Need help.. Sick & lethargic

[PeaDaddy]

As a horse person, have you heard the term "foals fade fast"? It's the same with young peafowl and blackhead.

Horses, even foals, have NOTHING on birds. This is something that has to be seen, and unfortunately experienced, to be appreciated (or respected?) It will get better with experience. We've got 25 years with horses, and less than 1 with birds.

 

[PeaDaddy]

Since you are considering tube feeding read this thread, it might be helpful. https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...cken-and-give-subcutaneous-fluid#post_9910754

I've been reading this page off and on all day. What a wealth of knowledge. Thanks for the share.

 

[Yoda]

Good question. A couple of reasons....

1. The vet prescribed Baytril last night, and the Metro was the "last resort". The bird died last night hours after being injected with the Baytril (sub-q), so the results of the Baytril was inconclusive. After reading here, I was convinced that if I don't try the Metro, that I've got a better than high chance of having two more dead birds.

2. When we treat horses, we take a "rule nothing out" approach, and treat for everything. I know that these aren't horses, but until we have an idea of what is making these birds sick, my judgment says to approach this from a "rule nothing out" POV.

OK I am a little confused why would a bird vet who should know that Metro is the cure for blackhead tell you to use it as a last resort? Baytril is a very strong antibiotic and on the forums the experienced breeders will tell you to use it as a last resort. They will tell you to use tylan 200 before baytril. The main killer of pea chicks is either coccidia or blackhead. Which is deadlier, blackhead in my opinion so I treat for it first. if no results then I treat for coccidia. I do not understand why just because one vet said to weigh the birds and shove tubes down the throat that becomes the main treatment? I have had sick birds in the past and never had to shove anything down the throat. I lost birds when I first started and learned from it. I have never lost a pea chick to a disease since my first year of raising peafowl knock on wood. I must be doing something right. If one bird is sick then you treat the entire flock cause if one has it the chances are high that others have it as well. I feel so sorry for you for losing your birds BUT several people told you to treat with metro and you still have not. Maybe you should ask your vet if they are going to replace your birds if they pass. I cannot believe for a moment that your vet told you to use the cure for blackhead as a last result? I am so angry that this doctor told you that and I would love to talk to him or her on the phone and explain how you lost your birds to bad advice. I will tell you this, in the future keep your pea chicks off the ground til they are at least 6 months old and before placing them on the ground be sure you have Corid, Metro (fish zole), wormer and an antibiotic. This way once they hit the ground after a week you worm them and repeat in 14 days. If they show any signs of illness you have the corid and metro. If they get a cut or infection you have an antibiotic all on hand. Unfortunately taking the ruling nothing out approach and mixing the drugs with pea chicks is a no no. I don't do it with adult birds.
Getting your birds from "reputable" breeders doe not mean your bird isn't going to get sick. Your bird will get sick whether you got it from me or your neighbor. All it takes is one bird to catch something. When one does you treat them all because peas hide the illness til the very end and the others may have it and be hiding it. I have 34 peafowl running in the same pen with 20 chickens, 5 guinea hens and 5 ducks. Knock on wood none have had blackhead or coccidia. I still have 7 pea chicks in the cage in the shed and all my birds go into the shed at night. I must be doing something right and try to give advice when I can - whether you want to follow it is up to you.

 

[AugeredIn]

I think you are doing the right things at this point. Keep using the Metro and as fast the others went i would keep using the Baytril for secondary issues. I have never killed any of my poultry with antibiotics or any treatment. I have lost some by failing to treat.

You really have had some very bad luck indeed. The key is to learn from our experiences. I would bet there are multiple posts in the last month that express the opinion or experience that housing peafowl with other poultry is just fine or works for them. As with all things in life, generalizations are the mother of all failures.

If you raise peafowl on the ground, in smaller areas and with other poultry or in locations where other poultry have been, you are begging for disease. It really is that simple. Young peafowl are just prone to problems. Get them to adults and they are a little easier.

