Chicken Sick - Eyes Closed - Poor Ballance

[nurseshelly]

Quote:
Hi,
If your other girls are sneezing, they might have mycoplasma. They can get it from wild birds, or from sick chickens. They symptoms are sneezing, bubbly watery eye drainage, and can have facial swelling from their sinus on the side of the face swelling up with the discharge.
You could try Tylan (antibiotic) injections. If I remember correctly, from reading posts on it, the dose is 0.5 mL of Tylan 200 injected into the breast muscle every day. You just go to one side of the keel bone in the chest, but below the crop. You would want to alternate sides each day so you don't cause muscle damage on one side. Oh, often you can get Tylan from a local feed store. When Ivy first started getting her eye infection / facial swelling, I was worried this was what it was so I researched it quite a bit. Higley Feed has Tylan, but I didn't call all over the place. They also sell the syringes and needles. Ivy's symptoms didn't quite fit since she didn't have sneezing and drainage, so we went to the vet.
Ivy is on Baytril injectable for her eye, so if you need help and are in the East Valley, I could help show you how. I've also done injections on parrots, so it wasn't too different.

 

[ReadyRen]

Bob's Henhouse :

I posted the same in the az group, but, did you check thoroughly for mites?

Bob I don't see anything moving but can't say I would know what a mite would look like or how to look for mites on a chicken. They are inside the house still. So they haven't been exposed to anything from outside.

@nurseshelly - I'm east if you consider Cave Creek and Union Hills east instead of north

Daisy is still the same, she keeps her eyes closed, but she stands and struggles a little if she is picked up. The other girls aren't sneezing / coughing as much and still look pretty healthy none have any drainage or eye problems.

A question for anybody is how much should a pullet eat/drink? I'm getting Daisy to eat drink a little, but I don't think it is as much as she was when I had her with the flock. She seems to be eating more than the other day though. Do you think I should make it into mash? Although she didn't really care for mash when I made it while she was in the flock. Bobo tore it up though.

Thanks, RR​

 

[peggy2]

I have a hen 2years old and she is showing the same signs (closed eyes and not eating ) everyone else seems fine. I live in Oregon on the coast and it has been raining alot this year! Was wondering if anyone else who has sick chickens lives aroung the southern Oregon coast?

 

[Mrs.brown]

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I have the same thing now!

 

[ReadyRen]

Good news ... well somewhat.

After an exhausting week of nursing Daisy she is showing signs of improvement. I have been giving her 1/2 CC of Tylan 50 a day for the last 4 days, hand feeding her water and at first food. She has both eyes opened and her sinuses are draining. Her left eye is still is a little bubbly with drainage but is certainly looking better. It is looking like she will recover fully.

The other girls are still doing OK, one of the Buffs, LaLa is still sneezing a little but has improved and none of them ever displayed any eye drainage or closing. They have had sinus issues but it looks like it has mostly passed as I have kept Daisy quarantined from them and they have had Duramycin 10 Soluble Powder (Tetracycline Hydrochloride) in their water for the last 3 days at 1 tsp per 1/2 Gallon.

The outside coup is almost finished so I need some advice.

First Daisy hasn't fully opened her eyes and they are still a little red. I have read that she shouldn't be on Tylan 50 for more than 5 days. What's the least risk keeping her on the meds for a bit longer, taking her off but putting her on the Duramycin and letting her finish the coarse with the other girls, or putting her on but keeping her quarantined?

It is now pushing 100 degrees here in Phoenix and the girls are still not fully recovered. I'm not certain what is going to be harder for them staying couped up in a large dog cage but be a comfortable ~80 degrees, or putting them outside in a 12x8 coup that has a roof but will be ~100 degrees and be exposed to whatever germs are out in the wild here. The original plan was to put them in the coup and give them Sulmet for 2 weeks after they go outside. But since they got sick before they went outside I'm not certain if I should give them the Sulmet and mix it with the Duramycin outside or wait till the antibiotic treatment is over and put them outside with or without Sulmet.

They are between 10-14 weeks at this point. Let me know what you think is best.

RR

Oh one last item. I've noticed they are getting a little difficult to hold now they are older, they struggle more. I'm not certain what's the best way to hold them so we can clean their feet, beaks, inspect them and such. I try to hold the wings in on the sides which seems to control them best, but sometimes they get a wing free and the next thing I know all I have is their feet or am having to hold on harder around the chest. I'm concerned I might break a bone or injure them. How do you guys handle them?

 

[nurseshelly]

Hi,
I would give her the tylan for 14 days. Or 4 days after she is totally better. I look at it this way, if she needs it longer it's okay because if you stop before she's better she will die. So how could giving it more days be worse? Hope it makes sense since I'm in the car

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
I would agree to keep her on it as long as she is improving, plus a few days extra. If she starts getting worse, then you can rethink that. At this point I would not switc antibiotics "just because."

You will have to judge what is best, but birds tend to do better with extra space as long as there is plenty of shade. If you can rig up a fan and/or mister to help counteract heat, that would be helpful.

The correct way to hold a bird is this:

Spread your hand wide, palm up. Slide it (from the front) under the breast, close to the body and surround the legs by your fingers. You can either have your index or middle finger between the legs. Tighten up you hand so that the bird is resting on your palm, with the legs tightly held. Now take your other hand palm down and place it over the back, with teh thumb and little fingers holding the wings to the body. Now the bird is held securely, and should not be able to flap its wings. Once it feels secure, it is unlikely that it will even try to flap.

 

[ReadyRen]

@Sonoran Silkies @nurseshelly Thanks for the advice. I was looking at Daisy this morning and her eyes are more pink than red, with no bubbly fluid in the left eye, her sinuses seam better. Lala also seems better I haven't been hearing her sneeze much this morning.

When do you think I should reintroduce Daisy to the flock? She's not very happy in a box, but the flock is on duramycin in their water and I'm not certain if it will be ok for Daisy to be on both.

I am pretty certain keeping them inside for the long haul isn't going to be very good, and we're racing the clock on getting them out and acclimated to the heat. My gut says we should put them out when Daisy gets reintroduced. The follow on question is should we put them on Sulmet when we stick them out, is it ok to mix Sulmet and Duramycin in the water?

Thanks RR

 

[ReadyRen]

BUMB

When do you think I should reintroduce Daisy to the flock? She's not very happy in a box, but the flock is on duramycin in their water and I'm not certain if it will be ok for Daisy to be on both.

The follow on question is should we put them on Sulmet when we stick them out, is it ok to mix Sulmet and Duramycin in the water?

 

[nurseshelly]

Quote:
If Daisy is not having symptoms it would be fine to put them together. I don't know about mixing meds in water.