What else can I do?? Sick very special frizzle chicken!!! Infectious Sinusitis I think

[kimmom]

would her head shaking be from trying to clear her mucus out of her nose or would it be from a reaction to the antibiotics? The poultry vet told me to put her on tetracycline

 

[chicknmania]

Did the vet actually see her? Or just help you on the phone? Head shaking is probably from her illness, not the antibiotic. Watch her carefully to see if she drinks, especially if you are mixing the tetracycline in the water, of course. If she doesn't drink, consider the tube feeding. The vet should be able to give you a feeding tube, syringe, bird formula, and instructions. If not, you can get the bird formula at most pet stores. it's green powder you mix with water. It's for baby birds, but you can use if for sick ones, too. Even if you don't force feed it, our vet recommended we mix it with the bird's food, b/c it has a lot of vitamins and stuff in it.

 

[kimmom]

We talked to the vet on the phone, they are not on the island where we live.. She is drinking a small amount. Her medicine is in her water. The really only symptoms she has today are the odd looking head shaking, where she draws it off to one side and shakes it. Seems to be after she eats, wondered if she was maybe has something partially stuck in her throat or her ears are bugging her?? - Kim (Sierra's Mom)

 

[rbaker0345]

She may have a little ear infection too. I get that, it starts with a virus which leads to a secondary sinus infection which causes me to get an ear infection.

Or, if she is not drinking enough, and she eats her feed, she may just be trying to work the food down. I've seen my chickens do that enough and it does look kind of weird. Tubing her with some antibiotic water would be a good idea. Ask the vet for a feeding syringe and gavage tube.

If not, you can do it with a regular dosing syringe which you can get from your local pharmacist. It is really easy to get fluid into a chickens lungs if you aren't paying attention, but if you know what you are looking at and aren't squeamish about restraining your chicken, it is very easy to tube fluids and food down their esophagus.

Birds have a separate trachea which you can see at the back of their throats just behind their tongues. You will see the tongue, then this tubular opening (the trachea or breathing tube), then their throat. As long as you don't stick the end of the syringe down that breathing tube, you're good. You can stick that syringe pretty far down their esophagus, the bird won't be happy about it but they don't really have a gag reflex like we do. In this way you are able to put the food or water far enough back to make sure that it doesn't get into their trachea and therefore, avoid having them aspirate or get fluid in their lungs.

 

[chicknmania]

There's a big hole and a little hole, basically. You want the big hole right behind her tongue. If you can get some aquarium hose that fits on the end of the syringe, that's ideal. Then you just gently thread the tube down the big hole, til it stops, or, for an inch or so, whatever you are most comfortable with. Eventually you will get the hang of it. The first couple of times we did it, it was so terrifying..but it's no big deal really First time we did it, wehad three people

to help..one to hold the bird, one to hold the beak, one to do the feeding. Last time we got it down to two people by wrapping the bird in a towel, then one person can hold the bird AND the beak. When I get good enough, I can probably do it with one person. Unfortunately, every time we did it, we waited a bit too long, and we were never able to save a bird this way. If you talk to bird vets, they will stress how important it is for the bird to stay hydrated and fed. Even though she LOOKS like she's eating, and maybe drinking a little, it's probably not enough, if it's less than what a healthy bird does. You probably will only need to tube feed a few times, at which point she will hopefully be strong enough to take care of herself. My theory is if you try to tube feed and the bird struggles a LOT, then it's probably not necessary. You can also try to put her medicine water on her food, if she;'s eating.Moist food is usually more attractive to asick bird anyway.

 

[chicknmania]

You can give her things like applesauce mixed with her food, or watery oatmeal or cream of wheat, tomatoes, grapes. Anything she likes that has moisture in it, and then just supplement it a little bit with the mediciine water. If you are worried about tube feeding you can try that first.

 

[casportpony]

Great info on tube feeding:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...cken-and-give-subcutaneous-fluid#post_9910754
http://forum.backyardpoultry.com/viewtopic.php?t=7933