BJ roo unwell - wondering about redosing w/Ivomec Eprinex..

[seminolewind]

I read a story on a finch website forum about someone who's house became infested with mites from a finch that they had brought home. They were everywhere.

I wonder if "Home Defense" would work. Made by Ortho. It's supposed to be pet safe and works for months on anything that crawls over it. I haven't had mites yet, but I will check now, LOL. I've had lice but they wash off easy. And Sevin works well.

The good thing about Ivomec Eprinex is that if they bite the animal, it kills them. And it's only .5ml or cc on their skin on the neck and that's it.

 

[jjthink]

Hi and many thanks for keeping me company in this. My heart is in my throat when my BJ doesn't feel well

He looks so tired.

I suddenly remembered that quite some time back I bought a product called "Poultry Protector" in case I ever needed it for my birds. Having never had a bug problem with them I forgot all about it so when I decided to treat for mites the other day I ran to the feed store and got a poultry dust with permethrin and as you know I treated BJ with it (part one day and part the next so as not to unduly tire him).

Poultry Protector (Manna Pro website has info) is claimed to be all natural, utterly non toxic and is supposed to do in both the Northern Fowl Mite and the "roost mite" (the nightime stalker that hides in the day). I sprayed BJ and Ellie's environment with that stuff yesterday and this morning. I have been getting bitten by something, generally on my ankles....

BJ remains very listless, was kind of puffy in his house this morning

though at least out in some sun for some of yesterday and today (vs. hiding in damp darkness the days before that). He stands still under a big hosta plant and does essentially nothing

I know for sure in my gut now that it's not just the molt since he barely molted. I am hand feeding anything and everything I can get into him to keep his strength up. This morning he wouldn't take mealworms, so that's not good. Usually they are eagerly accepted. He had some seed and loved his organic fruit (whatever works) and had maybe just a dozen cat crunchies that are healthier than anything I ever eat (organic and the ingredients are amazing). His comb and face are pale-ish, again I was fooled by the molt since they can go pale from that. Concerned about the much colder weather coming in tomorrow afternoon and beyond.

I fervently wish I could stay home from work to tend to him as he seems comforted when I can hang out with him but naturally things could no be more busy at work right now, deadline upon deadline, and it would be very difficult to get time off. Ellie still seems absolutely fine though is ejecting feathers like crazy so soon she will probably be wacked out - will cross that bridge when I get there. Also, it's shady in their run most of the day at this time of year and I would love to get him out in the sun more but can't do that without being there to stand right over them, because of the irresponsible dog people around. Luckily my ex-DH kindly bought 3 bags (150 pounds) of play sand yesterday to make them a nice dry spot to hopefully bathe (everything is so stinkin' wet lately) and he'll put that stuff in their run this morning.

I called an avian vet to see what is best to give a bird that is likely anemic. They didn't have info so I called a wildlife rehab place and we chatted about it. They recommended brewer's yeast (hadn't thought of that) and I think I may add liquid B vitamins since they are water soluble and in theory I wouldn't overdose him. Of course, the Avia Charge 2000 that they are on every day should be helping but I guess not enough

They cautioned about respiratory issues that can result when a bird gets in trouble with mites. I have noticed BJ doing a wee bit of open mouth breathing so that was something I was thinking about. Terrible guilt here about not realizing sooner that mites might be his problem and hoping the damage is not at this point irreversible.

At his age, he needs me to nip troubles in the bud.

JJ

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Quote:
I hope he gets better soon!

 

[jjthink]

Thank you. I did my best to race back tonight to see how BJ was doing but they were already in bed when I arrived. I wanted to get BJ started on some B vitamins so I quickly cut up a bit more fruit - blueberries, grapes, apples and sprinkled with brewer's yeast that I picked up on the way back to the house. Ewwww - brewer's yeast does not smell appetizing at all, but when I offered to BJ and Ellie they snarfed up in a millisecond

.
Ex DH said they both took advantage of the nice dry sand piles he made for them today by taking baths. That sure beats hiding in the dark. Maybe things are looking up a bit. We'll see......
One more warm morning - tomorrow - and then it gets notably colder.
JJ

 

[jjthink]

Hmmmm......I really thought BJ was improving though was giving it a bit of time before saying anything so that I could be more sure. (he's been more active, not hiding as much, dust bathing)

Then tonight once he and Ellie went to bed he began open mouth breathing and it hasn't stopped yet. It's not the temperature - it's only about 70, and he's very heat tolerant in any case. Almost never open mouth breaths for any reason under the sun. I could be projecting but his eyes look somewhat fearful/alarmed... He seemed fine when he was eating organic apple treats just a little while ago........cut up nice and small..... He also had a few high end cat crunchies (a bit of extra protein for his barely-there molt).

Hopefully this subsides - maybe just a little something stuck somewhere on its way down...? I'm going to go back out and check shortly. I can't think of anything to do for him... Oh, they are such a worry - these dear feather-souls...

JJ

 

[seminolewind]

So, JJ, the roo is still hanging in there. Poor baby! I'm glad he's got a friend with him.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Hang in there little guy!

 

[jjthink]

Thank you for your good thoughts for BJ. I really appreciate it. Today he is basically just standing around and at one point I saw him laying down and open mouth breathing a bit

. Neither he or Ellie will touch mealworms, usually a favorite. Not did they eat the fresh fruit they normally love. She's much more active though. I don't know what to make of his symptoms.....

Because Poultry Protector is supposed to be completely nontoxic with no downside for birds, I sprayed their coop with it again today (says to do every other day for the first week). You're supposed to get their skin too but that would tramatize him right now which I am reluctant to do....especially since I do not know that there is still any kind of bug problem.

Naturally at his age, I wonder if my boy's body is failing him in some kind of big way....
It will be days before we have clear dry weather - I am hoping he does better then. I may have to torment him with a trip to the vet though my guess is they will be just as mystified and will only suggest bloodwork to try to shed light. Have to travel far for work the next day and a half so I hope frevently he doesn't get worse.

Ellie is being very loyal and stays by his side most of the time. Even despite her half naked and half loopy self from molting, she is making an effort on his behalf, a comfort to him I'm sure. This afternoon I opened their gate to try to give them a few moments of freedom and he opted not to take it

JJ

 

[jjthink]

I realized I never circled back to thank you all for your concern about BJ. It wasn't until I stumbled back on this thread that I realized how long my sweet boy had been under the weather.

Some of you know from this other thread that BJ very sadly died on October 13th.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=583670&p=1

No response necessary - I just wanted to share this additional info in the hopes that it helps save another much loved feathered friend in time........

Thanks again

JJ

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Quote:
I am so sorry for your loss. I was just thinking about him the other day, too. I was not aware that he had passed.