ThatTeowonna
Songster
Hello Fellow Chicken Lovers. A mobile livestock vet just left my home after inspecting my flock of 24 chickens. I have one white leghorn that has a serious case of gurgling and other weird sounds. The rest are sneezing and making unusual sounds also. This has been going on for a little less than three weeks. Her diagnosis is a respiratory illness. Not surprising, but I do want to share a few other things she shared that go directly against some of the advise shared on this site.
I told her that I had treated for gape worms with Safe Guard. I mentioned that I withdrew from eggs for 2 weeks. She said the withdrawal period is actually 3 weeks. I've read on here two weeks and some even say no withdrawal period at all, citing a European study. Well, a very experienced livestock vet says 3 weeks. I will follow her advice from this point on.
Another nugget she shared was about yogurt. I have a chicken with sour crop. I told her that I have been treating with Monistat 7. She said she usually treats with Nystatin (but she didn't say not to use Monistat). But what she did say that got my attention was NOT to give them yogurt to treat sour crop. She said yogurt feeds the problem. She also said not to give chickens milk products at all... they can't process it and it just gives them diarrhea. I must admit that I was disguising the Monistat in unsweetened Greek yogurt. I won't do that again either.
So to wrap up, I will share her treatment to cure the respiratory issues, sour crop, and just get my chicks back on a good footing.
I hope this helps and clears up some confusion. Sometimes it's hard for us to get advice from vets because it is so costly, or maybe a livestock vet isn't available in our area. So I wanted to share this with everyone as it may help you. I'll let you know how things turn out for my birds in a few weeks.
One more side note... my boyfriend was kinda mad with me for paying $180 for the vet visit and medication. For me, it was money well spent. This may keep me from losing my flock and I have a professional diagnosis. I read a lot of books, videos, forums, and of course, YOU GUYS are the best at sharing your experience. But I have a different comfort level after this visit. I'll do it again... I just hope I don't have to anytime soon. lol
Take care all!
I told her that I had treated for gape worms with Safe Guard. I mentioned that I withdrew from eggs for 2 weeks. She said the withdrawal period is actually 3 weeks. I've read on here two weeks and some even say no withdrawal period at all, citing a European study. Well, a very experienced livestock vet says 3 weeks. I will follow her advice from this point on.
Another nugget she shared was about yogurt. I have a chicken with sour crop. I told her that I have been treating with Monistat 7. She said she usually treats with Nystatin (but she didn't say not to use Monistat). But what she did say that got my attention was NOT to give them yogurt to treat sour crop. She said yogurt feeds the problem. She also said not to give chickens milk products at all... they can't process it and it just gives them diarrhea. I must admit that I was disguising the Monistat in unsweetened Greek yogurt. I won't do that again either.
So to wrap up, I will share her treatment to cure the respiratory issues, sour crop, and just get my chicks back on a good footing.
- Mix 1/4 tsp Tetroxy HCA-280 with 1 gallon of water for 2 weeks. Mix fresh daily. Use as sole source of water. Discard eggs for 1 month after start.
- Clean the coop as much as possible and mix 30ml permethrin II in 1 gallon of water. Spray under wings, tail feathers, hackles, and around coop for lice, mites, ants, flies, etc. No egg withdrawal.
- Nutridrench - Give 1-2 ml by mouth or dripped on food once daily for sicker birds for 3 days. No egg withdrawal.
- For chicken with sour crop, the Tetroxy should work on that as well. If not, let her know in 2 weeks.
- Treat all chickens at once to keep them from sharing the illness back and forth between each other. But if I ever have to treat in rounds, treat the sickest chickens last.
- If the chickens aren't better in 2 weeks, she will come back out and do a throat swab and take to the State chicken vet at our local extension program for further testing.
I hope this helps and clears up some confusion. Sometimes it's hard for us to get advice from vets because it is so costly, or maybe a livestock vet isn't available in our area. So I wanted to share this with everyone as it may help you. I'll let you know how things turn out for my birds in a few weeks.
One more side note... my boyfriend was kinda mad with me for paying $180 for the vet visit and medication. For me, it was money well spent. This may keep me from losing my flock and I have a professional diagnosis. I read a lot of books, videos, forums, and of course, YOU GUYS are the best at sharing your experience. But I have a different comfort level after this visit. I'll do it again... I just hope I don't have to anytime soon. lol
Take care all!
