I need help figuring out oxytetracycline dosage

I have some sick Silkies. I have a flock of 22 hens and chicks. 9 chicks from this year born in April and May. I lost a hen 2 weeks ago, and 2 days ago I lost my beautiful rooster. For about 2 weeks, 1/2 of the flock have had olive-green gelatinous poop. I have also found black tar-like poop and I've seen 2 hens squirt what looks like clear water poop. Most appear to be acting normally, but 2 are lethargic.

It has been recommended that I put tetracycline in their drinking water. I bought a package today but am very confused about the dosage. It says to make a stock solution. That is the problem. It is NOT clear how to make the stock solution.
Here are the facts on the package: The total weight of the package is 181.5g(6.4oz) which contains 10grams of oxytetracyclineHCL.
The recommended dosage is 400-800mg/gal. ??? What do I do now????

It is now late Friday night. The 800# won't have anybody in the office until Monday. There are NO chicken vets around here.


I also would like some opinions on what could be wrong here. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. And just 'reading around' the web, it sounds like Fowl Cholera. God forbid. It sounds like I'll lose my whole flock. I love my Silkies and don't want to lose any more.

Please help me figure out the dosage so I can get it into the water tomorrow morning.
Thank you in advance.
Terry

I believe you want to mix 2.5 tablespoonsful per gallon of water for the maximum 800 mg dose--check out this link to double check: http://www.durvet.com/dl/Durvet-Poultry-Brochure.pdf

Well, thank you very much.
The back of the package was not clear. And I am more comfortable making up a fresh gallon a day rather than making a stock solution.

Any clues on what my Silkies might have a problem with?
Anybody?

Depending on where you live, heat can take a toll on some breeds of chickens, and shade, coop ventilation, and cool water are very important, although some breeds still have a hard time with heat. Coccidiosis can always be a problem up to 5 months of age as chickens are developing immunity to the cocci in their soil. Corid is the best treatment for that. What symptoms besides the stools are you seeing? Here is a good link on fowl cholera in the meantime, and one on cocci: http://www.merckmanuals.com/vet/poultry/fowl_cholera/overview_of_fowl_cholera.html
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/12/coccidiosis-what-backyard-chicken.html

Heat is not a problem here, it has been a cool summer.
It seems to be the older hens that are affected, the chicks are the healthiest.
Thanks for the info. Fowl Cholera is said to affect the roosters first, and my rooster wasone of the first to go.
I read thru both descriptions, and coccidosious doesn't seem to apply. I just don't want it to be Fowl Cholera because that seems to be something that never really goes away.
I guess I just want to believe it is something simple.

Listing some of the symptoms might help to ID it.

I slept on the problem last night and thought about symptoms in the past few weeks.
I remember seeing bloody stool and am ashamed to admit I didn't think much about it. I remember thinking 'That's weird. I wonder what that's about?' But it was a busy time and I didn't research like I should have.
So now I'm thinking that probably you are correct and it is coccidiosis after all. The rooster I lost was new to the coop LAST spring. I would have thought he would have died before this.
Whatever is going on, I put the tetracycline in the water this morning. I am going to order CORID from the internet and should get it in a few days. The feed store I got the tetracycline from is not open until Monday.
As far as symptoms go- like I said I did see bloody stool maybe 2 droppings only, and that was weeks ago. Now, it's runny, gelatenous olive-green stool. Most all the chickens are acting fine, 2 are somewhat lethargic, but not seriously.
1 hen 4 years old died last week, the rooster 1.5 years old ded Thursday.
There aren't many other sysptoms to list.
Now that I've started the tetracycline, I can't stop it for 7 days. Can I put the Corid in the same water? Should I give them medicated feed, none of the chickens have been vaccinated.
What is my course of action to cover all the bases?

Most people don't like to mix medicines in the same water--some on here do it with those two. I might wait and use the Corid later, or hold off if you doubt that it is cocci. Worming them with SafeGuard Goat wormer or horse paste would be a good step next if you haven't wormed before. Dosage is 1/2 ml by mouth for each chicken, and repeat in 10 days. Gelatinous poops can be cecal poops which can occur every 9 or 10 times they go. Another disease you may want to research is enteritis, which can happen if there has been cocci in the past. It is bacterial, usually from C.perfringens, and is treated by many different antibiotics--I think chlortetracycline is one, so maybe your Duramycin may help. Here is a link about it: http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseaseinfo/101/necrotic-enteritis

One of my chicks (a week old) is sick, we gave or chlorentetracyline hydrochloride powder in her drink and it's helping, we have her 1/32 of a tablespoons per 100ml of water, rounded that off to a pinch per 100ml, not sure for an adult chicken though... Good luck

Lost another hen today. About 4 years old.
I have started Cocid in the water, I just hope it does enough good fast enough. How can I know, without sitting there all day, that the chickens are drinking enough to make the medicine effective? At the end of the day yesterday, the usual amount of water was missing from the waterer, so I guess they are drinking the usual amount. I can't even imagine trying to give each chicken a dose of wormer. Isn't there something that can go into the water or feed? I'll look into the link you sent me after I finish writing this post.

It was recommended that I give the higher dose(2 teas/gal) of Cocid for 5 days then switch to 1 teas/gal for a week. then go back to the higher dose again to kill the eggs that would have hatched in the interim.
I was thinking that I could give the tetracycline after the initial 5 days, what do you think about that? Tetracycline needs to be given for a week, then I could go back to the Cocid for a week.
Obviously, egg production has dropped off from 12 a day to just 3-4. I am throwing out the eggs during medication. How long should I do this for? At this point, I don't care about the eggs, I just want my chickens to recover.

I am just so sad and worried. I've been keeping Silkies for almost 6 years now, and this is the first time I have had to deal with disease. I am ashamed I didn't act sooner, but I didn't expect nor anticipate any problems. Naive, I guess.
Let me say 'thank you' for all the help you have been giving me. I more than appreciate it. I wouldn't know what to do without it.
Terry