Groovychook Posted July 10, 2010 Share Posted July 10, 2010 (edited) We took our poorly chook, Audrey to the vets this morning. She hasn't been too good for over a week but has been eating and drinking as normal- her appetite does seem to have waned over the past couple of days though and she's started to look a little hunched. She's had diarrhoea for quite a while, even though the girls were all wormed with flubenvet about 5 weeks ago. Bokashi & yoghurt haven't helped either and they haven't been having any treats. Anyway- the vet didn't have much clue as to what the problem was, but has given her fluids and an injection of baytril. He's also given us oral baytril to give her twice a day for the next five days. Given that Audrey hates being handled at the best of times- daily bottom washes haven't gone down too well... I'm not very confident about getting the medicine into her beak without it getting into her lungs. I wondered if I dosed a small piece of bread with the correct amount and gave it to her that way, if it would be okay? If not, does anybody have any top tips for getting her to swallow it without too much distress? Edited July 18, 2010 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted July 10, 2010 Share Posted July 10, 2010 My vet recommended mixing it with Ribena so that it doesn't taste too bitter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groovychook Posted July 10, 2010 Author Share Posted July 10, 2010 Thanks Egluntyne... haven't got any ribena, but maybe I could spread a bit of jam onto the bread before I dose it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chucky Mama Posted July 10, 2010 Share Posted July 10, 2010 Watch out for flystrike if she is getting a messy bum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egghead68 Posted July 10, 2010 Share Posted July 10, 2010 Squirt it in a grape? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groovychook Posted July 10, 2010 Author Share Posted July 10, 2010 Watch out for flystrike if she is getting a messy bum. Yes, thanks Chucky Mama, I've been cleaning her every day- much to her disgust!! Squirt it in a grape? Thought of trying that, but she shakes grapes about at the best of times, so was worried that the baytril would end up being sprayed around the garden! Anyway- we've just given her the evening dose and the jammy baytril bread cubes went down a treat! Fingers crossed that she still finds them as appealing in the morning How long into a course of Baytril does it normally take before noticing any signs of improvement? I'm presuming it will be a few days? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patricia W Posted July 10, 2010 Share Posted July 10, 2010 Whenever I've used Baytril, its been about 24 hours - the thing is to keep giving the whole course otherwise you can have them relapse. And in one case, we had to repeat the Baytril course a second time Hope it works! Tricia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leicester_H Posted July 11, 2010 Share Posted July 11, 2010 Hi I used bread - cut the smallest possible piece so she swallowed it in one go - bread seemed good as the baytril soaked in and I was confident she got the whole dose (didn't soak into a grape). How she improves soon, H Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groovychook Posted July 13, 2010 Author Share Posted July 13, 2010 Well, three days on & I'm not sure that she's any better... she's still eating, drinking and scratching around, but spends a fair bit of time looking hunched and miserable. She's still got diarrhoea but it looks less watery and you can see white in it rather than just the khaki green. Not sure if that's a good thing or not. We've got a couple of days left of the baytril treatment left and then I think it'll be another trip to the vets. Fingers crossed for Audrey! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squidsin Posted July 13, 2010 Share Posted July 13, 2010 I didn't find it as hard as I thought syringing the Baytril into Nugget's beak. I could do it with her clasped under my arm, but if you get someone else to hold her while you do it it could be OK. My Nugget has (had) mycoplasma and two lots of antibiotics haven't sorted out the lump on her face (between her left eye and beak), although she seems otherwise better. I'm at a total loss as to what to do with her - can't afford yet another trip to the vet at the moment, and I am really reluctant to give her more antibiotics as a) she's been on them for six weeks now and b) I am not all that happy about being in close contact to them myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groovychook Posted July 18, 2010 Author Share Posted July 18, 2010 Sadly, we had to have Audrey P.T.S. yesterday We started her on a second course of Baytril but she deteriorated on Friday and we decided that she had suffered enough. I really hope that we did our best for her. That's 3 girls we've lost in the last 9 months. I'm not sure if it's anything to do with the breeder they came from, but I don't think we'll be getting any more hybrids - they seem to be so prone to illness. I've got most of her second course of Baytril left. Is it worth hanging onto in case of any future ailments? I'm not sure how long it will keep for... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
