Ivermectin poisoning

[luckysaysgo]

I can't figure out how to start my own thread so I think this is the best forum for this.. My rescue hens had lice. We treated topically under the wing with ivermectin..the lice are gone and I can't find even one with tons of searching. However the next day one chicken was paralyzed in one leg..it just dangles and get dragged and bent. I read that ivermectin can cause leg paralysis in dogs..is this true in chickens also? The chicken cannot move the leg or toes at all. It is otherwise healthy and eating and attempting to go about it's chicken business by flapping and dragging. Any advice or info would be much appreciated.

 

[chooks4life]

In this case I would expect injury is more likely, most probably. Did you or anyone else catch them by the legs within the last 48 hours or so?

Best wishes.

 

[luckysaysgo]

Hi chooks4life..thanks for the response..this is driving me crazy. The answer is I don't think so but it certainly is possible. I also am leaning towards injury but I just wanted more feedback because of the timing. Also there had been no improvement and I am getting worried about the prospect of this being a permanent condition. I don't have much experience with chickens. Can a chicken live a happy life like this?

 

[chooks4life]

Hi chooks4life..thanks for the response..this is driving me crazy. The answer is I don't think so but it certainly is possible. I also am leaning towards injury but I just wanted more feedback because of the timing. Also there had been no improvement and I am getting worried about the prospect of this being a permanent condition. I don't have much experience with chickens. Can a chicken live a happy life like this?

Both Ivermectin poisoning and injury are definitely possible, injury probably more so since chooks overall seem to have a higher tolerance for Ivermectin than dogs, cats etc...

If you can get a photo, or several, or a video, it will almost certainly help; sometimes it takes experience to spot an injury.

The part where you said it is dangling and getting bent makes me think it's more likely an injury since if it were paralyzed it'd end up most likely straight out, dragging, behind it.

The paralysis or weakness, whatever it's caused by, is unlikely to stay in stasis --- it will either get better or worse, and generally quite quickly too. Because chickens are bipedal, when they lose use of one leg it is a serious issue, unlike a four legged animal their chances are much poorer. Conversely the broken bones of chooks tend to heal very well, but time is of the essence.

Some birds will get along on one foot just fine but many others end up injuring their healthy leg in overcompensation for the weak one, and rapidly you find you are dealing with two injured legs instead of one. Can be very hard to fix, even impossible, and a fix can take months of daily physical rehabilitation.

It all depends what's wrong. Finding that out is most important. It may be a torn or strained tendon or muscle or joint cartilage, or a broken or dislocated bone, or paralysis due to toxicity or nerve damage.

The first lot of hatchery chooks I bought actually had a hen who arrived in terrible distress with her leg straight out behind her. She died that day and we cut into the joint to see what happened, and found they had torn her femur head straight out of the socket when they caught her with the wire. They, like many, used a hooked wire; it's very dangerous whether it's ripping the internal structure of the legs or stabbing them an inch deep into the abdomen with the dirty wire hook point when they miss a leg. They told us, prior to her death, that it was a 'cramp' and suggested we massage her leg. When she died and we told them what we found, they hung up on us rather than offer a refund; they chose preservation of a few dollars over reputation, lol.

Anyway, by their reaction we knew this was not uncommon. Back on topic: I would get or make a little cage for her, where she can sit with food and water in immediate reach so she does not need to get up to feed or drink, with mesh walls so she and her flockmates can see one another but she can't be picked on and won't feel lonely; I would confine her in there, making sure her leg is in its correct position under her, and give her at least 2 days to see how it goes.

'Walkable' healing can take only a few days, though the true knitting of the bones will take several weeks or months; tendons generally take longer than a few days if torn but can rapidly heal if only strained; a damaged joint could take any amount of time; a dislocation will require immediate intervention to fix; toxicity related paralysis should be showing other symptoms too... It's too complicated to offer a best course of action suggestion when we don't know exactly what is wrong.

Best wishes.

