Hen died from penacillin reaction

[Blue Bubbles]

Hi all,

One of my feathered babies had been poorly since the weekend. She was alert and talking but lethargic and spending a lot of time in the coop. Yesterday she was refusing all food so I took her to a chicken vet this morning.

The vet said she had an infection from an internally laid egg and was going to try and fight it with antibiotics. We did the penacillin injection and almost immediately she went down hill. After about 3 or 4 minutes she started to fit violently and died. The vet said its mosr likely a reaction to the penacillin.

Claret was an extremely special hen, all my girls are my babies and she was the last of our original flock. I'm devastated and can't quite get my head around the fact that it's what we thought would help that has killed her. I feel guilty for taking her to the vets and for agreeing to the treatment plan. I didn't know the risk and have paid the ultimate price. I can't help but feel guilty for taking her this morning, it was a quick but horrible death and I don't think she could ever forgive me for it.

 

[Cyprus]

I've done home Penicillin injections several times and never had a problem. Did the vet make SURE to pull back on the plunger to check if they accidentally hit a vein before depressing the plunger? Injecting into the blood would cause almost immediate death just like that.

 

[SunHwaKwon]

I think she could. There's no way for you to know she'll react poorly to a medicine that is normally safe. I have had issues with Tylan50, which is often recommended on here, so now I only use it as a very last resort. I'm sorry about your loss.

 

[Henriettamom919]

Oh honey, what happened wasn't your fault! It was a freak accident/reaction that there's no way to see coming! You did everything right, I'm not even convinced it was the antibiotic vs. bad timing. It's possible she hid her illness for an extended time and just happened to succumb at that moment.

If you really need answers you can do a poultry necropsy, I can give you a link by state of residence.

I'm so, so sorry. For many of us our chickens are our babies and losing one is so hard

 

[Blue Bubbles]

I've done home Penicillin injections several times and never had a problem. Did the vet make SURE to pull back on the plunger to check if they accidentally hit a vein before depressing the plunger? Injecting into the blood would cause almost immediate death just like that.

I'm pretty sure the vet did everything right. He is experienced with hens and came highly recommended. It's a possibility that is what happened which makes it even worse to be honest. I really feel like I've let her down.

 

[Cyprus]

I'm pretty sure the vet did everything right. He is experienced with hens and came highly recommended. It's a possibility that is what happened which makes it even worse to be honest. I really feel like I've let her down.

Unfortunately, chickens are finicky.

 

[sourland]

You tried. Bottom line is that internal laying issues were going to kill her anyway - you gave her a chance at life. Sorry for your loss.

Just a week ago today we lost Dani our golden retriever and companion of 12 years. She had a splenic tumor and we opted for surgery. She never fully recovered from the surgery. We tried to give her a chance at life and failed. You did the same for Claret.

 

[Cryss]

You didn't let her down. You did the best you could. She was obviously so sick that not doing something would have resulted in the same end. It just would have taken longer. Not a totally comforting thought, I know, but you need to accept that you did nothing wrong. You did the best thing available. The outcome was a sad accident.

 

[Henriettamom919]

You tried. Bottom line is that internal laying issues were going to kill her anyway - you gave her a chance at life. Sorry for your loss.

Just a week ago today we lost Dani our golden retriever and companion of 12 years. She had a splenic tumor and we opted for surgery. She never fully recovered from the surgery. We tried to give her a chance at life and failed. You did the same for Claret.

I'm so sorry @sourland ! Losing longtime companion animals is so hard. We just put down our family dog of 16 years this past April. Feels like losing a family member