8 week old pullet limping for past 5 days

[Pandang81]

I don’t either, but the leg issue could be due the corid given to her for coccidiosis causing Thaimin Deficiency? Or she may have just been injured by my nephew and has the coccidiosis as well. Alot of if’s. I spoke again to her original owner and she said again that her sibling who looks identical to her is fine and dandy…which is hopefully a good sign that whatever this girl has is random and treatable?

Amoxicillin may help with secondary infection like Enteritis.
I can't say if it would hurt her or not.
I don't think the leg issues are due to Coccidiosis.

I am going to wait on the antibiotic and see how she eats and poops tomorrow.

 

[Pandang81]

Amoxicillin may help with secondary infection like Enteritis.
I can't say if it would hurt her or not.
I don't think the leg issues are due to Coccidiosis.

Stool norm

A lot of urates. Is she drinking well.

Her dropping look normal today (see pics of poop & her) although she didn’t eat well for the 2nd day. I picked her up & she is bone thin. I could see & feel her clavicle protruding.
When we first got her we noticed her milder & more petite than our other EE & Brahma babies but she held her own & got along very well with the other 6-9 week olds…she is our first & only bantam mix & first Silkie so we thought it normal at the time. Then 5 days after we got her she started limping…

I also examined her legs again. The right one had full motion and the left one just hangs down as I examined each. She moved it once so I know she can move it but it was weak, not a full range strong move.

Today is day 11 since her limping began & the final day of corid so we plan to give her a poultry nutridrench in the morning from Tractor supply & see how she does, if any improvements.

 

[Pandang81]

Amoxicillin may help with secondary infection like Enteritis.
I can't say if it would hurt her or not.
I don't think the leg issues are due to Coccidiosis.

Okay, so she took a big turn for the worst this morning and we thought she was dying. She hadn’t eaten or drank in 2 days ther than about 3 grubworms & the syringe of poultry nutridrench that I gave her late last night and this morning. She was unable to sit up or move at all, we found her on her back completely disoriented & shaking this morning and we were about to cull her to put her out of her misery. We were on our way to church though so I decided to give her an antibiotic injection prior to church and we’d cull her after if she showed no signs of getting better. Well, I don’t know what’s going on because this afternoon she is slightly better…sitting up again and drank and ate a little on her own. She still cannot walk at all and is by no means well, but she isn’t paralyzed on her back anymore and is aware of her surroundings chirping….ugh so the only thing I can think is the antibiotic helped a bit. We will see how she does tomorrow. She is tiny, probably weighs less than a pound so I gave her 0.10 of oxytetracycline injection. CAN YOU or anyone on her that you can tag please tell me when I should give her the next dose of the oxytetracycline? I have heard it’s every 3 days, but then I have read of others giving it daily…I don’t want to screw it up since she is so fragile and this could possibly work (I’ll know more tomorrow)…

I have plans to send her for necropsy at TX A&M if she doesn’t make it since I’ve got 6 other pullets that she spent 10 days with before she got her limp and then I removed them all from near her…I am not adding those 6 pallets to my outdoor flock until I know what she has/had.

 

[Pandang81]

Okay, so she took a big turn for the worst this morning and we thought she was dying. She hadn’t eaten or drank in 2 days ther than about 3 grubworms & the syringe of poultry nutridrench that I gave her late last night and this morning. She was unable to sit up or move at all, we found her on her back completely disoriented & shaking this morning and we were about to cull her to put her out of her misery. We were on our way to church though so I decided to give her an antibiotic injection prior to church and we’d cull her after if she showed no signs of getting better. Well, I don’t know what’s going on because this afternoon she is slightly better…sitting up again and drank and ate a little on her own. She still cannot walk at all and is by no means well, but she isn’t paralyzed on her back anymore and is aware of her surroundings chirping….ugh so the only thing I can think is the antibiotic helped a bit. We will see how she does tomorrow. She is tiny, probably weighs less than a pound so I gave her 0.10 of oxytetracycline injection. CAN YOU or anyone on her that you can tag please tell me when I should give her the next dose of the oxytetracycline? I have heard it’s every 3 days, but then I have read of others giving it daily…I don’t want to screw it up since she is so fragile and this could possibly work (I’ll know more tomorrow)…

I have plans to send her for necropsy at TX A&M if she doesn’t make it since I’ve got 6 other pullets that she spent 10 days with before she got her limp and then I removed them all from near her…I am not adding those 6 pallets to my outdoor flock until I know what she has/had.

I could also switch to amoxicillin. I have 500mg pills & would have to figure out how to break it down proper dose and then how to administer the powder dose to her…I’m giving her nutridrench with a syring in her mouth. She does stress when I do oral.
I read that amoxicillin treats mainly gram positive bacteria and the oxytetracycline treats both gram positive and gram negative so since I don’t know what she has I am wondering if the oxytetracycline is better? Or if amoxicillin works better on poultry.

