Chicken bald back

[Miss_Marmite]

Ethel was a battery hen till last Saturday. then rehomed via BHWT to me. She is one of three, my first ever hens (so I am a novice & know very little). She had seemed very happy & perky the 2 days from Saturday through to Monday morning, but I noticed her struggling to breathe on Monday afternoon.

 

After a quick call to BHWT careline, we went to see the vets & it is a suspected respiratory infection. We are now on Day 2 of Baytril 2.5ml/ day (syringed into her beak) but I am worried about her becuase she seems so uncomfortable. OH thinks I am mad - he has pointed out that you can buy a chook in Asda for less than £3 but here we are with Edith being treated as an Exotic Pet at the vets.

 

Poor Edith hates having the Baytril & seems even worse with her breathing after she's been dosed (but I guess that's just the upset of being handled & having horrid tasting medicine). She seems to have good spells & bad spells - in the bad, she labours to breathe, with beak open & body heaving up and down trying to get air in. We can hear her wheezing from the other side of the room & I wonder then if the kindest thing is to do is to have her put to sleep. But at other times, she seems to have some respite, looking fine & perky again & then we let her out for a few mins to have a wander round. She has managed to lay an egg today & has eaten a fair amount of her layers mash. She also seemed to enjoy a couple of grapes & a cherry tomato as a cheery-uppy treat this afternoon. So, on balance, it seems worth perservering.

 

She has been isolated from the other two hens (who are still fine) & brought inside. She is is resting in a huge cat carrier we have, on a bed of straw in a quiet corner of the living room, with plenty of food & water.

 

Please, has anyone else been in a similar situation, and is there anything else I should be doing? Is it OK to give her things like grapes while she is sick? It seems to cheer her up!

Obviously we will perservere with the Baytril & go back to the vets next week for our appointment (fingers crossed Edith is still with us then), but any other handy tips (or sage words of wisdom!) much appreciated.

 

Thanks,

Miss Marmite

[Guest]

we always ask for baytril in tablet form as we find it much easier to administer. Half a pill hidden in a raisin is gone in a flash, no mess, no danger of losing any of the dose or of it going down the hen's airway.

 

ask your vet for some avipro too, you add this to their water, it's a pre and probiotic and full of vits and minerals to help when they're on antibiotics.

 

citricidal is another good thing to have to hand, made from grapefruit extract, it's a natural antiviral and antibacterial and good for the immune system.

 

apart from that i think you're doing everything you can, let her eat whatever she can while she's poorly, grapes are good as they've got a lot of water in them.

 

good luck xxxx

[Egluntyne]

Sorry to hear it. I would carry on with what you are doing, and give the Baytril chance to work. You might not see a vast improvement for a few days.

 

Sensible to keep her warm and away from the others.

 

My vet has advised mixing the Baytril with a few drops of of Ribena to disguise the taste in the past.

[Miss_Marmite]

Thanks very much everyone.

 

Tablets in raisins is a fab idea.

 

I have just rung the vets & asked if we can swap to Baytril tablets instead. The receptionist is just checking with the vet that is OK or not. If not then off to buy some Ribena!

 

Edith seemed a bit better this morning, she even had a good peck at the cat's scratching post. She is definitely a chook with attitude!

 

Since she seems more lively I have moved her up to the spare room (with door safely shut) so she can stretch her legs a bit rather than being confined to the box. We've not had any bother off the cats with her yet but I figured better safe than sorry - especially if they find out about her using their scratching post

 

Thanks again.

Miss Marmite

[Guest]

Thanks very much everyone.

 

Tablets in raisins is a fab idea.

 

I have just rung the vets & asked if we can swap to Baytril tablets instead. The receptionist is just checking with the vet that is OK or not. If not then off to buy some Ribena!

 

....

 

there's no reason for them not to do this, Baytril is a common antibiotic for a lot of species so they should have plenty in stock. You'll probably have to pay for the extra meds but it is so much easier. The smallest tablet size has to be broken in half, we just use a knife, it's simple enough.

 

Glad to hear she's feeling perkier

[chelsea]

I would carry on with what you are doing, and give the Baytril chance to work. You might not see a vast improvement for a few days.

 

 

I agree, as with any antibiotic I would recommend to finish the course completely and then if she is still not quite herself ask the vet for some more. Baytril is good stuff and should hopefully get her through this.

 

We injected our hens with the Baytril (vet supplied sterile needles etc) as OH is used to and experienced handling poultry for a living.

 

Hope she gets better soon.

[Chicken Shirl]

Sorry to hear that your ex batt in poorly. Hope she makes a full recovery.

[sandyhas3chucks]

i have one with permanent wheeze. Often by day 3 there iis improvement, as I think you have found.

fingers crossed you caught it early the stress of it all often makles them nore suseptable.Mine don't mind the taste but as long as she is eatiny you are laughing. LOng as she recognises whatever it is in at this earlty stage of freedom, as food. if you have p=ilss you woill have both options.

All other has been covered, keep her warm, but not hot while she is recovering, let her do as much as she feels she can. All crossed for you

[cathybc]

sorry to hear about your girl, crossing my fingers for her, she is lucky to have such a caring new mummy.

[Miss_Marmite]

Hello everyone,

 

Thanks for your kind words & brilliant advice. Here is an update!

 

We got the Baytril tablets off our nice vet on Weds night. All is going well - the tablets are proving a much better way of administering the drugs than the liquid. I don't know if Edith has a espcially small beak or something but even 1/2 a tablet in a raisin was too big for her to manage. So we have chopped the 1/2 tablets down into 1/6ths with a sharp knife & hide them in small pockets cut into chunks of grape. She is wolfing those down no bother Along with handfuls of mash, corn, meal worms and tomatoes!

 

She is still wheezing but seems a lot more comfortable - no more shut eyes or heaving body trying to get air in. She is snuffly & occasionly does what I can only describe as a sneeze! She is very perky & although not out of the woods yet I am certain she is on the mend.

 

She is still indoors for now (it has gotten very cold & damp recently & it seems a bit too soon to put her out yet). She has trashed her living quarters (our spare room) but we don't mind - just so pleased that she is getting better. Yesterday she was eying up the CD rack as if wondering what tunes to put on.

 

I'm thinking of letting her out for a while to free-range in the garden tomorrow, if the weather is OK. But back inside for bedtime.

 

Thanks again for your advice - it has definitely helped us get through! I had thought she was a goner, and she may well have been without the Baytril.

[Chicken Shirl]

That is good news. Thanks for the update. xx

[Guest]

awww, brilliant news, so glad we could help

[chelsea]

Thanks for the update and so pleased she is coming along nicely. Apparently the weather is meant to get less damp and more "crispy" this weekend so a little jaunt in the garden in the fresh air tomorrow will cheer her up.

[skye]

Great to hear she is feeling better Miss_Marmite. My vet gave me a couple of syringes and liquid Baytril. I just syringe the allocated amount of baytril into the grape and bob's your uncle.

 

Mind you, I've only got to give 0.2ml of Baytril each day to my chook. Perhaps it's a more concentrated version than yours.

 

I'm sure chicken keeping will become much easier after this unfortunate early experience.

 

skye x