Chicken lethargic, no eggs, pale small comb, Do I give her antibiotics

[shannoncduke]

Clack is a small bantam, about 1 lb, and she is 2 years old. Recently, she's gotten pale in the face, and yesterday we noticed her comb was small. She is still eating and drinking, but I've seen her lazing about in the nesting box in the coop during the day. She has not laid eggs for a long time. We checked her crop and her underside and didn't find anything unusual. Other than being lethargic and looking poorer than normal. Her sister recently died of an ovarian infection, and they said she had lice. We have delouced the chickens once, and though this looks very similar to what happened to her sister we don't feel the bump we were looking for with an ovarian infection. They live in a coop with timothy hay as bedding, but roost above. Her poop looks fine, but not watery at all. We've fed her a couple teaspoons of wheat germ oil. We're wondering since we have a full perscription of Baytril, if we should feed her that? We want to treat her ourselves. Can anyone help us figure out what to do?


Thank you,

Shannon

 

[silkiechicken]

I would check to see if she has cocci (protozoa) or worms. Any vet can do a fecal float for conformation. It is probably not antibiotics as things that get birds down are usually viral if not something physiological.

Unless there is an open wound or puss, I do not use antibiotics due to the resistance problem in all developed countries.