Need advice from some more experienced poultry people or a vet that has treated chickens!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

The Oxy dosing is sort of questionable, I've never been able really nail it down. But the consensus seems to be every 3 days.

Amoxicillin dosing for chickens is 57mg per pound of weight given orally twice a day for 7-10 days.
Personally, I would give the Amoxicillin - easier to dose and I think it would be more effective.

You'll need to try to weigh her if possible.

For dosing. Crush your tablet up finely or if you have capsules empty it out. Mix the powder with something "known" like 1 teaspoon coconut oil. Then divide that into equal parts.
For example - if she's 1 pound, then you would divide that into 8 parts which will get you close (good enough) to your 57mg (there's a bit of wiggle room in dosing Amoxicillin). Roll each part into a little ball, then put in the fridge to harden the oil. 1 ball is going to be her "pill" or dose that you would give 2x a day.
Does that make sense?

Poor girl. She need hydration badly. Will she drink on her own if you hold a cup up to her beak? You can also try crop/tube feeding to see if that helps. Fluids first of course. Some use Kaytee baby bird formula to tube feed.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...dications-to-all-poultry-and-waterfowl.73335/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/crop-feeding.75454/

 

[Pandang81]

The Oxy dosing is sort of questionable, I've never been able really nail it down. But the consensus seems to be every 3 days.

Amoxicillin dosing for chickens is 57mg per pound of weight given orally twice a day for 7-10 days.
Personally, I would give the Amoxicillin - easier to dose and I think it would be more effective.

You'll need to try to weigh her if possible.

For dosing. Crush your tablet up finely or if you have capsules empty it out. Mix the powder with something "known" like 1 teaspoon coconut oil. Then divide that into equal parts.
For example - if she's 1 pound, then you would divide that into 8 parts which will get you close (good enough) to your 57mg (there's a bit of wiggle room in dosing Amoxicillin). Roll each part into a little ball, then put in the fridge to harden the oil. 1 ball is going to be her "pill" or dose that you would give 2x a day.
Does that make sense?

Poor girl. She need hydration badly. Will she drink on her own if you hold a cup up to her beak? You can also try crop/tube feeding to see if that helps. Fluids first of course. Some use Kaytee baby bird formula to tube feed.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...dications-to-all-poultry-and-waterfowl.73335/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/crop-feeding.75454/

She did dip her head to drink about 5 times when I put her in front of the water. Is that enough hydration or should I force it with syringe?

 

[Pandang81]

The Oxy dosing is sort of questionable, I've never been able really nail it down. But the consensus seems to be every 3 days.

Amoxicillin dosing for chickens is 57mg per pound of weight given orally twice a day for 7-10 days.
Personally, I would give the Amoxicillin - easier to dose and I think it would be more effective.

You'll need to try to weigh her if possible.

For dosing. Crush your tablet up finely or if you have capsules empty it out. Mix the powder with something "known" like 1 teaspoon coconut oil. Then divide that into equal parts.
For example - if she's 1 pound, then you would divide that into 8 parts which will get you close (good enough) to your 57mg (there's a bit of wiggle room in dosing Amoxicillin). Roll each part into a little ball, then put in the fridge to harden the oil. 1 ball is going to be her "pill" or dose that you would give 2x a day.
Does that make sense?

Poor girl. She need hydration badly. Will she drink on her own if you hold a cup up to her beak? You can also try crop/tube feeding to see if that helps. Fluids first of course. Some use Kaytee baby bird formula to tube feed.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...dications-to-all-poultry-and-waterfowl.73335/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/crop-feeding.75454/

When you say give the amoxicillin twice a day , is that starting tomorrow or in 2-3 days? I weighed her& she is close to 1lb. I separated pills so ready to give them to her to see if she continues to do better.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

If she were mine, I would start the Amoxicillin now and see if she begins to show improvement.

She needs more than a few sips of water, she's dehydrated. If possible, I would follow the guideline in the crop feeding article to determine how much she needs per day.

 

[Pandang81]

If she were mine, I would start the Amoxicillin now and see if she begins to show improvement.

She needs more than a few sips of water, she's dehydrated. If possible, I would follow the guideline in the crop feeding article to determine how much she needs per day.

After two days of amoxicillin she is eating and drinking again but still lame. Her left leg still drags and she cannot use it. Her right leg still has strength & range of motion but she still cannot stay upright if she tries to stand or walk. When I curl her left and right leg at the hock her toes curl.
I have no idea if she’ll make it and we plan to cull her if we see no improvements from the antibiotics.
in also ordered a blood test kit so that I can send off for a Mareks test. Do you happen to know the best/easiest way to draw blood from a 1lb chicken?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I think most people have their vet draw the blood for them.
@Eggcessive or @casportpony may know how.

Eating and drinking again is hopeful, but I'm sorry to hear she's still struggling with her legs.