a question about feeding different foods to hens

[catherinedon]

I have spoke to the nice lady at the hatchery about one chicken I have who is sneezing and one with a bubbly eye. she has advised bathing eye with cold tea 3 times a day but warned that it can lye dormant and may become very unwell quickly but hopefully the tea will fix it. why tea? I would have thought saline would have been better. maybe i should get some ebm at work sneezing chicken she has said may have cocycideosis sp? and sys they sell medicine for that so I will try to get that this week. Does this all sound ok. are any of these conditions harmful to my children and will my chickens be ok (

[scarlettohara]

I would take a girl with a bubbly eye to the vet

[catherinedon]

Hi I have had along think and discussion about the vet in ealier posts so have pretty much decided not to go down that route at the moment but thanks

[catherinedon]

can I also add that she advised not feeding wild birds in my garden as they are carriers:( Oh I so dont want to loose any of my girls and am now really worried

[Daphne]

I saw your post about vets but I think you said there that the bird had a sore eye. If it is bubbly then it is probably mycoplasma and you should take the bird to the vet. Myco is really only shifted using antibiotics. You should ask for tylan which is most effective against myco although some vets will prescribe the more general purpose baytril. Myco won't go away on its own and is debilitating. If left untreated it can kill, although it can be treated reasonably easily.

 

Personally, I don't think a sneezing chook sounds like it has cocciodosis. Cocci usually presents in chicks and growers, it involves diarrhea and general listlessness, if you see blood in the droppings that is usually a tell-tale sign. To me it sounds like your bird has some sort of upper respiratory tract infection, which could even be the beginnings of myco. If it is a respiratory infection then that could be treated with vet prescribed baytril or similar, or you could try home treatment of citricidal or even garlic in the water, or a specific pickmeup like nutri-drops or a general tonic like lifeguard or similar.

 

However, given you may have one bird with a possibly serious and contagious disease I would seek vetinary treatment for that one and if it was me I'd take the other bird as well, or at the very least tell the vet about it. I was going to say in your other thread I do use the vet, but only rarely, when I recognise a serious illness. Like Olly and beach chick I don't go for operations or very expensive procedures, and like Redwing I can usually get meds prescribed over the phone - but only because I am now quite experienced and my vet is my neighbour so I get a visual check-up if they think its necessary. If I had/suspected myco (and I have had it) I would involve the vet by asking for tylan.

 

If the eye is shut or swollen without bubbling then it may be something else, and you could try bathing with cold tea. Salt near a tender eye is not going to be pleasant for the bird.

[catherinedon]

thanks daphne when I suggested saline i meant saline in a concentration that we use to clean human eyes. Now im really worried. I havent seen the bubbles it was dd age 9 who is really good with animals. she said she went out and chicken had bubble in eye and she popped it so I went to have a look and there was no bubble but like a little layer over her eye? havent been able to get out yet to have aproper look this morn as have two pooorly children on antibiotics for ear and chest infections. Cant see how I am going to get the time to take chicken to vet as am trying not to take poorly cjildren out and am barely doing school runs with the other 2. could I phone a vet?

[Chucky Mama]

You can phone a vet but they are not allowed to prescribe antibiotics without having seen the patient. If you have extreme circumstances a vet may possibly make an exception but they can get struck off for doing so.

[catherinedon]

thanks for advice

[catherinedon]

uh can I just ask out of curiousity. Are any antibiotics for human use used in chickens. surely nthey are similar ?

[scarlettohara]

No and any abx the vet gives you have to been diluted from concentrate for chicken use. I have a wheezing chicken on abx at the moment and I had to wait about 10 mins for the vet last week while she diluted it for me to take home. I had a pekin with suspected myco and she started on baytril but they changed her to tylan when she didn't respond and only then did she get better.

[catherinedon]

I have just phoned vet and said that tylan is what I would like

[catherinedon]

whats this going to cost me just before christmas

[scarlettohara]

Less than £50 hopefully but equate it to how you and your children would feel if something happened to her

[catherinedon]

im with you on that dd would be devestated and I too would be upset. her friens hamster died yest and she couldnt sleep just think my lovely husband will think im mad. We are both paed intensive care nurses and he in particular has looked after sickest children imaginable having done C.a.t.s for a year so a sick chicken doesnt really register on his radar

[catherinedon]

vet receptionist just phoned back dont stock tylan but can get. need to come nad register first and consult will be 28.60 then tylan will be 22.63 for powder or 30 ish for a pre mixed ?? decisions decisions. done even have anything to transport them there and will have dd in buggy

[catherinedon]

have just googled tylan and I can buy it on line much cheeper is this advisable??

[beach chick]

I think the vet is probably the best option, if you think your bird is suffering. as a paed nurse you will know that giving antib's indiscriminately is not a good thing.

I would do the vet thing this time, see what you learn, and then take it from there. good luck.

[Redwing]

Ask for Baytril then, thats more common and they should have it

[Christian]

Or try Noroclav? 250mg twice a day? Speak to the vet and see what they say.

 

Any box will do to transport the hens, just a cardboard box with a lid and some airholes will be fine. You can pick up a cat carrier for around £5-£8 in some pet shops. Lidl do them every now and then.

 

Most vets will see one hen and prescribe for the flock.

 

Hope they are better soon.

[Chucky Mama]

have just googled tylan and I can buy it on line much cheeper is this advisable??

 

You can't buy it online without a precription and you can't get a prescription without getting one from a vet

[sandyhas3chucks]

for future reference you might like to look into Retfrds poultry testing, there are lots of threads about them.

(CM you are a star I don't know how you do it!)

[catherinedon]

appointment booked for 5pm tomorrow evening. hoping my friend can look after some of the children for an hour or else its me 4 children a buggy and 2 hend walking 20 mins to the vet and 20 back

[catherinedon]

After a long discussion on here re. do you go to the vet (thinking I personally wouldn't). Today I took Jessie and Winegum to the vet A very nice lady vet she was. I told her I felt that they have Microplasma and she said it was something respiratory so has given be liquid baytril I thought I would find this difficult to do but actually got first dose in to them this morn no prob. Both have very snotty noses and weepy eyes so have cleaned both with saline and will do again tomorrow. Hope they get better soon and taht the others dont pick anything up.

[Plum]

Glad you did, it's a shame to lose them when a course of antibiotics can get them back to normal. Hope it clears soon.

[Chucky Mama]

Hope they get better soon and taht the others dont pick anything up.

It is highly likely that the others will pick it up to some degree. If they don't show symptoms they will probably be carriers and will remain so.Mycoplasma unfortunately never leaves a flock once you have it. This is something that you need to bear in mind when considering introducing new hens.