I'm a terrible chicken mommy!
I've been nursing two sick australorp chicks that I bought when they were 6wks old. I've had them for about a week and I had noticed they were sneezing and making gurgley/rattle noises the first night I got them home.
At first it didn't seem too serious, I tried to just give them extra nutrition support and warmth to see if they would get over it. I also added some VetRx to their water and rubbed a little under their wings.
The gurgling continued, and I noticed that one just wasn't eating and was really thin, so I did a bunch of research and found the most likely culprit to be CRD. After reading everything I could find on the topic, I ordered some Tylan 50 injectable and also started hand feeding the sickest bird to try to keep it strong.
I've given shots to my other pets before, and I used to work at a vet clinic, so I felt pretty confident about being able to give the shot even though I'd never done it on a chicken before. The instructions from Randall Burkey said to give .5 cc either subcutaneously or in the muscle of the breast. First shot I gave yesterday was to the sicker bird, and I did it under the skin because he/she did not have much muscle. I didn't care for the result as it made a bubble that leaked a lot of the medicine back out, so for the second bird I gave the shot in the muscle of the breast. Everything went just fine with that, and so I decided I use the same technique for their next dose that was due today.
Well, I got home and the sicker bird was still alive though it's crop was pretty much empty. I laid him/her on it's back and poked around with my fingers to find a little breast meat for the injection (not easy since this one is so skinny), and gave the shot. Since it was so thin I tried to be extra careful not to stick the needle in too deep and to watch for any resistance that could mean I would poke it in a bone or anything terrible like that. I gave the injection and then picked the bird up to put it back in the brooder box, but it started flipping it's head back all crazy and going limp before I could even take a step. I made a couple of gagging noises and then stopped breathing completely. I'm not ashamed to say that I tried a little mouth to beak, but it was no use. Within 30 seconds it was dead.
All I can think is that the needle must have hit something it shouldn't have because there was no breast muscle to cushion it or that it had a reaction to the medication itself. Now I am kicking myself because I basically murdered my poor chick while trying to make her better!
Since I still have the other one, which is much stronger and eating on it's own, I don't want to screw up and kill it too, so can you guys give me any tips on a better way to do the Tylan? I read somewhere on here that I can use it as a nasal flush instead. Or, if the injection is the best way to go, what is the safest way to administer the shot? Also, what thoughts do you have on dosage? The instructions that came with the shipment says .5 cc for 7 to 10 days, but that seemed like an awful lot for a 7 wk old chick. It did not mention size in the dosage instructions either, but it seems like that would be more for a full size chicken. Help!
I've been nursing two sick australorp chicks that I bought when they were 6wks old. I've had them for about a week and I had noticed they were sneezing and making gurgley/rattle noises the first night I got them home.
At first it didn't seem too serious, I tried to just give them extra nutrition support and warmth to see if they would get over it. I also added some VetRx to their water and rubbed a little under their wings.
The gurgling continued, and I noticed that one just wasn't eating and was really thin, so I did a bunch of research and found the most likely culprit to be CRD. After reading everything I could find on the topic, I ordered some Tylan 50 injectable and also started hand feeding the sickest bird to try to keep it strong.
I've given shots to my other pets before, and I used to work at a vet clinic, so I felt pretty confident about being able to give the shot even though I'd never done it on a chicken before. The instructions from Randall Burkey said to give .5 cc either subcutaneously or in the muscle of the breast. First shot I gave yesterday was to the sicker bird, and I did it under the skin because he/she did not have much muscle. I didn't care for the result as it made a bubble that leaked a lot of the medicine back out, so for the second bird I gave the shot in the muscle of the breast. Everything went just fine with that, and so I decided I use the same technique for their next dose that was due today.
Well, I got home and the sicker bird was still alive though it's crop was pretty much empty. I laid him/her on it's back and poked around with my fingers to find a little breast meat for the injection (not easy since this one is so skinny), and gave the shot. Since it was so thin I tried to be extra careful not to stick the needle in too deep and to watch for any resistance that could mean I would poke it in a bone or anything terrible like that. I gave the injection and then picked the bird up to put it back in the brooder box, but it started flipping it's head back all crazy and going limp before I could even take a step. I made a couple of gagging noises and then stopped breathing completely. I'm not ashamed to say that I tried a little mouth to beak, but it was no use. Within 30 seconds it was dead.
All I can think is that the needle must have hit something it shouldn't have because there was no breast muscle to cushion it or that it had a reaction to the medication itself. Now I am kicking myself because I basically murdered my poor chick while trying to make her better!
Since I still have the other one, which is much stronger and eating on it's own, I don't want to screw up and kill it too, so can you guys give me any tips on a better way to do the Tylan? I read somewhere on here that I can use it as a nasal flush instead. Or, if the injection is the best way to go, what is the safest way to administer the shot? Also, what thoughts do you have on dosage? The instructions that came with the shipment says .5 cc for 7 to 10 days, but that seemed like an awful lot for a 7 wk old chick. It did not mention size in the dosage instructions either, but it seems like that would be more for a full size chicken. Help!
Last edited:
