What type of antibiotic should I give?

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Knock Kneed Hen

Knock Kneed Hen

California Dream'in Chickens
9 Years
Feb 15, 2010
4,154
101
278
So. Cal.
18 mo. old Australorp. Appears to be eating fine, drinking fine, pooping fine. Spends much of the time sitting on the coop/run floor. Will get up and run away if I approach. Has pale, shrunken comb, pale ear lobes, white tips on the feathers that came in on her head. She's currently molting, but not acting typical of a molting hen. Upon examining her today her vent area appears fine. However, she had some scabs on her chest where it appeared she had pulled some feathers out. I pulled one scab off and it was a little pussey under it. It feels like there is a puss pocket the size of a quarter on her chest. I tried putting a warm compress on her and seeing if I could get anything out but couldn't. I think I need to put her on antibiotics. I have 250 mg capsules of amoxicillan OR tetracycline (normal stuff you put in water). I'm thinking I should go with the amoxicillan but don't know how to administer it or what dosage to use. There's nothing else available in our local feed stores. Please help me figure this out!!! Thanks
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No idea on amoxicillin. Penicillin is good for chickens and Baytril is a very good broad spectrum antibiotic. Your vet might be able to give/sell it to you if you cant get it at a feed store.


The dosage for injectable penicillin is .1 cc per lb of bird...dont know any other dosages off hand though. I wouldn't even know where to begin on breaking down the amoxicillin tablet into a dose for a chicken.
 
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Thanks for your response. In So. Cal. no vet will give you any meds unless you make an appt. and have an exam....which I'm not totally against, except that it's far and I'd have to get a sitter and it's a hassle.
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The amoxi. that I have is in capsules. I've given them to dogs, but never tried dosing a chicken with them.
 
Do you have a Tractor Supply anywhere close to you? If so, they do sell Penicillin there...at least they do at the ones in VT. CA might have different laws though...Vets wont give out prescriptions without seeing the animal here either...which does make sense overall but can be annoying when you dont want to pay $50 just for a Vet to look at your chicken for 5 min. Thats assuming your vet will even deal with livestock.
 
Just as a note, a hot compress on a bird will not draw any puss out. Bird puss is a hard cheesy like substance. You have to cut/dig it out.

As for antibiotic, I don't really have a recommendation other than to check first for worms/internal parasites because that is usually the issue before a bacterial infection.
 
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Thanks. The puss I found on her was liquid like. It feels squishy under the surface too. Wonder what I was feeling then...
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Yes, that's where I went today. . . . no Penicillin.
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Wish there was an online source.

http://www.amazon.com/Long-Lasting-Penicillin-250ml/dp/B00061MQGY

I don't know how long the turnaround time is though...even with priority shipping it would probably take at least a few days. I also dont know how they'd ship it as it needs to be refridgerated.



Side story: I'm currently dealing with a sick bird (from a roo attack, see my post on this board) and I tried to call my local e-Vet for some Baytril before going the route of giving my own penicillin injections and they were super rude with me. I called them up, explained the situation and straight out told them I simply didn't have the $150 they would require just for bringing an animal in for a visit. I even told them exactly what I needed and what dosage. After they conferred with the doctor, they came back with the standard "We simply cant do it, you NEED to bring her in for us to do it. I then asked "well, can you at least tell me what antibiotics would be good for a bird that I could get at Tractor Supply as I'm driving there now...would penicillin, duramycin, etc work?" They got nastier and said "Look, we cant and wont give a prescription over the phone!" I responded with "I'm not asking for a prescription, just an educated opinion" and still nothing so I just said "Thanks anyway" and hung up. So sad that they wouldn't even give any advice. My personal Vet has been great with advice and I wish his office was open Saturday when I decided I needed to start her on antibiotics. That's the difference between the E-Vet in our "city" area and the small town I live in I guess.
 
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