Jana Warnke poses with Rue.b after her beak healed.
First there was the turtle, now there’s the chicken.
Last year, NAILS told you about a resourceful nail tech who teamed up with a veterinarian to save the life of a turtle whose shell had been crushed when it was hit by a car. The tech used NSI acrylic to patch the turtle’s broken shell. Not to be outdone, nail tech, instructor, and NSI educator Jana Warnke recently used NSI’s Balance Gel to repair a broken beak on one of her backyard chickens.
Warnke, a tech at Hands & Feet Boutique in Clarksville, Tenn., wasn’t always such an ardent bird lover. “I was really afraid of birds,” she says. “But my husband and I love our vegetable garden and chickens keep the pests away — and make plenty of fertilizer!” Despite her initial reluctance, Warnke now views her chickens — all 26 of them — as pets. “They are sweet, beautiful, relaxing to watch, and even provide us with eggs. Now I’m known around town as the crazy chicken lady.”
Warnke took care not to allow a thermal reaction to occur when curing the product.
Warnke describes Rue.b, the injured chicken, as very easygoing and easy to handle. “My husband noticed she had broken her beak and though we weren’t sure how it happened, we could tell she was in pain, and she wouldn’t be able to forage or drink water since the tissue underneath was exposed and posed threat of infection,” she says. “I immediately began reading about ways to fix a broken beak and found people had used silk wraps in the past, since chickens’ beaks grow continuously like a nail. It’s up to the chickens to keep them short and sharp by foraging.”
Warnke opted to use NSI’s Balance Gel instead of a wrap. “After cleaning the area really well, we wrapped her face and covered her eyes to protect her from the LED lamp, then I set to work prepping the surface as normal with a hand file, just to remove the shine. I applied a thin layer of Bonder and applied layers of gel in small quantities,” she explains. “I then set the lamp near her beak and allowed the gel to harden, making sure there was no potential for heat. It cured completely after about four flash-cures.” Rue.b remained asleep during the entire procedure. “The new beak wasn’t straight, but it was sturdy and she immediately began to eat since the pressure was no longer painful.” The beak has since grown out completely.
The patient snoozed through the procedure.
You can read about the injured turtle at www.nailsmag.com/turtle.
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