Advice for adopted flock? (UPDATE) sick birds :(

[delisha]

Your birds need water. You might consider using a syringe to fill the crop with FF. Because the FF is wet they will have moisture too. I would also administer water with ACV. Sometimes chickens know more than we do and the refusal to eat and drink is something they do for sour crop too. Have you ever use a syringe to feed a bird?

 

[BroosterSpringsteen]

Your birds need water. You might consider using a syringe to fill the crop with FF. Because the FF is wet they will have moisture too. I would also administer water with ACV. Sometimes chickens know more than we do and the refusal to eat and drink is something they do for sour crop too. Have you ever use a syringe to feed a bird?

No I haven't. Are there instructions somewhere? I've been very worried about their lack of eating.

 

[cowcreekgeek]

Thank you

It is a least gratifying to see I'm giving these new chickens a better life.

I took the advice about the apple cider vinegar. The chickens in the coop are lapping it up, but the sick hens aren't drinking at all. I've been giving them the medicine with an eye dropper, but do you think I should be giving them more water that way too? One is improving more quickly then the other, but it doesn't appear either of them is eating or drinking very much.

Interestingly, I'm very allergic to all antibiotics that end in -mycin. So I've been handling it with care. I wear gloves when I'm mixing the medicine or treating them. So eating the eggs is definitely out of the question until well after the medicine is no longer being administered. The vet seemed to think the eggs would be fine to consume once the birds are 100% recovered, and the medicine is out of their system.

I know the farmer I got the hens from gave away lots (like dozens) of other chickens to other folks. I tried contacting her to tell her my chickens had fallen ill, but she hasn't responded.

For the sick birds, it'd be most important to get some in 'em -- I'd use the eyedropper to put some at double concentration straight in their crop, but not close to the meds. I'd bet it's the taste of the meds that's turnin' them off to puttin' anything in their beaks, but sick birds normally don't, and that stuff leaves a really bitter aftertaste. You could also wipe some VetRx directly on their faces, eyes and under the fronts of their wings ... that might help, too.

And, if this is powdered form, you gotta pay special attention so as to not breath it (far greater potential for a reaction via direct respiration than secondary absorption). Make sure other folks are around when you've been workin' w/ it, just in case things go badly, and never attempt to drive yourself to the hospital ... dial 911 if you feel tightness in your chest, difficulty breathing, or sudden swelling w/in your sinuses, face or mouth (might be a good idea to write that stuff down, and put it w/ your insurance info ... you know they'll find that almost as quickly as your pulse ~'-)

Turns out that the original theories are still just as plausible, as this is among the antibiotics normally used as treatment.

 

[delisha]

This will give you some idea on the how. It is done on one side or the other and can be accomplished by one person. I would place it right along side of the tongue and slowly fill the crop.

 

[BroosterSpringsteen]

Years ago I was hospitalized for pneumonia, and they gave me zithromycin. I had an anaphylactic reaction. So yeah, I'm being really careful. I actually had my boyfriend mix the antibiotic solution for the chickens.

I hadn't thought about the aftertaste. That would make sense. I could see how it would leave a bad taste in their mouths. I'll try feeding them by hand. One of them has started scratching and pecking the cage floor for food, so I figure that's a good sign. She's making a huge mess though

 

[BroosterSpringsteen]

This will give you some idea on the how. It is done on one side or the other and can be accomplished by one person. I would place it right along side of the tongue and slowly fill the crop.

Ah ok. That picture helps. Thanks! I think I might need to get a different syringe.

 

[delisha]

Use what you have on hand..and get some water and feed in them

 

[delisha]

That syringe is a good one to have on hand for birds..so next time you visit the vets..purchase one from them

 

[cowcreekgeek]

Delisha's pictures are *great* and she's right ... improvise, but get fluids in her. Just don't send anything down that small hole at the base of the tongue, and all's well.

Havin' the boyfriend do the mixin' does two things -- avoids breathing it, and gives him somethin' to do ... us guys like to feel useful ~'-)

 

[BroosterSpringsteen]

Update:

We finished the course of antibiotics, and I hand fed the sick birds until they improved. Both girls are actively eating, scratching, running, and drinking. They seem totally better except for 2 things: both hens are sort of chirping? Or coughing? I'm not sure what to call it. It's loud though. I can hear it from inside the house. Also, neither bird has started laying again yet. They don't lay much this time of year anyway, but how long does it usually take sick birds to recover?
I'm still not sure what they have.