My new pullet is sneezing!Nobody in emergencies will reply! Help!

[mother o' chicks72]

where can I get terramyacin and how much should i put in the water? how expensive is it?

 

[MayhawJam]

You can get either Vi-Tal or Terramycin at your feed store, Tractor Supply, etc. Neither are expensive. Both are mixed directly in the drinking water - but not at the same time. Mixing instructions come on the packages. I think the Vi-Tal is something like 1/4 tsp. to a gallon, and the Teramycin is 1 Tbsp. per gallon, or 3/4 tsp. per quart.


Vi-Tal is a mix of electrolytes and vitamins. Terramycin is an antibiotic, one of a few that are available for poultry. You can do a search on the BYC forum for different treatments for respiratory disease and antibiotics to find out more about them...

You can give Vi-Tal to all the birds, if you don't want to, or can't isolate the one sneezing. It's probably good to give it to them anyway - here in Texas I give it regularly to help my girls deal with the extreme heat. If for some reason you can't find Vi-Tal, you can also use PolyViSol, which is an infant vitamin solution you can buy in drugstores. (Get the kind without Iron.)

Maybe start by offering the Vi-Tal for a few days and see if the sneezing persists? If you're sure that there are signs of infection (runny nose, wheezing sound in the chest) then go ahead and start with the Terramycin or Duramycin (another antibiotic)... and read up on the BYC forum about treatments for respiratory infections. Several threads on the topic already exist - search for the drug names, or "respiratory." And you'll find info there about other drugs available, which may be more expensive. You'll also find good tips, like to give yogurt after administering antibiotics to keep the "good" bacteria levels up.

Here's a thread on Vi-Tal with a photo of the packaging:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=3279779

 

[Judy]

Respiratory diseases are cause for many more experienced chicken keepers to cull. If you did not quarantine carefully, there is real danger you could infect your flock. Many of these diseases are viral, not bacterial, so antibiotics will have no effect on the core problem. Here are a couple of links for you:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=12751

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

 

[PtldChick]

Sounds like you got your pullet at Pistil's Pullet Days? I'm assuming from the 3-mo guarantee.

Your best bet is to return the chicken, and either get another one or better yet, get your money back and get one from someone else whose chickens are not sick.

Either way, you need to quarantine. Did the seller advise you of the need to do so? I would if I were offering a 3-mo health guarantee just to make sure my chicken didn't catch something from your chickens. If you did get it at Pistil's and she didn't advise quarantining, that is something to bring to the store's attention - all their pullet sellers should advise a 30-day quarantine when adding a bird to a new flock. If you're very lucky, the bird got the sneezing at your place due to not having resistance to something your birds are resistant to, butI wouldn't count on it.

As far as posting here because you said no one replied on the emergency list - you need to give people time. And try doing research yourself (online or on the forum) on the symptoms/diseases/treatments in the meantime. I saw your post because I was researching sneezing, and you posted a lot of "anyone?" type posts pretty quickly. That can actually turn people off from responding to you. Another thing is you are "Overrun with chickens"
with over 800 posts, so many people may have thought you already knew the basics.

Sneezing could be a lot of different things, some bacterial, many viral, and even the bacterial ones don't use all the same meds. Coryza, CRD, bronchitis, Laryngotracheitis, Newcastle's, etc., etc. Some of these, the birds can recover and remain a carrier, putting non-resistant birds at risk. You could nurse her back to health, wait the 30 days, intergrate her into your flock, and get a whole new batch of sick chickens!

Good luck with your situation, but I would take advantage of the return guarantee because nursing a sick chicken can be draining, and there is a good risk to your flock. Are you really more attached to this new girl than your existing ones? I doubt the seller is going to want to pay for your medicines, since she's offered to refund or exchange. Especially if she would cull the chicken herself.

The safest way to add new chickens to your flock, start with day-old chicks that haven't been exposed to any diseases (hatched inside, not outside) and raise them yourself. Otherwise, quarantine (that means not even breathing the same air) for 30 days, then hope for the best.

 

[Erica]

Great post from PtldChick.

 

[mother o' chicks72]

Quote:
yes, i got her at pistils and the woman did not advise quarantining and guess what, SHE WORKED THERE. You know what, i think she knew the chickens were sick too and didn't tell us. I don't want the stupid woman to cull the chicken, it doesn't deserve that, if the chicken is sick it's the womans own (edited by staff) fault and the bird shouldn't get punished for that. We put her on antibiotics because we happen to care about all of our chickens, not just the ones we already had, she is also qurantined. I don't want to return the chicken to the woman, she was extremely rude and when I called her to ask "what's up? why is my bird sick?" she was all "you can return her, or get a new one" and she knew she was talking to kid.

**Name calling is inappropriate behavior on BYC, as is crossposting.