Baby Chick Antibiotic Dosage Question

[GraceLives]

Howdy all!

I have a baby chick who had a severe respiratory infection. We started her on Amoxicillin/Tylosin (Amoxitex) blend and I was instructed to give her .013g per 15g grams of body weight.

I need to know if I should be increasing the antibiotic dosage as she grows. When she started the meds a few days ago she was 140g and now weighs almost 200g.

There is a significant dosage increase and I don't want to shock her system with a huge load of antibiotics if not necessary (from .12g to .17g respectively). Please let me know your thoughts.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I was instructed to give her .013g per 15g grams of body weight.

Welcome to BYC

Do you know what respiratory disease you are dealing with?
I would assume you were instructed by a vet(?) if so have them clarify their instructions.

You have you were instructed to give 0.013g per 15g gram of body weight, so dosing is by body weight - you would adjust accordingly by those instructions.

 

[GraceLives]

We suspect we are dealing with Mycoplasma but it hasn't officially been tested. Because of Covid-19, the "exotic bird" vet near our home is not available, so we have been doing our best to support her.

She has now been on the Amoxitex for 10 days (3x/day - .013g/15g of body weight) and is continuing to show vast improvement. Before starting treatment, she was sneezing 15-20 times every 5 minutes, had general lethargy, lameness, loss of appetite, and the infraorbital space between her beak and her eyes was ballooning (clogged nares/sinus). Now, she is walking around normally, exhibiting a sense of curiosity, drinking and pecking on her own, and the infraorbital "ballooning" has mostly subsided.

Antibiotics were a last choice for our little chick, but I'm confident she would have not survived without it. We've been supplementing daily with a small amount of plain yogurt for probiotics and hand feeding/watering when necessary.

We are thinking to continue the dosage for 14 days (4 more days) as she is still sneezing more than "normal" and I've read from multiple sources that dosage should continue for 2 days further from when the last symptom ceases. Does this sound about right? We don't want to overdo it.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Do you have the source information for dosing?
If you are using Amoxitex, I would follow the manufacturer's instructions for dosing unless the dosing was prescribed by your vet.

Where did you get the medication?
Everything I have seen about products like Amoxitex or Amoxy-Tyl the mixed solution is given for 5 days, the bird would be drinking the medicated water. I suppose your vet gave you instructions on direct dosing her since you are giving it 3X a day instead of her just drinking the water.

I'm glad you are seeing improvement! If it's Mycoplasma that you are dealing with, the Tylosin portion is likely helping. Penicillins are not effective against Mycoplasma since it does not have a cell wall, but I suppose they might help with secondary infection.



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