Chicken with tail down, tiny eggs, lethargic

[diamondie]

I have ~ 10 month old chicken laced wyandott. Over the past few days she has been acting more lethargic, laying down and always with her tail down when standing. I believe she is also the chicken that a few weeks ago laid a slightly off shape egg with blood around it, after that I got 2 extremely small eggs, followed by a tiny egg that had no shell at all and the past 2 weeks or so, I have not had a single egg from her. I have a total of 6 chickens and all the others are perfectly fine. She used to be my flyer that used to fly the coop into our yard and may have possibly eaten some grass fertilizer in the process, but that's pure speculation. Otherwise they have nonstop access to purina layer pellets and get some garden greens. Is there anything I can do at this point? It doesn't sound like she would be egg bound given the numerous eggs she passed. I'm just looking for any spec of hope before I have to give up on her. Thank you.

 

[azygous]

Lethargy and tail held low and flat indicate a hen that is feeling sick and quite possibly also in pain. It's probably not likely you'll be able to know specifically what is causing her to feel sick, but in cases such as this, I throw an antibiotic at the patient in the absence of defining symptoms of specific diseases, though you might suspect a reproductive track infection in this case.

Sometimes, folks have left over antibiotics in their medicine cabinet that can be given to a chicken. Amoxicillin, penicillin, or dog or cat meds can be used. See what you can find and we'll figure out the proper dosage.

 

[diamondie]

Hi, I really appreciate the help. I work as a pharmacist I can get a capsule/tablet of any of the listed antibiotics. I would appreciate the dose for the chicken though. Again, thank you so much.

Lethargy and tail held low and flat indicate a hen that is feeling sick and quite possibly also in pain. It's probably not likely you'll be able to know specifically what is causing her to feel sick, but in cases such as this, I throw an antibiotic at the patient in the absence of defining symptoms of specific diseases, though you might suspect a reproductive track infection in this case.

Sometimes, folks have left over antibiotics in their medicine cabinet that can be given to a chicken. Amoxicillin, penicillin, or dog or cat meds can be used. See what you can find and we'll figure out the proper dosage.

 

[azygous]

Most of us use a 250mg daily dose of amoxicillin or penicillin, ideally divided into two daily 125mg doses for a chicken of average weight for a period of seven to ten days. Injectible penicillin is better than the oral, but the oral amoxi works fine.

 

[diamondie]

Will give that a try. Thank you so much.

Most of us use a 250mg daily dose of amoxicillin or penicillin, ideally divided into two daily 125mg doses for a chicken of average weight for a period of seven to ten days. Injectible penicillin is better than the oral, but the oral amoxi works fine.

 

[diamondie]

One more question, what is the best way to administer the powder to ensure she gets the whole dose?

Most of us use a 250mg daily dose of amoxicillin or penicillin, ideally divided into two daily 125mg doses for a chicken of average weight for a period of seven to ten days. Injectible penicillin is better than the oral, but the oral amoxi works fine.

 

[azygous]

I pop the gel cap or tablet directly into the chicken's beak. Some people will mix it with a little water and syringe it into the esophagus or insert a tube into the crop and syringe the dose into the crop via the tube. This later is especially easy and accurate if you have an uncooperative, combative or struggling patient or one that is too weak to swallow.

I prefer the pop the pill into the beak myself.

 

[diamondie]

Pardon my ignorance, but the amoxil capsule is pretty large. I can open it and just use the powder but it doesn't come in a tablet. Are chickens able to swallow a full size capsules?

I pop the gel cap or tablet directly into the chicken's beak. Some people will mix it with a little water and syringe it into the esophagus or insert a tube into the crop and syringe the dose into the crop via the tube. This later is especially easy and accurate if you have an uncooperative, combative or struggling patient or one that is too weak to swallow.

I prefer the pop the pill into the beak myself.

 

[azygous]

Chickens swallow whole mice. They have no trouble with a capsule or tablet. They can snatch half my sandwich out of my hand and swallow half of it before I even realize they stole my sandwich!