Chicken illness....

[RachaelPul]

I have 4 chickens and have noticed that one of my chickens sounds like she is gargling, sneezing a bit and a possible cough? My husband said that her legs look a brighter yellow also. I only noticed this today but my husband said that he heard the gargling sounds a couple of days ago. She is still eating and roaming around with my other chickens but I'm not sure what to do about this? Has anyone else had this problem or can offer me some help??

 

[GuppyTJ]

It sounds like a respiratory infection of some kind. You may want to isolate her from the other chickens in case it's contagious. Then, take a look at the following resources and see if you can figure out what's going on with her. Then, you can try to treat whatever you think she's got. It's not easy to diagnose so you'll have to do some research and compare with what you're seeing in order to figure out what she has, then you can treat her. There are lots of options for treatment so don't despair.

http://chat.allotment.org/index.php?topic=17568.0

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/517234/medical-treatments-recommended-by-bycers

http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/2902/2902-1094/2902-1094_pdf.pdf

These are all resources I keep book marked so when I run across anything, I start trying to figure out what's going on. I also have the Chicken Health Handbook book. GREAT resource for any chicken health related issue. I bought mine used on Amazon.

Finally, do a search here at BYC on "respiratory infection" and "breathing difficulty", etc. and you'll get loads of advice from others on what to try.

Hope this helps,
Guppy

 

[Wyandottes7]

That sounds like a respiratory disease. Many respiratory diseases affect chickens, so it is difficult to pinpoint the exact one. However, no matter what the disease, isolate her. Respiratory diseases often spread quickly, and can be serious.

Keep her isolated in a crate/cage/large cardboard box/small coop. Keep her warm, and give her electrolytes and probiotics to help improve her immune system. You can get special chicken probiotics, or you can give her yogurt. If her appetite slacks off (which sometimes happens with birds that have respiratory problems), entice her into eating using moistened chicken feed, scrambled eggs, and applesauce.

You may want to try antibiotics. If the disease is caused by a bacteria, antibiotics will help. Keep in mind, if using antibiotics, don't use probiotics or give yogurt. The best antibiotics for a respiratory infection are Tylan50 and Tylan200. Tylan50 is weaker than Tylan200, and is more commonly used for chickens. Tylan200 is considerably stronger, and can also be used. Either one will work well.

The dosage for Tylan50 is 1cc for large fowl, .5ccs for bantams, injected into the breast muscle (alternating muscles/injection sites each day) for 5 days. For Tylan200, the dosage is .5ccs for large fowl, and .1-.3ccs for bantams, injected into the breast muscle for 3-4 days. A good needle size to use is 22gauge; Tylan is not a thick antibiotic, so you do not need a large needle. There is a type of Tylan that you put in the water, but I don't know a lot about it, and it is more difficult to find. Also, antibiotics in the water take more time to work, and you can't be sure that the chicken is getting enough.

If you don't want to try Tylan, there are other weaker antibiotics like Oxytetracycline (sold under names like Duramycin, Terramycin, Tetroxy HCA-280, and LA200). Oxytetracyline is usually given in the water, for a week or so. It is not as strong as Tylan, but may be easier to find, so you might want to try it first.

For information on giving chickens injections, go to http://shilala.homestead.com/injection.html. This webpage has good information on giving a chicken an injection.

Hope I've helped! Good luck with your bird!

 

[GuppyTJ]

Great advice from Wyandottes7. I'm not good at injections so I have used Dumamycin (tetracycline) which I got from Tractor Supply for about $5. It's administered via drinking water. I understand from reading other's posts on BYC that Tylan is the strongest antibiotic and that injecting it is indeed the best method.

Guppy

 

[casportpony]

Tylan is not the strongest antibiotic and it's used mainly for gram positive bacterial infections and some gram negative, tetracycline is effective against many gram positive and gram negative bacteria. IMO, the problem with the tetracycline is getting them to drink the water it's in.

If you're looking for the strongest, it's probably something like Baytril.

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

Tylan Dosing info

 

[casportpony]

........................................................................snip..............................................................................

The dosage for Tylan50 is 1cc for large fowl, .5ccs for bantams, injected into the breast muscle (alternating muscles/injection sites each day) for 5 days. For Tylan200, the dosage is .5ccs for large fowl, and .1-.3ccs for bantams, injected into the breast muscle for 3-4 days. A good needle size to use is 22gauge; Tylan is not a thick antibiotic, so you do not need a large needle. There is a type of Tylan that you put in the water, but I don't know a lot about it, and it is more difficult to find. Also, antibiotics in the water take more time to work, and you can't be sure that the chicken is getting enough.

