Baytril in chickens?

[Icedangel11]

So one of my hens sounds a little congested. A bit of gurgling when she breaths. I've tipped her upside down and patted her chest, then she sneezes, and the gurgle goes away for a while. She's eating and drinking normally, just a little gurgle.

If this a serious problem or can it work itself out? None of my other hens are sick, but she's always kept to herself. I'd rather not treat with antibiotics if she can work herself out.

 

[Icedangel11]

Update: She likes to hang in the coop a lot, which has been a bit dusty recently. I put her outside in the outdoor enclosure for 'forced' freerange.

 

[Icedangel11]

I took her to the vet, he said testing for MS or MG is complex he's need to run a 'battery' of tests.

Then said it was viral and prescribed her Baytril, which according to google means I can never eat her eggs again. Which, because she's an egg laying hen, pretty much is useless to me.

So.. what to do here? Just Cull and move on?

 

[dawg53]

There's a 5 day withdrawal period with baytril: Sorry, I cant copy the link showing scientific proof that there's a 5 day egg withdrawal, it is PDF.
See post #8 in this link:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/541070/denegard-baytril-or-tylan

 

[Icedangel11]

Okay. Well I'll give it to her.. I know he said it's a viral infection but it can't hurt, right?

 

[casportpony]

Okay. Well I'll give it to her.. I know he said it's a viral infection but it can't hurt, right?

What tests did the vet do?

-Kathy

 

[dawg53]

Okay. Well I'll give it to her.. I know he said it's a viral infection but it can't hurt, right?

I'm sorry I missed that it's a viral infection. If that's the case antibiotics including baytril will be ineffective. However, vets have been wrong before diagnosing chickens. You have nothing to lose... I recommend that you dose her with the baytril.

 

[Icedangel11]

He did no tests. Which is why I'm vaguely annoyed with him. He listened to my hen rattle, vaguely wondered why her feathers were breaking off, said 'try some vitamins' and then 'It's definitely Viral, just keep her away from the others and I'll give her an antibiotic. It's sort've like a cold, but for a chicken it can get MUCH worse, so just keep her warm and wait. He also didn't explain dosages to me and I just realized I was supposed to give my hen .05 of ml and not .5. The labeling was smudged a bit.

So my hen got 1 ml of Baytril today. .... Think she'll die?

 

[casportpony]

How much does she weigh? And what does the Baytril say? Is it 22.7mg/ml or 100mg/ml?

-Kathy

 

[Icedangel11]

She's at 3 pounds, just about. And the bottle just says '20 ml' with no mg on it, but it's a small bottle and it's only got another .5 Ml in it, so it was 1.5 ml. So I'm assuming the 20 is for the mgs?