Knock on wood, we have not had to deal with serious blackhead. We did treat four birds for blackhead we picked up at auction and all survived. Our primary issues with peafowl have been injury and sinus infections. We have almost zero problems with young peafowl which we attribute to raising them off the ground until they are about six months. I think regular worming is also key.

I hope the other two recover for you. If you want to feel better or take something positive out of this, I am sure that you have a healthy respect for what it takes to treat disease. I am certain you will be more "in tune" with your animals and you will have the knowledge to treat effectively.

 

[PeaDaddy]

Ok I am a little confused why would a bird vet who should know that Metro is the cure for blackhead tell you to use it as a last resort? Baytril is a very strong antibiotic and on the forums the experienced breeders will tell you to use it as a last resort. They will tell you to use tylan 200 before baytril. The main killer of peachicks is either coccidia or blackhead. Which is deadlier, blackhead in my opinion so I treat for it first. if no results then I treat for coccidia. I do not understand why just because one vet said to weigh the birds and shove tubes down the throat that becomes the main treatment? I have had sick birds in the past and never had to shove anything down the throat. I lost birds when I first started and learned from it. I have never lost a peachick to a disease since my first year of raising peafowl knock on wood. I must be doing something right. If one bird is sick then you treat the entire flock cause if one has it the chances are high that others have it as well. I feel so sorry for you for losing your birds BUT several people told you to treat with metro and you still have not. Maybe you should ask your vet if they are going to replace your birds if they pass. I cannot believe for a moment that your vet told you to use the cure for blackhead as a last result? I am so angry that this doctor told you that and I would love to talk to him or her on the phone and explain how you lost your birds to bad advice. I will tell you this, in the future keep your peachicks off the ground til they are at least 6 months old and before placing them on the ground be sure you have Corid, Metro (fish zole), wormer and an anitbiotic. This way once they hit the ground after a week you worm them and repeat in 14 days. If they show any signs of illness you have the corid and metro. If they get a cut or infection you have an antibiotic all on hand. Unfortunately taking the ruling nothing out approach and mixing the drugs with peachicks is a no no. I don't do it with adult birds.
Getting your birds from "reputable" breeders doe not mean your bird isn't going to get sick. Your bird will get sick wether you got it from me or your neighbor. All it takes is one bird to catch something. When one does you treat them all because peas hide the illness til the very end and the others may have it and be hiding it. I have 34 peafowl running in the same pen with 20 chickens, 5 guinea hens and 5 ducks. Knock on wood none have had blackhead or coccidia. I still have 7 peachicks in the cage in the shed and all my birds go into the shed at night. I must be doing something right and try to give advice when I can - wether you want to follow it is up to you.

I knew that this post was coming... The you're a dumb noob, making dumb noob mistakes, and it sucks that your bird died, but we told ya so... post. I shouldn't even reply to this post because it has all of the hallmarks of a troll post, but, I'll reply out of courtesy....

You need a hug. That's the first thing.

I've done the best I could with the little bit of knowledge that I've received over the past 2 days.

How much experience do you have with sick birds? Prior to the day before yesterday, I've had none. I did what the vet told me to do, and used the information given to me here as reference.

Since you asked, the vet was recommended to me, and even after calling local zoos, I was not able to locate a peacock vet (zoos' vet wouldn't see my birds). The vet I went to admitted she hadn't seen a peafowl in 6 mos. I went with the first person recommended to me because time was of the essence in this situation. Is it worse that I didn't have time to vet the vet, or went to someone that I believed to be knowledgeable?

As you can tell, my post count is quite low, and I have no ability to judge who is an "experienced" breeder, and who is a backyard breeder.

I still haven't treated with Metro? Let's clarify. I started Metro this afternoon. In your haste to berate me on the forum for my dumb noobyness, you failed to read my updating posts.

