administering antibiotic??

[monicaei1]

Hi all,

After my hen was attacked by a dog, my vet gave me an antibiotic paste in a syringe, chloramphenicol, to give over her food. Problem is, she is barely eating. Pecked at the yogurt in a spoon twice, and maybe a couple pecks of her mashed up food. I need to get 2cc's of this stuff to her daily. I am concerned if i attempt to force feed her from the syringe I could make this situation worse by causing her to aspirate. Is there a way to do this that someone could explain to me?

Thanks for all of your help!
Monica

 

[jaimslee4u]

you could try using a baby medicine dropper and putting it on the side of her beak. Usually this will cause them to open their mouth and take it in.

Did you try egg?

 

[monicaei1]

No. Honestly, and this is totally a personally aversion I understand completely unfounded in reality, it wierds me out feeding an egg to my chickens. Did try two different types of baby food though.

 

[jaimslee4u]

Quote:
boiled egg is extremly healthy for a chicken or almost any bird. Loaded with extra protein and vitamins that they need to heal or help with stressfull times. It is usually a favorite among chickens and can help when you are trying to get a bird to eat.

 

[chicknmania]

Cottage cheese, cooked and mostly cooled oatmeal, applesauce, work too. Mix with a little feed to make it more palatable (sp) You could also ask your vet for the same dose in a tablet form, then break it up and mix it with a bit of cottage cheese and feed; that's how I give ours pills. I agree, I think force feeding with a dropper is stressful.
She should like scrambled eggs and they are good for them when they are sick or injured.

 

[chicknmania]

I don't know if your vet told you this, but it is important that they eat. The few times we've taken ours to a vet, he gave us this green supplement paste to administer in a syringe. They hated being force fed that stuff, and so did we, but it did seem to help and also improved their appetite. YOu may have to play around to find things she will eat, but it is important; consider how much they eat when they are healthy.