Please help to tube feed my chick

[Snowingamanda]

This screams coccidiosis to me. My birds had it last year, I treated corid in their water for 7 days I believe, made fresh daily. It may have even been 10 days, I can't remember exactly. 3 days doesn't sound long enough to me. I would consider treating all your birds if they have been in close quarters with the bird that's sick.

Thank you, good to have a suspicion I as affirmed by those who’s been there. Yes, I’m treating the rest of them with Sulfa, but I have doubts because mine came as tabs and not soluble in water. It kind of settles to the bottom of the dish, so I don’t know if what they are drinking is enough...

 

[Snowingamanda]

Ok, I keep thinking about euthanasia, but themselves I wonder - if her intestines or liver were too far gone, how is she absorbing the formula I fed her? Both times I tube fed her she did not throw up, did not seem uncomfortable, and she did poop after that? Sorry if Im just going in circles, I’m just trying to make the best decision for her and it’s not coming to me easy...

 

[Eggcessive]

What sulfa drug are you using? Bactrim or SMZ-TMP tablets can be cut into the correct dosage and crushed, then mixed into a bit of yogurt or food when they won’t dissolve in water. What dosage are you giving? Bactrim can be very hard on the kidneys.

Is the chick’s crop functioning? How does it feel? Is it emptying between feedings? If the crop is not emptying, the medicine or food are not being absorbed. There could be intestinal damage from coccidiosis or enteritis that is preventing her from absorbing food or medicine. I am not an authority on tube feeding, but I think that the goal is to feed 5% of their weight daily. Many use KayTee baby bird feed or a similar food. Water should also be given. Here is a good link about tube feeding that has videos:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...res-under-construction.1064392/#post-17271576

 

[azygous]

Yes, all the signs of coccidiosis. Corid needs to be given for five days at two teaspoons of liquid concentrate to one gallon of water, mixed fresh daily. Then wait a week and do it again for another five days.

Do not stop the sulfa. This is the best drug to treat the inflammation of the intestines that bacteria causes that often moves in with the coccidia. It destroys the lining of the intestines and causes bleeding.

This particular bacteria is extremely intense and destroys a chicken very quickly. Yes, there is a chance your Polish will recover, but the odds at this stage are not good, sadly.

I would keep all of them on the sulfa for at least seven days or until the blood quits showing up in the poops.

Please tell us where you live. I'm betting it's somewhere warm and humid and rainy. Where you live tells us a lot when we try to guess what's making chickens sick. Climate factors into health in a big way.

 

[Snowingamanda]

What sulfa drug are you using? Bactrim or SMZ-TMP tablets can be cut into the correct dosage and crushed, then mixed into a bit of yogurt or food when they won’t dissolve in water. What dosage are you giving? Bactrim can be very hard on the kidneys.

Is the chick’s crop functioning? How does it feel? Is it emptying between feedings? If the crop is not emptying, the medicine or food are not being absorbed. There could be intestinal damage from coccidiosis or enteritis that is preventing her from absorbing food or medicine. I am not an authority on tube feeding, but I think that the goal is to feed 5% of their weight daily. Many use KayTee baby bird feed or a similar food. Water should also be given. Here is a good link about tube feeding that has videos:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...res-under-construction.1064392/#post-17271576

Thank you. IM giving her Bird Sulfa which is sulfamethoxazole 400 mg and trimethoprim 80 mg. I’m having a hard time with dosage. Today I cut the her 480 pill in 4 parts then mixed it with her formula (about 3 tsp with water, so .2 ounces), but it didn’t dissolve a whatever parts did is what she got in 6 cc. I’ll try i crush it. I wish I had it in liquid form!

 

[Snowingamanda]

Yes, all the signs of coccidiosis. Corid needs to be given for five days at two teaspoons of liquid concentrate to one gallon of water, mixed fresh daily. Then wait a week and do it again for another five days.

Do not stop the sulfa. This is the best drug to treat the inflammation of the intestines that bacteria causes that often moves in with the coccidia. It destroys the lining of the intestines and causes bleeding.

This particular bacteria is extremely intense and destroys a chicken very quickly. Yes, there is a chance your Polish will recover, but the odds at this stage are not good, sadly.

I would keep all of them on the sulfa for at least seven days or until the blood quits showing up in the poops.

Please tell us where you live. I'm betting it's somewhere warm and humid and rainy. Where you live tells us a lot when we try to guess what's making chickens sick. Climate factors into health in a big way.

Hi,
I live in northern CA, the climate is dry, but I have ducks that make chicken run wet. Could that be the reason?

So, do I put Corid and Sulfa in the same water or offer two different waters?

 

[Snowingamanda]

General update: she is alive! And she moved (yesterday she was 100% immobile). When i fed her today she actually tried to fight me!! And when I put her back in brooder she tried to stand up on her knees with head up for a second. Yesterday she was listless, gasping for air, so it’s a tiny improvement.
Should I offer her acetominophen for pain relief?

 

[Snowingamanda]

What sulfa drug are you using? Bactrim or SMZ-TMP tablets can be cut into the correct dosage and crushed, then mixed into a bit of yogurt or food when they won’t dissolve in water. What dosage are you giving? Bactrim can be very hard on the kidneys.

Is the chick’s crop functioning? How does it feel? Is it emptying between feedings? If the crop is not emptying, the medicine or food are not being absorbed. There could be intestinal damage from coccidiosis or enteritis that is preventing her from absorbing food or medicine. I am not an authority on tube feeding, but I think that the goal is to feed 5% of their weight daily. Many use KayTee baby bird feed or a similar food. Water should also be given. Here is a good link about tube feeding that has videos:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...res-under-construction.1064392/#post-17271576

I read the post but it doesn’t say when to give water. Should it be between feedings? And how much?
Her crop seems to be functioning alright. She digested last nights food and pooped.

 

[azygous]

The Corid should be the only water sources they have. Mix it fresh each day, and I would do a five day round all over again starting today. Wait a week and do another five days since you stopped too soon the first time.

I am not sure about mixing the sulfa into the Corid. Since Corid is not an antibiotic, I see no reason why not. I might reduce the amount of Corid water available and adjust the sulfa dose accordingly. Sulfa should be given for a minimum of seven days. Do not stop too soon as it takes several days for the sulfa to start working.

@Eggcessive can you help nail this down?

 

[Eggcessive]

She needs to have water first to get hydrated then feed her. @casportpony is the tube feeding expert. If she is taking water on her own, the Corid and sulfa cannot be mixed, but if you are giving everything by feeding tube, they can be given together. The tablet although it may nit dissolve in water could be mixed in some yogurt or wet feed.