Not an Emergency...Marek's in the Flock

[casportpony]

And if Baytril is going to work, you should see improvement in 24 hours. If after 2-3 days they aren't looking better, I'd stop treatment.

Quote:

Side effects

• Birds' systems may be particularly vulnerable to infections from bacteria that isn't vulnerable to Baytril, or yeast infections after being dosed with Baytril, particularly if Baytril is given for a longer time. To minimize the risk, try to maintain sanitary conditions & to give Baytril for the minimum time needed to be fully effective. You may need to follow up with antibiotic or anti-fungal medicine if problems develop afterward.
• Because it is very powerful, Baytril can kill off significant numbers of "good bacteria" that normally fight harmful organisms in birds' digestive tracts, although it is said to have less of this effect than many other of the powerful antibiotics. To minimize risk:
  • Try to maintain sanitary conditions.
  • Give Baytril for the minimum time needed for sufficient effectiveness.
  • Give birds' probiotics, such as unflavored yogurt, buttermilk, or a probiotic supplement to re-establish good bacteria. You could try feeding probiotics halfway between Baytril dosings to try to fight the growth of bad bacteria during treatment (though the probiotics will be killed off at the next Baytril dosing), &/or give probiotics after finishing all Baytril dosings.
  • You may need to follow up with a different antibiotic if new bacterial problems develop after Baytril treatments.
  • If a fungal condition develops, it may be necessary to give an antifungal such as Nystatin, or you might try Oxine if timed to not conflict too much with probiotics. Raw, unfiltered cider vinegar has anti-fungal properties & may help, as well (but do NOT combine it with Oxine as the acid might hazardously activate Oxine).
• Baytril may have some negative effects on the development of young birds.
• There are conflicting reports about whether Baytril has negative side effects on a chicken's kidneys, the liver or blood.

-Kathy

 

[saltandpepper2]

Ok, thank you, I'll get some unflavored yogurt when I start treatment. Would human probiotic pills work as well?

 

[casportpony]

Ok, thank you, I'll get some unflavored yogurt when I start treatment. Would human probiotic pills work as well?

I would use avian specific probios, not human ones.

-Kathy

 

[saltandpepper2]

Do you have to oRder those too?

 

[seminolewind]

All right, thank you. I'm getting the injectable one so that I can dose singularly. Would it be possible to only treat the ones showing symptoms, or should I treat them all at once?

Mareks related, I have a silkie chick that hit 8 weeks today that I noticed is not gaining weight like it should. It's bone this, and very petite for its age, and I'm wondering what would be the best thing to do. Very active and friendly, just not growing.

I do cocktail. Because it's a possibility to have an ailment that's not Marek's but Marek's caused immunosuppression. And I can cover all the simple common bacteria. Some of these ailment show up as "unthrifty" rather than sick. Right now I'm using Amoxi and Sulfadimethoxine on any bird that's skinny for no reason. I have one now. Of course, a favorite.

 

[saltandpepper2]

I do cocktail.  Because it's a possibility to have an ailment that's not Marek's but Marek's caused immunosuppression.  And I can cover all the simple common bacteria.  Some of these ailment show up as "unthrifty" rather than sick.  Right now I'm using Amoxi and Sulfadimethoxine on any bird that's skinny for no reason.  I have one now.  Of course, a favorite.

Ok, I'll try that... Yeah, this is my only favorite chick...

 

[punk00]

I have given chickens warm baths for compacted crops, what seems like constipation, and it is the treatment for "stuck" egg. It is very soothing to them, also. They just go into a totally relaxed state. I would say temperature should be like what a person would want for relaxation/cleansing. The chicken will sort of float in it, for a good 20 min or 30 min. See if you can feel the egg, again, while she's been in the bath for awhile. Maybe try gently stroking it out in the bath. I used to insert my finger into the vent to see if I felt and egg or masses. Once I have felt mass when I did so, and the chicken died the next day. If the egg leaked inside her, it is, very serious. As you know, she needs antibiotics. My vets have always given baytril and I think metranidozol for mycoplasma/other anaerobes. Do you have access to a compassionate vet who will let you make payments (many will)? You would probably want to keep up the treatment of the warm bath. You might get lucky and be able to extrude the bad stuff (infection?) that is coming from her vent. I really hope that it works out.

 

[seminolewind]

Quote:
It's like I feel like I've got nothing to lose.

 

[rebrascora]

Quote: Thanks for that punk00. I had already given her a warm Epsom salt bath and despite being my favourite and most well handled bird, she was not relaxed. I think being in the warm water was making her breathing more laboured. I have bathed other birds that have appeared to enjoy it but she was clearly unhappy. Sadly she died yesterday and I will be doing a post mortem sometime later today to see if I can find anything obvious.
RIP my lovely little girl, Hope.

 

[ochochicas]

Sorry for you loss Rebrascora.

With my birds that had respiratory distress, it seemed like any kind of handling made them worse. Most of them died fairly quickly after showing breathing problems. The ones that lingered I had to cull since I knew the end was inevitable.