Why would ANYTHING in my life affect you in the slightest, let alone make you angry? People make mistakes, and bad things happen to good people. It's called life. I'm doing everything in my best judgement to get my flock well. If my results aren't to your satisfaction, than by all means, fly yourself out to our farm and come wave your wand. You'll need to grab a shovel and rake, when we're not working on birds, because we also have 40 horses that need to be tended to, as well. I know it seems like a lot of work, but it's only 5 or 6 hours of labor. We can have cocktails afterwards, if you'd like. But know that I won't call you a liar or negligent if something doesn't quite work out and a bird dies.

Thanks for all of your input. In the future, please refrain from letting anything in my life make you angry. We don't know each other like that.

You can choose to believe, or not, what the vet has said. But, honestly, what reason do I have to mislead anyone when I've just lost 2 of the 4 peachicks I have, and am facing losing the other 2?

I'm going to have to pass on letting you call my vet. I value my relationships, and I'm a little hesitant to allow someone whom I've never met, or spoken with make phone calls to people whom I have professional relationships with. Thanks for the offer. We'll figure it out together.

I'll take into consideration what you've said, thanks for all of it.

 

[PeaDaddy]

I think you are doing the right things at this point. Keep using the Metro and as fast the others went i would keep using the Baytril for secondary issues. I have never killed any of my poultry with antibiotics or any treatment. I have lost some by failing to treat.
You really have had some very bad luck indeed. The key is to learn from our experiences. I would bet there are multiple posts in the last month that express the opinion or experience that housing peafowl with other poultry is just fine or works for them. As with all things in life, generalizations are the mother of all failures.
If you raise peafowl on the ground, in smaller areas and with other poultry or in locations where other poultry have been, you are begging for disease. It really is that simple. Young peafowl are just prone to problems. Get them to adults and they are a little easier.
Knock on wood, we have not had to deal with serious blackhead. We did treat four birds for blackhead we picked up at auction and all survived. Our primary issues with peafowl have been injury and sinus infections. We have almost zero problems with young peafowl which we attribute to raising them off the ground until they are about six months. I think regular worming is also key.
I hope the other two recover for you. If you want to feel better or take something positive out of this, I am sure that you have a healthy respect for what it takes to treat disease. I am certain you will be more "in tune" with your animals and you will have the knowledge to treat effectively.

Thanks for the support.

We have learned A LOT over the past two days.

I am confused about the babies on the ground thing. Could you clarify this? What do you DO with babies younger than 6 mos? Where do you keep them, and house them? What if they're with mom?

I have a complete respect for how quickly things can go sideways with young birds. I am glad that I have had this experience now, rather than months, or years down the road, and I hope that this thread can help other who are new in the peababy game just how fast things can go sideways. I will definitely be more in tune with my birds going forward. Thanks again.

 

[Yoda]

I knew that this post was coming... The you're a dumb noob, making dumb noob mistakes, and it sucks that your bird died, but we told ya so... post. I shouldn't even reply to this post because it has all of the hallmarks of a troll post, but, I'll reply out of courtesy....

You need a hug. That's the first thing.

I've done the best I could with the little bit of knowledge that I've received over the past 2 days.

How much experience do you have with sick birds? Prior to the day before yesterday, I've had none. I did what the vet told me to do, and used the information given to me here as reference.

Since you asked, the vet was recommended to me, and even after calling local zoos, I was not able to locate a peacock vet. The vet I went to admitted she hadn't seen a peafowl in 6 mos. I went with the first person recommended to me because time was of the essence in this situation. Is it worse that I didn't have time to vet the vet, or went to someone that I believed to be knowledgeable?

As you can tell, my post count is quite low, and I have no ability to judge who is an "experienced" breeder, and who is a backyard breeder.

I still haven't treated with Metro? Let's clarify. I started Metro this afternoon. In your haste to berate me on the forum for my dumb noobyness, you failed to read my updating posts.

