despite her usual  bright spirit. Concerned, our veterinarian ran bloodwork and parasite tests, but they came back normal.  Given that, the most likely explanation for Indy’s continued weight loss is cancer.

To get a clearer picture, Indy has been referred to Stahl’s Exotic Animal Veterinary Services for a CT scan. We are grateful that our trusted vet, Dr. Carothers (who took such good care of Miles and Quincy this year), will be the one caring for her. Still, we are deeply worried as we wait for answers.