If you don't want to try Tylan, there are other weaker antibiotics like Oxytetracycline (sold under names like Duramycin, Terramycin, Tetroxy HCA-280, and LA200). Oxytetracyline is usually given in the water, for a week or so. It is not as strong as Tylan, but may be easier to find, so you might want to try it first.
........................................................................snip..............................................................................

Tylan 50 has 50mg of tylosin in every 1cc and Tylan 200 has 200mg of tylosin in every 1cc. With me so far? If you give 1cc of Tylan 50, that's 50mg, so when giving Tylan 200 to the same size bird it would be .25cc ( 50mg), not .5cc (100mg). One should always weigh their bird and dose in mg/kg, IMHO.

Disclaimer: Please check my math, lol!

More Tylan dosing info:


-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

Just wanted to add that I'm really anal about weighing and dosing, so I hope I don't offend anyone, and I'm sorry if I did,

-Kathy

 

[Wyandottes7]

Tylan 50 has 50mg of tylosin in every 1cc and Tylan 200 has 200mg of tylosin in every 1cc. With me so far? If you give 1cc of Tylan 50, that's 50mg, so when giving Tylan 200 to the same size bird it would be .25cc ( 50mg), not .5cc (100mg). One should always weigh their bird and dose in mg/kg, IMHO.

Disclaimer: Please check my math, lol!

More Tylan dosing info:


-Kathy

There does appear to be some controversy pertaining to the correct dosage for Tylan200 and Tylan50. I think that your dosage is mathematically correct, but that dosage is not always the one given. I got my information on the large fowl dosage for Tylan200 from https://sites.google.com/a/poultrypedia.com/poultrypedia/medicine-chart. The bantam dosage was harder to find, and I don't remember where I got it (but I think it was from some U.K. poultry doctor). I myself used the bantam dosage that I recommended above on my own bantam, and it worked.

 

[casportpony]

There does appear to be some controversy pertaining to the correct dosage for Tylan200 and Tylan50. I think that your dosage is mathematically correct, but that dosage is not always the one given. I got my information on the large fowl dosage for Tylan200 from https://sites.google.com/a/poultrypedia.com/poultrypedia/medicine-chart. The bantam dosage was harder to find, and I don't remember where I got it (but I think it was from some U.K. poultry doctor). I myself used the bantam dosage that I recommended above on my own bantam, and it worked.

So let me ask you this, what do you consider "large fowl"? This is the problem I have with sites that try to list dosing info, 'cause my idea of large fowl might be very different than yours. Don't get me wrong, I think it's a great site and provides a much needed service, but as owners of animals, we should all learn how to calculate doses based on doses recommmended by veterinarians and/or literature from them or mfg data sheets.

Below the site says that the dose of Tylan 50 for an average size chicken is up to 1.6cc (up to 80mg). Then it lists 1/2cc (100mg) of Tylan 200. Maybe I'll send an email and ask them why they did that.


The site says this near the top of the page:
"[Note: Doses listed below are generally for average 5 lb (2.27 kg) chicken]"
and this:
"

Tylosin
Injectible liquid, soluble powder
Tylan 50 injectible (Very diluted so isn't optimal for chickens), Tylan 200 injectible (More concentrated so is better injection for chickens)
Tylan soluble powder
Vets, animal health stores, vet suppliers, feed stores $17-60 Macrolides Infectious Coryza, Mycoplasma, Necrotic Enteritis, Ornithobacterium Rhinotracheale --For soluble: Mix fresh water at least every 3 days. Don't mix with vinegar.
--Soluble form less effective on adults than young birds.
--Can give with thin needle into different spots in breast muscle or subcutaneously for 5-7 days.
*Tylan 50: Up to 1.6 cc. (This is a lot of fluid--May wish to split up-- some orally, &/or inject some intramusc. &/or subcutan.
*Tylan 200: 1/2 cc. (Tylan 200 is easier for chickens. Smaller dose required.)
--Can possibly give Tylan injectible orally instead or in addition to injection, tho there has been speculation that this might cause throat damage?? You can try putting needle-less 1-cc size syringe well down throat almost to crop to try to minimize risk.
-Active for 8 hours. Can split dose into 2-3 times/day.--May cause pain at injection site & gastro-intestinal disturbance. Birds may be reluctant to eat or move very much.
* Injectible can cause minor damage to breast muscle. May be best to split dose up & inject into more than one site. Not recommended for meat birds.
Caution: Combining multiple Macrolides reduces effectiveness.
"