Here in France we have needed presciptions for livestock antibiotics for a very long time. I recently bought 3 point of lay chickens, and not long after they arrived, one had swollen sinuses and an occasional sneeze. I started them on Citricidal, but now another one has started sneezing, and I can hear wheezing from at least one of them in the coop when I shut them in at night, plus there's been a little bit of diarrhea. I didn't know if my local vet would even treat chickens, so I called in on Saturday just to ask about the possibility. I described the symptoms and five minutes later I left with a prescription and a 100g sachet of amoxicilin. No need to see the animals at all - no charge for a consultation. Far easier than I expected!
The only problem I have is regarding the dosage. It's a 10% amoxicillin powder (10g amoxicillin plus 90g of bulking powder), and the vet told me to use 2g of powder per litre of water. I have 3 birds, and even with this as their only water source they don't drink more than 300 - 400 ml a day between them, so not even half a litre. (They free range in the garden and it's very wet at the moment so they're getting water from the grass etc. they eat.) Therefore they're getting less than 0.1g amoxicillin between them per day - surely that can't be enough? I thought about mixing the 2g in a small amount of water and adding it to something I know they'll completely eat (a bowl of rice, porridge etc), but I'm scared of overdosing them - does anyone have any opinions or suggestions?
The only problem I have is regarding the dosage. It's a 10% amoxicillin powder (10g amoxicillin plus 90g of bulking powder), and the vet told me to use 2g of powder per litre of water. I have 3 birds, and even with this as their only water source they don't drink more than 300 - 400 ml a day between them, so not even half a litre. (They free range in the garden and it's very wet at the moment so they're getting water from the grass etc. they eat.) Therefore they're getting less than 0.1g amoxicillin between them per day - surely that can't be enough? I thought about mixing the 2g in a small amount of water and adding it to something I know they'll completely eat (a bowl of rice, porridge etc), but I'm scared of overdosing them - does anyone have any opinions or suggestions?
