Anyone know how to judge amoxicillin dose for a five pound Brahma hen?

[azygous]

I could use some help with Betty my sick Brahma. Last weekend, I was able to pull her back from the brink with some amoxicillin I had on hand for my cat. No doubt in my mind she would have died without it.

I cut a 62.5 mg tab in half and have been giving her 31 mg twice a day for exactly one week. Betty has had diarrhea, jello green, very watery to begin with, then after responding to the antibiotic, brown and watery, with some solids in the stool. Her uric acid stool is almost normal.

There's no question she's responding and improving with the amoxicillin, but should I increase the dosage since her stool is still watery?

Her appetite hasn't returned fully yet, though she does eat hard boiled egg, yogurt, tomatoes, squash, BOSS, but not so keen on flock or layer feed.

The rest of the flock is fine. Whatever it is, it's a unique infection to just this single hen.

Any ideas or help would be appreciated. (I got nowhere with the "Search" of old posts)

 

[casportpony]

I know this is an old thread, but Plumb's Veterinary Drug Handbook says the amoxicillin dose is 125mg/kg (125mg per 2.2 pounds) every 12 hours or 100mg/kg (100mg per 2.2 pounds) every 8 hours.

-Kathy

 

[azygous]

Wow! That's sure a lot more than I've been giving her. But then the pills were for a mammal. I wonder if fowl take a higher dosage for the stuff to work. I had a feeling she wasn't getting as much as she needs to cure her of whatever is infecting her. I appreciate your reply. It has provided me with a starting point.

My problem is I live in the middle of no where, and the tiny towns on either side of me do have feed stores, but they carry no real medications. And the vets here all deal with cows and horses, and we chicken types are simply on our own.

 

[mahboob]

Five pound hen is equal to 2.27kg.we can give amoxicillin 30mg/kg body weight in 24 hour. Do not go beyond this dose.

 

[Coop de Grille]

I used 3 capsules in a gallon of water. You need to be sure the experation date hasn't passed as antibiotics need to be fresh.

Not entirely true. Antibiotics are good way past their expiration date. Of course, fresh is always preferred, but ones expired by a few years are just as effective.

http://www.terrierman.com/antibiotics-WSJ.htm

 

[casportpony]

But beware, prolonged use of them can cause yeast infections, and if the yeast is intestinal, it can look like a bacterial infection. FYI, not all yeast infections look like what people here call "vent gleet". Case and point... Had a peahen on Clavamox for a probable bacterial infection. Her poop changed for the better, but didn't return to normal, so I took her to the vet and the gram stain revealed zero bacteria, as in none, lol, but sure enough, there was yeast, so she put her on an antifungal.

-Kathy

 

[chickenzoo]

Well, my Amoxicialian capsels are 250mg, and it says give 1 a day for average chickens.

 

[chickenzoo]

if you have a pet store near by that sells stuff for fish, a lot of these medications can be bought for fish, when indeed they are the same meds. Fish- cillian is Penicillin - guess what, it is a 250 mg capsule.

 

[CazzaJayne]

I've had a few with the wobbly gait, and it usually progresses to Marek's paralysis. I'm not saying that's what she has, just something to consider. FYI, not all Marek's presents with one leg forward, one back, there are many ways the neural form can present itself. That said, no harm in treating for everything else it might be, that's what I would do.

-Kathy

And Marek's would be a total bummer, but I suppose if she survives it, she'll have natural immunity in future and pass that on to any babies she might have. I've been reading about vaccinations vs natural immunity and I'm kind of leaning toward natural immunity, which is ironic given I'm exactly the opposite in my thoughts about vaccinating my children. Given it's in wild birds (that get in their pen and eat their food, and poop in there whilst my girls are out foraging) it's impossible to completely avoid. So maybe having a strong, naturally immune flock is the way to eradicate it, at least from my property.

 

[casportpony]

Quote: I have it in my flock and I lose 4-6 a year from it, but that's 4-6 of a *very* large flock.

-Kathy