Why would ANYTHING in my life affect you in the slightest, let alone make you angry? People make mistakes, and bad things happen to good people. It's called life. I'm doing everything in my best judgement to get my flock well. If my results aren't to your satisfaction, than by all means, fly yourself out to our farm and come wave your wand. You'll need to grab a shovel and rake, when we're not working on birds, because we also have 40 horses that need to be tended to, as well. I know it seems like a lot of work, but it's only 5 or 6 hours of labor. We can have cocktails afterwards, if you'd like. But know that I won't call you a liar or negligent if something doesn't quite work out and a bird dies.

Thanks for all of your input. In the future, please refrain from letting anything in my life make you angry. We don't know each other like that.

You can choose to believe, or not, what the vet has said. But, honestly, what reason do I have to mislead anyone when I've just lost 2 of the 4 peachicks I have, and am facing losing the other 2?

I'm going to have to pass on letting you call my vet. I value my relationships, and I'm a little hesitant to allow someone whom I've never met, or spoken with make phone calls to people whom I have professional relationships with. Thanks for the offer. We'll figure it out together.

I'll take into consideration what you've said, thanks for all of it.

Ok first I never attacked you - I attacked the vet who gave you the advice. I will tell that vet the same thing I posted LOL! I don't want you thinking I was calling you names or attacking you at all that is not me - TRUST ME it is not me LOL. I am angry that she told you that cause your bird could've been still alive had you used the metro. I get upset when something dies that could be prevented, it is my flaw LOL My post wasn't to flame it was to get people to understand just because a "vet" says so isn't always right. If the vet has no experience with a peafowl they should tell you so. They should tell you to call an experienced breeder in your area and that person is not going to tell you to go away, he/she is going to help you save your birds. That person is going to give you free advice because he knows it and he/she will want to save the peafowl. How many people have scales to weigh the birds? I never weighed a bird yet. The advice on here (this forum) is golden. If you take a moment and do an advanced search on this subject you will find your answers and I bet it would be quicker then going to a vet. I have a bird vet and she told me that she never seen a peafowl and asked if I knew a breeder when my baby Emu broke it's leg, it was the first Emu she ever seen. Also "I can't believe for a moment she told you that?" was a figure of speech not calling you a liar. I was shocked that she said that to you is all. Read the two lines together instead of apart. I wish you lived closer cause I would come over and help you in a heartbeat (another figure of speech LOL). I do not mind shoveling horse poop, I use to own two myself. Instead of Cocktails I would rather go riding for a couple hours

Have you visited the UPA (United Peafowl ***.) website yet? it has a list of the common peafowl illnesses, the treatments and also has breeders listed by state. Has lots of info for free but if you want to go onto their forum you need to join.

 

[Yoda]

Thanks for the support.

We have learned A LOT over the past two days.

I am confused about the babies on the ground thing. Could you clarify this? What do you DO with babies younger than 6 mos? Where do you keep them, and house them? What if they're with mom?

I have a complete respect for how quickly things can go sideways with young birds. I am glad that I have had this experience now, rather than months, or years down the road, and I hope that this thread can help other who are new in the peababy game just how fast things can go sideways. I will definitely be more in tune with my birds going forward. Thanks again.

Here is a thread I started about how I keep my peafowl from egg to adult. Hope you take a moment to view it

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/704066/ill-show-you-my-setup-if-you-show-me-yours-heavy-pictures

 

[Yoda]

I wish you luck with your peas and I hope for a speedy recovery. I learned a great lesson tonight and I will never forget it. I now know why 99% of the experienced breeders do not reply to the forums and when I asked them a question I had to promise not to post it on any forum. You try to help and get called names. Sorry peadaddy but I am anything but a troll. So out of courtsey I will just wish your birds a healthy life and walk away.

 

[new 2 pfowl]

I hope all goes well with your other babies, Peadaddy.
Please do let us know how their treatment progresses.
As you say, and although it isn't much comfort, at least your painful experiences will be a useful resource for other peaparents in trouble.