I think my chickens have cholera, HELP PLEASE

[MysteryChicken]

Thank you

You're welcome.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Please post some photos. Thank You!

 

[Jutta63]

Please post some photos. Thank You!

I am sorry but when my 2 chickens got sick, I didn't think about making pics. I was just so upset and since I could not get antibiotics for them I was so stressed out and tired everything that I could think of. But now I have Amoxicillin 500mg caplets and I need to know how much I can give my 7 chickens in their waterer. I have a 3 gallon waterer and a 1 gallon. Do you know how much I could give them?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I am sorry but when my 2 chickens got sick, I didn't think about making pics. I was just so upset and since I could not get antibiotics for them I was so stressed out and tired everything that I could think of. But now I have Amoxicillin 500mg caplets and I need to know how much I can give my 7 chickens in their waterer. I have a 3 gallon waterer and a 1 gallon. Do you know how much I could give them?

I'm sorry that they are not well and you are upset and stressed. It would be good to find out more before you start medicating your flock.
Photos are very helpful.

Are you chickens right outside where you can get some photos?

Fowl Cholera is pretty serious. Are you certain that what you are seeing is in fact Fowl Cholera and not something else?

What symptoms do you see? Are your chickens not eating, lethargic, do they have respiratory symptoms, coughing, etc.?

 

[azygous]

You may be looking at frost bite and not a disease. You need to help us to help you try to properly diagnose the problem. Have you had below freezing temps right before this issue began? If so, the chickens that died may have had hypothermia from the cold, and now these surviving chickens have swollen wattles because they got wet and froze.

Please tell us how cold it got and if your chickens were exposed to it.

 

[Jutta63]

I'm sorry that they are not well and you are upset and stressed. It would be good to find out more before you start medicating your flock.
Photos are very helpful.

Are you chickens right outside where you can get some photos?

Fowl Cholera is pretty serious. Are you certain that what you are seeing is in fact Fowl Cholera and not something else?

What symptoms do you see? Are your chickens not eating, lethargic, do they have respiratory symptoms, coughing, etc.?

No coughing. I am not 100% sure about the cholera but the pics on the internet that they show is what my chickens look like. 2 of my chickens already died. I do have the symptoms on the blog that I made on BYC. Just need some help so maybe I can save the rest of my 7 that I have left.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

No coughing. I am not 100% sure about the cholera but the pics on the internet that they show is what my chickens look like. 2 of my chickens already died. I do have the symptoms on the blog that I made on BYC. Just need some help so maybe I can save the rest of my 7 that I have left.

How long ago did the Orps die?

IF you are just looking for dosing without knowing what's actually wrong, then here it is.

Amoxicillin is dosed by weight, so dose the birds individually - it does not mix well with water.
Amoxicillin dose is 57mg per pound of weight given orally twice a day for 7-10 days.

Birds with Fowl Cholera may respond to antibiotic treatment, but once treatment stops they may decline.
If you lose more, then getting testing/necropsy is a very good idea so you know for sure what you are dealing with.
NC has 4 labs http://www.ncagr.gov/vet/ncvdl/

 

[Wyorp Rock]

No coughing. I am not 100% sure about the cholera but the pics on the internet that they show is what my chickens look like. 2 of my chickens already died. I do have the symptoms on the blog that I made on BYC. Just need some help so maybe I can save the rest of my 7 that I have left.

Links to the Blog would be good. I see no blog in your profile but may be missing it.
If it's on Facebook, that's something completely separate from this site.

 

[Jutta63]

You may be looking at frost bite and not a disease. You need to help us to help you try to properly diagnose the problem. Have you had below freezing temps right before this issue began? If so, the chickens that died may have had hypothermia from the cold, and now these surviving chickens have swollen wattles because they got wet and froze.

Please tell us how cold it got and if your chickens were exposed to it.

No, when my first one got sick it was warm still. When she died the second one had the same on her swollen comb and waddle and she had a swollen lump on the side of her face. That was blueish too. She ate and drank, never had a cough or runny nose and then it only took about 2wks. and she died. Now I am afraid that the other ones will die.

 

[azygous]

Then you are right to decide to treat with an antibiotic. Even though fish mox is marketed for fish aquariums, to treat chickens with it, you need to divide the capsule in half and give 250mg directly into their beaks to each chicken once a day for ten days.

Have you looked inside the mouths of your chickens? If there is a yellow substance in there, it may point to a different disease. But go ahead and start the antibiotic. Meanwhile, some photos would be helpful to us who are trying to help you.