Can I give a sick hen Ivomec? Extremely lethargic for 7days straight...

[katiedarling]

I, too, have yelled at a few chickens in my day!! "Oh, for heaven's sake, come ON!!!!" Hahaha! No shame.

How is she?

MrsB

she seems to be perking up a little bit. Still lethargic but now she's up & moving around in between her naps. Color seems to be getting better. She still goes a bit pale but color stays more than it goes and it's definitely brighter. She started drinking a teeny bit on her own last night, watered down grape pedialyte seemed to get her attention so I ran with it. I think the fact that she ate close to a cup of watermelon yesterday gave her what she needed. And apparently she fancies herself some kind of royalty- She prefers to eat her food out of a fancy lotus shaped ceramic bowl because when I switched out her food yesterday, that also kept her attention and she ate alot more. Won't touch what's on a regular plate today. *eyeroll*
Her pooping has me a little nervous, it's all water with teeny bits of green in it. I hope it's a result of her reduced food intake and not something bad.

As far as the eye thing, still swollen shut but looks less puffy. However, I noticed a short while ago, I could see that extra eyelid in there blinking. I hope that's a good sign as I am expecting her to be blind in that one. Gut feeling.

She's doing a lot of scratching(or preening?) right now. I checked her with the mag lens and whatever residual mites I see on the feathers are not mobile. They appear to be dead and they're mostly gone.

We dusted & dosed ivomec on all the birds today & will do twice more just to make sure we get ahead of them this time. When my dh took a turn at looking through the magnifiers he was as shocked as me. We both realize how naive we were about just how tiny those suckers are!

I appreciate y'all helping me out and checking in on her. BYC members save the day once again!

 

[katiedarling]

@casportpony Kathy, you mentioned earlier in the thread about using safeguard. I am wondering if, instead of re-treating with the ivomec, could I administer safeguard instead as the second treatment? I ask because I usually deworm in April & October but would rather go ahead and do it now, since it's only a couple weeks early from my usual schedule. I'm not aware if it deals with mites, but I will dust them monthly if necessary. My main concern of course is Miss Moneypenny. She perked up yesterday, but seems back to before today. She's drinking on her own but seems to want water more than food. Since her eye is still puffy, I assume this is a sinus infection specifically and decided to start her on the baytril again. The fact that she was eating eggs I would expect her crop to at least feel like she's got somwthing in there but it feels completely empty as if she's not eating at all. and ahe poops out the water as fast as she can drink it. Any ideas? Her color has come back quite dramatically now. Nice and bright.

 

[MrsBrooke]

Glad to hear she's perked up!!

If you're going to give her anything, I would give her a round of Valbazen liquid goat wormer. It gets literally every worm a chicken can get. I found some at Tractor Supply and you can order it online.



Dosage is .5cc orally for an adult, standard bird (.25cc for smaller birds, bantams, and pullets), repeat in FIVE days to get tape worms and everything else.

Aim for the LEFT of the trachea when you dose her.




Does she show any interest in her usual pellets or only eggs?

I hope she continues to improve!

MrsB

 

[katiedarling]

Good to know about the Valbazen. I will have to add it to the arsenal. I've seen more than one post about rotating so there's no resistance built up.

I was just beginning to think she wasn't gonna come around more than the slight perk up. Eye was still swollen shut until about 30 minutes ago!! I took the eggs away from her 2 days ago. She was kinda picking at pellets until yesterday, now she's eating normal. She's made huge progress in the last 24 hours. She's blinking with the swollen eye, but it's still puffy and watery. I can't tell if she can see or not. It doesn't appear light and cloudy anymore. I'm about to put the drops in & give her her meds. Tomorrow is last dose for baytril. I wonder if the progress was triggered by benadryl? To bring down some of the swelling in her sinuses, doc ok'd .01ml of children's benadryl. I gave her 2 doses I think. It was the dye free one. I notice some sneezing and a bit of gaping today, but her energy is way up. My guess is the crud in her sinuses is breaking up. She's starting to act more like herself a bit.

For future reference, the drops she gave me are called Remend. It's a corneal repair gel for dogs & cats. One drop once a day.

 

[MrsBrooke]

I'm thrilled she's improving!

You did a GREAT job.

MrsB

 

[katiedarling]

Well, she's been back with the flock. I've been keeping watch on her, but the eye is clouded again, no swelling. It appears to me that she is likely blind in that eye, but I can't really tell. She's getting a little bullied, but I notice she's starting to stand up for herself as she starts to put on weight again. I am not sure what else to do. No other chickens are sick/showing signs of anything. They have all been treated for mites since she had them on her, and all is well.

 

[katiedarling]

I'm thrilled she's improving!

You did a GREAT job.

MrsB

Thanks! I was determined to get her back on track.