Medicine advice for hen

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JensChickies

JensChickies

Songster
7 Years
Mar 26, 2014
992
100
191
California
Good morning BYC! So I have a 4 yo hen that I noticed is having trouble breathing. It's not extremely labored, but its noticeable. She is currently on metronidazole for what I believe is canker. I dosed her with baytril 10%, but it's a year expired. I went to grab my Tylan, but it too is expired (3 years). I live in the great state of California and apparently I cant get it anymore without an RX. What else can I give her??

She shows no signs of upper respiratory problems. She had a nasty odor and yellow cheese plaques in her mouth so I assumed canker and started 250 metronidazole 2 days ago. Last night I noticed her lung crackles.

Any suggestions for medice??
@dawg53 @casportpony
You guys have helped me so much in the past and have kept my hens alive with your advice. What would you guys recommend??
 
Hi! Thank you for the reply. I have ordered the baytril already so hopefully it will be here soon. I cant order Tylan cuz they wont ship to California now...super frustrating. All I have on hand (that's not expired) is amoxicillin, but im not sure if that does anything for respiratory. Does it?
 
Amoxicillin is better for bacterial infections, respiratory is often viral, and antibiotics won't help. They can help with symptoms or secondary infections, just depends on what respiratory issue you are dealing with. Tylan is usually the recommendation.
Jedds (where the enrofloxacin is sold) also carries doxycycline and tylosin products, perhaps they will ship to CA:
https://www.jedds.com/product-category/pigeon/medicine/respiratory/
 
Canker can spread into the esophagus and expand, eventually closing off the windpipe. This might be the "crackling" you're hearing. It can also spread into the crop, gizzard and liver. Increase metronidazole 250mg to twice a day for no more than 5-7 days.
Birds with canker will be carriers for life and it is spread via waterers to other birds.
Waterers can be sanitized with a bleach water solution.
Acidified copper sulfate will keep it in check. Dosage is 1/4 teaspoon per gallon of water once a month for 3 days straight, make it fresh daily.
https://www.jefferspet.com/products/acidified-copper-sulfate-1
 
My two 6.5 year old girls were hit with a respiratory infection several weeks back. They did not have any discharge from nose or eyes but showed signs of being lethargic, diarrhea and had massive gurgling. At times I noticed clear liquid coming out of their mouth when they'd shake their heads. Prior to the gurgling they were gaping and head shaking some. They had recently had worm treatment and upon examination I ruled out crop issues and gape worm[Q-tip in throat came out clean]. One hen had it worse than the other and with it being on weekend vet was not option. I was frantic in keeping them alive so popped 1/2 steroid in the mouth of the hen that appeared to be on her death bed and added oxytetracycline to water that had expired in 2017. I called vet the following Mon but Avian vet was not going to be in till end of week so I continued with the oxytetracycline in water. Added note in Edit: The [2.5mg dose] 1/2 of a 5mg steroid pill I gave hen was prescribed for my 6lb dog so I felt confident and am familiar with steroid dosing when given more than a day. Steroid worked quickly and her breathing improved for the evening. On day three both were still gurgling heavy morning and evening hours but showed improvement: they were moving about more with better looking stools and started eating feed. Prior to that I could only get one to eat meal worms and the other tuna. Day five no gurgling. They completely recovered with 8 days of expired oxytetracycline. It was a life savor. I would not suggest anyone using expired meds but felt they wouldn't have survived the weekend had I not done so. Hope your hen has complete recovery:hugs
 
Last edited:
dawg53 said:
Canker can spread into the esophagus and expand, eventually closing off the windpipe. This might be the "crackling" you're hearing. It can also spread into the crop, gizzard and liver. Increase metronidazole 250mg to twice a day for no more than 5-7 days.
Birds with canker will be carriers for life and it is spread via waterers to other birds.
Waterers can be sanitized with a bleach water solution.
Acidified copper sulfate will keep it in check. Dosage is 1/4 teaspoon per gallon of water once a month for 3 days straight, make it fresh daily.
https://www.jefferspet.com/products/acidified-copper-sulfate-1
Click to expand...
Thank you. I have the acidified copper sulfate coming in also. Metronidazole can cause neurological problems, but with her breathing the way it is what can I loose right?
 
Stockpilejoy said:
My two 6.5 year old girls were hit with a respiratory infection several weeks back. They did not have any discharge from nose or eyes but showed signs of being lethargic, diarrhea and had massive gurgling. At times I noticed clear liquid coming out of their mouth when they'd shake their heads. Prior to the gurgling they were gaping and head shaking some. They had recently had worm treatment and upon examination I ruled out crop issues and gape worm[Q-tip in throat came out clean]. One hen had it worse than the other and with it being on weekend vet was not option. I was frantic in keeping them alive so popped 1/2 steroid in the mouth of the hen that appeared to be on her death bed and added oxytetracycline to water that had expired in 2017. I called vet the following Mon but Avian vet was not going to be in till end of week so I continued with the oxytetracycline in water. Added note in Edit: The [2.5mg dose] 1/2 of a 5mg steroid pill I gave hen was prescribed for my 6lb dog so I felt confident and am familiar with steroid dosing when given more than a day. Steroid worked quickly and her breathing improved for the evening. On day three both were still gurgling heavy morning and evening hours but showed improvement: they were moving about more with better looking stools and started eating feed. Prior to that I could only get one to eat meal worms and the other tuna. Day five no gurgling. They completely recovered with 8 days of expired oxytetracycline. It was a life savor. I would not suggest anyone using expired meds but felt they wouldn't have survived the weekend had I not done so. Hope your hen has complete recovery:hugs
Click to expand...

Thank you for this info. I have thought about trying my expired tylan, but is so expired I'm not sure it will work. Thank you for brinig up the steroid. I recently lost my kitty to GI lymphoma so I have 5mg of Prednisolone. Dogs get prednisone and cats get Prednisolone so im.not sure if that makes a difference, but if there is inflammation then maybe the presnisolne will work. Thank you for your ideas.
 

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