poisoned chicken??? NEED HELP!!!!!

[Hwlchickmama]

From what I've heard the front line is oil biased (so it doesn't wash off when the animal is in the rain) so keep giving them baths I would use dawn or similar basic dish soap when my hen was sick the local organic farmer told me to give her a warm epson salt "spa" bath.... Good luck

 

[Dawn350]

Thank you for the molasses measurements ladies! AS for the probiotics, not sure what you mean. Yogurt? Our Tractor Supply store has this stuff call Pro-Bos that comes in a small container that you mix with water, would that help? Checked on the girls a few minutes ago. They are both now standing and taking a few steps but they are unsteady on their feet. Seem to wobble before sitting down again. Would you recommend doing the flush? At this point their poop is looking quite normal. Good brown color with the white caps. I looked at the poo chart someone posted on this site and I feel good about the poo now. I really want them to be walking steadily, hopefully this is working itself out of their system. The bug stuff was applied last Thursday evening around 6. I hope that they continue to improve and will return to normal without lasting damage. Thank you for all your help !

 

[Eggcessive]

My point about inducing diarrhea at this time is that they are doing better, so why stress them with losing more fluid and electolytes by doing a flush? The chemicals were not taken internally, so a flush of the GI tract will do nothing but make a bird more sick. Yes ProBios is probiotics--they sell it in the chicken aisle at TSC. They had one the other day that had porbiotics plus vitamins that I saw.

 

[CedarAcres]

I found this thread: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/465712/frontline It's pretty long & I didn't read it all, but maybe there will be something helpful for you there? I personally don't use frontline at all for anything because one of our dogs had a very bad reaction to it so I've never wanted to go near it again. Hopefully they are just having a bad reaction and it will work itself out. I hope they are alright!

 

[CedarAcres]

Here is a post from the thread that I posted (post #43):

I do hope someone can correct me if I am wrong-- I have studied a lot of avian biology, but I am not an expert nor a veterinarian trained in avian medicine.

I understand that fipronil distributes in the oil glands of mammals. Mammals (at least the one that Frontline is intended for) have oil glands throughout their skin, as do we. Thus, the distribution of fipronil in the skin makes sense for mammals. Birds, however, do not have oil glands that translate to those of a mammal; most birds (or, in this case let us just assume chickens) have a singular oil gland, the 'preen' gland or more scientifically the uropygial gland at the base of the tail. This gland excretes the oils/wax esters that the bird then uses its beak and face to distribute over the feathers of the entire body. Because of the method of distribution, birds often ingest a fair bit of the preen oil, in addition to get it on the skin of the face (especially around the eyes and cheeks).

Because of this, my questions are:

1. Does fipronil actually distribute itself solely to oil glands in the skin, and if so does it do so in a chicken? Does it concentrate in the uropygial gland?
2. If the above is true, does this mean that when preening, the chicken ingests more fipronil than we expect, and can possibly cause short or long term health problems in the chicken or the people that eat the chicken's products?

Based on that I don't have any advice on what you should do other than bathing them with dawn soap to remove their oil. That's the only thing I can think of.

 

[Zonoma]

That sounds like Frontline poisoning to me. It's awful. I had a friend who accidentally overdosed a kitten. The poor thing died in painful convulsions. The fact that your girls are still alive is hopeful but use Dawn dish soap at the application spot (apply it directly and then rinse) and get some electrolytes into them. It's really all you can do.

 

[ten chicks]

Thank you for the molasses measurements ladies! AS for the probiotics, not sure what you mean. Yogurt? Our Tractor Supply store has this stuff call Pro-Bos that comes in a small container that you mix with water, would that help? Checked on the girls a few minutes ago. They are both now standing and taking a few steps but they are unsteady on their feet. Seem to wobble before sitting down again. Would you recommend doing the flush? At this point their poop is looking quite normal. Good brown color with the white caps. I looked at the poo chart someone posted on this site and I feel good about the poo now. I really want them to be walking steadily, hopefully this is working itself out of their system. The bug stuff was applied last Thursday evening around 6. I hope that they continue to improve and will return to normal without lasting damage. Thank you for all your help !

No. i wouldn't do the flush,they appear to be doing better and you do not want to shock their system even more. Flush is excellent when poisoning first occurs,but once they start to feel better it is not advisable. Appears toxicity is leaving body,but they are going to be weak,possibly for a couple of weeks. Just continue with the probiotics.

 

[Dawn350]

Thank you ladies! I will get the pro-bios stuff today. Based on what you've said I've decided not ot do the flush. Their poo seems to be really good at this point and I don't want to upset that. I'm hopeful that they will be able to walk normally soon. For future reference, so this doesn't happen again, what kind of mite/lice remover should I be using? We bought some of the poultry dust sold at our TSC store. Also, I would like to get a chicken health book too, which would you recommend? I have several chicken books that have general health issues in them, but nothing specific or how to treat something like what just occurred. The more knowledgeable I can be the healthier all my chickens will be. Thanks for your help!

 

[realsis]

I can recommend some great health books! One very good health book is the chicken Heath handbook by Gail Damerow it's very easy to understand and a wonderful book to have. If your looking for something more extensive you can get poultry diseases diagnosis and treatment by H.V.S. Chauhan.S. Roy and then there is chicken Heath for dummies. I have all these books and they are all very good
Each book contributes something different but I'd start out with the first one I mentioned it's a excellent. reresource. I really hope this helps you. Best of luck.

 

[Dawn350]

Good news! The girls are improving daily. They are starting to walk better and their appetite has significantly improved. Thank Goodness! I will be buying one of the books mentioned and will continue reading this sight for all the helpful information and insights. Thank you all for your continued help and support!!! As a note, we have been using dawn dish soap to bath the girls with. They seem to enjoy it.