 

[luckysaysgo]

Thanks chooks4life. I will get a picture on here if I can figure out how. I have an older iPhone and so far have only been able to reply to threads not start my own or post pics. The chicken has been hopping around and eating. It cries if I keep it penned up too long. It has a flock mate who sits up against it so it can balance and rest in the grass near the food. The main problem with this is the leg drags.."dangle" was probably the wrong term before as it only dangles if I hold him up. Anyway the leg drags and gets stuck on things if he tries to move about too much. He has to be lifted in and out of the egg box that had become his because he can't do it himself.

 

[chooks4life]

Hmm. Well, bit of a difficult issue, if you do have to separate it make sure it's within the daily orbit of the flocks' normal activities so the chook remains visually and vocally part of the flock, to lessen social friction if/when it's reintroduced.

Most of these injuries will only rapidly worsen if the animal is allowed to keep applying stress to the injury and stress to the rest of the body as it overcompensates in trying to get around like normal. Not too many have the sense to stop and rest, certainly sounds like this one doesn't.

Best wishes.

 

[casportpony]

Thanks chooks4life. I will get a picture on here if I can figure out how. I have an older iPhone and so far have only been able to reply to threads not start my own or post pics. The chicken has been hopping around and eating. It cries if I keep it penned up too long. It has a flock mate who sits up against it so it can balance and rest in the grass near the food. The main problem with this is the leg drags.."dangle" was probably the wrong term before as it only dangles if I hold him up. Anyway the leg drags and gets stuck on things if he tries to move about too much. He has to be lifted in and out of the egg box that had become his because he can't do it himself.

Try this to start your own thread:
http://new.backyardchickens.com/forums/threads/add/forumId/10

-Kathy

 

[KK4CWT]

I bought a rooster recently that had lice. I treated him on a Sunday with a generic human head lice shampoo , bathed him and sprayed his living quarters with the spray that came with the shampoo, then sevin dusted and spread DE on top. No more lice. On thursday I used a dog flea/tick oatmeal shampoo to try to help soothe the redness of his skin. Today (the next Sunday) I checked him for lice. No lice, no nits. I gave him another bath just in case. My neighbors vet friend had recommended ivermectin. Since he had already been dewormed I didn't see any point in deworming him again. Today my neighbor tried to be helpful and shoved a fingerful of horse ivermectin 1.89% paste down his beak. My questions are:
1. From what I have read, that is an overdose, right?
2. If its going to hurt him, how long do I have to wait before he shows symptoms?
3. She also dosed my 2 dogs, neither are collie breeds, will this stuff hurt them?

 

[casportpony]

I bought a rooster recently that had lice. I treated him on a Sunday with a generic human head lice shampoo , bathed him and sprayed his living quarters with the spray that came with the shampoo, then sevin dusted and spread DE on top. No more lice. On thursday I used a dog flea/tick oatmeal shampoo to try to help soothe the redness of his skin. Today (the next Sunday) I checked him for lice. No lice, no nits. I gave him another bath just in case. My neighbors vet friend had recommended ivermectin. Since he had already been dewormed I didn't see any point in deworming him again. Today my neighbor tried to be helpful and shoved a fingerful of horse ivermectin 1.89% paste down his beak. My questions are:
1. From what I have read, that is an overdose, right?
2. If its going to hurt him, how long do I have to wait before he shows symptoms?
3. She also dosed my 2 dogs, neither are collie breeds, will this stuff hurt them?

Welcome to BYC!

Your dogs will probably be fine unless they have lots of heartworms. Your chicken will probably be fine, too. How big of a blob did the chicken get?

-Kathy

 

[KK4CWT]

From the tip of the index finger past the first joint. Some of it got smeared on his beak/side of his face. I don't think any got in his eye.

Oh, and I don't think the dogs have heartworms, their last checks were fine, but that was before we moved to our new place, got chickens and met the helpful neighbor who thinks a flea bath is all she needs for her dog. Mine are now flea infested and get treated more often with flea preventative. The chickens don't seem to have fleas, can they even get fleas?