Amoxicillin and chickens

[Ladies-Eight]

I tried smashing the powder from a capsule into a soft piece of bread. My girls love bits of bread for treats. She took it up didn't like the taste plus the smashed in powder sprinkled out onto the ground. Then I wetted the bread and smashed the powder into that and held onto it for her to eat from my hand. She took one small bite and didn't like the taste. I ended up breaking it into very small balls and giving it to her orally. It worked well enough that way. I wish I had tablets but this is capsules from my dentist I couldn't tolerate.

Have you tried using a small amount of yogurt.

 

[T.R. Morris]

I think the amoxicillin dose for chickens is 125mg/kg twice a day or 100mg/kg three times a day. 1kg = 2.2 pounds, so unless your bird is small, you probably aren't giving enough.

-Kathy

HI Kathy I looked up the pdf you referenced and saw that their dosing of amoxicillin was "Amoxicillin Chicken 16(mg/kg) PO QD" That seems low, but a few other birds had doses as low as that. What is correct?

 

[casportpony]

The two times my vet prescribed it the dose was 125 mg/kg.

 

[T.R. Morris]

Thank you, Kathy! I've got a 3kg blue Wyandotte hen who was bitten by a raccoon last night. I can only get 250mg capsules.

In addition to isolation and wound care, my plan is to give her 250 mg of amoxicillin three times a day for 10 days. (375mg BID = 250mg TID). Does this sound reasonable to you?

 

[casportpony]

Thank you, Kathy! I've got a 3kg blue Wyandotte hen who was bitten by a raccoon last night. I can only get 250mg capsules.

In addition to isolation and wound care, my plan is to give her 250 mg of amoxicillin three times a day for 10 days. (375mg BID = 250mg TID). Does this sound reasonable to you?

That sounds perfect!

 

[illinoishiker]

Thanks for that chart! I used it today for how much amoxicillin to give to a 1 lb pullet. And I saved it for future.

 

[Daily_Flosser]

You're welcome... FWIW, the dosing info I mentioned is from Plumb's Veterinary Drug Handbook and my vet has prescribed Clavamox at about the same rate. This link has dosing info for most drugs used in birds:
http://avianmedicine.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/09_therapeutic_agents.pdf

-Kathy

I also reference this document linked above. Can you tell me why it says 16mg/kg, but your suggesting 125mg/kg?

 

[coach723]

That is the dosing her vet gave her. Dosing can vary depending on what it's being used for, some kinds of infections might need a higher dose. Plumbs Veterinary Drug Handbook, 6th Edition gives dosing for most bird species as 150 to 175 mg/kg orally once or twice a day. Dose I normally use in my birds orally is 57 mg per pound of body weight, twice a day( that is 125 mg/kg) And on occasion I have used a higher dose than that, I've not had a problem. The chart she referenced also says to do the 16mg/kg dose 4 times a day. Chickens metabolize most medications much faster than other species, so often dosing is also much higher.

 

[Dotschickmom]

I have been Using aqua-mox ( 500mg capsules of fish amoxicillin) to treat 2 of my chickens for 4 days now. Talking with the Georgia state poultry lab vet, he says that 125mg/kg 2x a day is too high which is what I was doing based on the info above. He says that it’s 5mg-10mg per lb of body weight every 12 hours is the correct dosage. I’m not sure what to do. Can anyone advise why these amounts are so different?

 

[coach723]

I don't know, can't answer why that is the information they gave. I have always used 57 mg per pound of body weight 2 times a day, for years and years (that comes out to 125.4 mg/kg). Never had a problem. And that is in the range that Plumbs gives.
And I think @casportpony works and gets meds from a vet pretty regularly, so I would trust what she posts also.