Help - sick hens :(

[vsolosky]

Hi - I have 14 chickens - 11 of them are hens. A few of them seem to have Corzya - one hen has bubbly eyes and the discharge smells badly - i treated her with tetracycline for a week and she was better for a week - now she's back with the same thing again, a few of the others have just a nasal discharge, one rooster had a puffy eye, but i treated that with vetercyn and that helped - he's better now, another rooster seems congested, but can't crow properly.
I don't want to cull, we love our chickens dearly, and we don't want to lose any. I've been giving vitamins and electrolytes with probiotics in their water (started that yesterday), the one with the bubbly eyes is separated and getting the tetracycline again. I've also been using ACV and garlic.
I am wondering if there is anything else I can try to do to help them. As I said, I cannot kill them - my kids love them dearly. I'll have a closed flock, no problem at all. We have them as pets and for eggs for our family to eat.
I cannot find Vetrx at tractor supply, nor any other antibiotic ANYWHERE. I can order it online, but am afraid it will take too long to get here...
does anyone else have any tips?
thanks so much!!!

 

[Wayne&Kim1963]

I give penicillin and tylan 50 shots for that and I will add tylan 50 3cc to 1 gallon of drinking water. The reason I give penicillin and tylan together in injection is because tylan alone can be hard on tissue and they seem to work well together. Maybe someone else has found something else to get them well with what you describe but only medicine I have ever got to get them well is tylan 50 and penicillin shots. I give a shot every other day. Valleyvetsupply.com or KV Vet supply has them. I order syringes through shopmedvet.com is better priced on them. Good luck!

 

[vsolosky]

Ok - i bought the tylan 50 at tractor supply. while crying, i gave the worst hen the shot in the back of the neck (i'm such a wimp). i didn't see penicillin there, though...do you still add the same tylan to the water? (the injectable?) i gave her .5ml (cc)...i brought her in, going to put her in a crate inside.

the other ones that have a runny nose and or congestion, should i inject them, too? or if they are eating and acting otherwise normal, let them be for now?

thanks so much!!

 

[Wayne&Kim1963]

The bad ones I would inject and the rest I would add it to their water. 3cc to 1 gallon. I would them make them some boiled eggs and take potatoe masher and crush them shells and all and add some 2 minute uncooked oatmeal to them with like 1 tsp of sugar and crush it all up together and feed it to them. It will give them energy to get well. The reason I mix penicillin with it is because tylan alone can cause tissue damage at injection sites and penicillin reacts with it to make it work better.

 

[Wayne&Kim1963]

good luck. You will get them well. I clean their faces and will put triple antibiotic ointment on eyes and nose being careful to not make it to where they can't breathe. There is terramycin ointment for eyes but when I don't have it available I use triple antibiotic ointment without the pain relief just plain. The only difference between it and eye medication is size of container and sterility. The pain relief med in some creams will kill poultry so never use that kind. I take childrens chewable vitamins and break them in half and give it towards back of mouth on chicken when they are sick too. If one isn't eating I will take bread moisten it with milk and raw egg feed it or feed scrambled eggs bite at a time in their mouth. I give them ensure plus drinks too. That seems to help. Let me know how they do for you.

 

[vsolosky]

thank you so much!!! the one i'm injecting isn't laying yet, but a few of the slightly older ones are (there are two different age groups). the older ones aren't showing any signs, but if i add it to the water, will i need to throw away any eggs? how long would i add it to the water and how long do i discard eggs?

(i'm new to this...these are my first chickens as if you couldn't tell..haha)

 

[Wayne&Kim1963]

1 week withdrawal time before eat eggs and that 1 week starts after you take medication away from water. You should leave it in water at least 5 days in row to help get rid of bug. Unlike many medications in water tylan doesn't go rancid. You can leave it mixed for 2 days at a time. I would go ahead and order bottle of penicillin from KV Vet supply so I had it on hand to mix shots with. They work better mixed with penicillin. I am sure you will do great job. If a hen is real sick I wrap her in towel and bring them in house in box because she will tend to get too cold. Chickens cannot maintain body heat as well when they are bad sick. One thing I have noted everytime I have gotten respiratory infections in my chickens they have mites. Mites spread it from chicken to chicken. Most likely someone with sick chicken came over had mite on them and gave it to your chickens! This is also spread by contact too. Wash your hands.

 

[Wayne&Kim1963]

This is lamb saver tube I get it from KV Vet supply also. I take the tube on extremely sick bird that won't eat nothing and i push it in their mouth and on down their throat and feel it run down to their crop. I can feel the tube in their crop and I give adult hen 60cc med 40cc and small chicken like 10cc of ensure plus, milk with raw egg, baby formula, or milk with raw egg. Just something nutritious.There is some people that have gathered up extremely good information regarding tube feeding sick birds on here. I am sure you would want to do that if necessary.

 

[vsolosky]

good luck. You will get them well. I clean their faces and will put triple antibiotic ointment on eyes and nose being careful to not make it to where they can't breathe. There is terramycin ointment for eyes but when I don't have it available I use triple antibiotic ointment without the pain relief just plain. The only difference between it and eye medication is size of container and sterility. The pain relief med in some creams will kill poultry so never use that kind. I take childrens chewable vitamins and break them in half and give it towards back of mouth on chicken when they are sick too. If one isn't eating I will take bread moisten it with milk and raw egg feed it or feed scrambled eggs bite at a time in their mouth. I give them ensure plus drinks too. That seems to help. Let me know how they do for you.

Just wanted to update - but my other chickens seem to be doing fine (the one got over it on his own) i haven't given any meds to the other chickens (just been adding ACV and garlic and vitamins/electrolytes plus probiotics to their water). but i've had Chicken (that's her name) in the house. have given her 4 injections of tylan so far (in the back of the neck). she is doing so much better - she no longer stinks and the eye bubbles are just about gone. not sure how long to keep injecting her...i'd hate to send her out to the coop prematurely only to have it return...but she's eating, drinking and very active. sitting on the kids when they are watching tv...just like a cat...haha

 

[Wayne&Kim1963]

I would just turn it back with them as long as she is eating good and watch her good for relapse. Sounds like you got on top of the bug. Sometimes when they get that sick they relapse i just feel it is touch bug when they catch it. I hate giving too many tylan 50 shots cause it can cause tissue to die where you give the shot. I usually give my doses in groups of 3 but use penicillin and tylan and add it to water for 5 days. I have less relapse that way. Anyways glad your chickens are better.