Processing Day Support Group ~ HELP us through the Emotions PLEASE!

[Penny Hen]

I have a question this group will probably be able to answer. I have a hen that I have been treating for bumble foot. The vet, a chicken expert, gave me an ointment to apply. It has been made up by--I can't think of the right word at the moment--maybe a compounding pharmacy? It contains all kinds of things, antibiotics, maybe a steroid.

Can I eat the eggs? Do I likely need a withdrawal period for a topically applied antibiotic? I will ask him, but wanted an opinion from a meat-producing group as well. Thanks.

If you want to avoid the steroids there will need to be a withdrawal period. The weight gaining steroids in cattle are administered by an ear tag. So you see a topical solution of steriods finds its way into the food chain. I couldn't begin to guess the withdrawal. If you know the antibiotic and the steroid name it is possible that the withdrawal times may be posted somewhere on the internet.

 

[LindaB220]

I posted the liquid dosage. Go up to my post to find it.

You can give the liquid straight suing a dropper to very sick ones.

I will post the whole corid note this time. I hope it helps!

Stellar info Ron. Hope I never have to use it.

 

[Angelicisi]

Annually our local Ag extension orders large quantities. They sell for .30 to .50 a straight run white chicks, "broiler" is all that was listed. Kids use them for 4H can get them there too and get a larger group to choose good ones from to show with less cost)
So we ordered double our usual order we get from other sources.
These AG chicks are quicker growing than the layers but still took much more time and lost a few to odd reasons. I wasn't happy with this batch while growing out but LOVE the dressed birds! The other sets I processed grew fast, looked uniform, all dressed out similar. This batch is all over the place in weights and seemed to drag on (January 3rd order so almost 4 months? lol)

How are you getting chicks that cheap???
I use FF too, they go crazy for it, almost knock me over at feeding time haha!
I think I pay at least $2.50 a chick by the time you figure in shipping, higher for the Freedom Rangers.
Even the local feed store it'd be like $2.25 with tax, they only carry the white ones though, I don't usually get them.

 

[Beekissed]

I worded that wrong, I'm sorry, I didn't mean free ranging I meant being out in the yard with the ground at a week old versus still being contained completely in a brooder.
The one who was pooping straight blood has been culled, but there are 9 left I don't know which of them have it. All still acting healthy, so I'm really trying to watch them closely.
Corrid isn't an option right now, no one in driving distance has it, so looking online. I got some oxytetracycline (only thing at TSC), but the guy thought it would be a futile effort, I just felt like I should do something.

When you say flock problem, can this spread to my other birds and layers (right now these are my only chicks). The guy said that if these were the only ones with symptoms the older ones were immune and I shouldn't worry about it. Is it contagious? (I know it comes from the eggs already in the soil, but didn't know if birds could spread it between each other). I have the broilers in their own meat pen, but my chickens free range all day and will come up to the sides of it, my yard isn't separated. Do I need to cull all the broilers? Obviously the last thing I want is anything to effect my other birds. I'm crazy about biosecurity, but things like wild birds and soil there's only so much I can do about.

I also didn't get medicated feed (which I never have, first time with an issue), do you guys use that for your meat birds? I just worry there'd be residual amounts in the meat, not that it would hurt us, but I wanted them to be as natural as possible...

Any chicken with a compromised immune system can develop an overgrowth of coccidia, though it's more likely in young birds. It's not exactly contagious but a bird with high levels of coccidia in the bowels is shedding high levels of oocysts, so it increases the exposure of other birds that may not have a good immune system to higher levels as well.

I never use medicated feed. It won't leave residual amounts of it in the meat as it should be all gone by the time you process. Folks will tell you it's not an antibiotic and merely a thiamine inhibitor~meaning it denies the coccidia organism the necessary thiamine it needs to reproduce~ but the definition of an antibiotic is:


Quote:

ˌantēbīˈätik,ˌantī-/

noun
noun: antibiotic; plural noun: antibiotics

1. 1.​
   a medicine (such as penicillin or its derivatives) that inhibits the growth of or destroys microorganisms.

I'd just cull the one bird and watch the rest, change out your bedding or add a layer on top if you are using deep litter. I wouldn't worry about the rest of your flock.

Your best biosecurity measure starts on a microbial level inside your birds...build strong immunities and good genetics in your flock and you won't have to worry about every little thing that comes down the pike at your birds.

Medicines are not conducive to building strong immune systems nor strong cultures inside the bowels of your birds.

 

[Tomtommom]

I'm with Bee. I wouldn't want to eat antibiotic treated animals.. that's a whole big can of worms you don't even want to begin with. No antibiotics in my flock. If they're THAT sick, I cull.

 

[ronott1]

I'm with Bee. I wouldn't want to eat antibiotic treated animals.. that's a whole big can of worms you don't even want to begin with. No antibiotics in my flock. If they're THAT sick, I cull.

Corid is not an anti biotic. It is a thiamine disruptor--does not let the cycsts uptake the vitamin so they die. I have never used anti biotics either but I do use corid.

 

[Beekissed]

Corid is not an anti biotic. It is a thiamine disruptor--does not let the cycsts uptake the vitamin so they die. I have never used anti biotics either but I do use corid.

And the thiamine disruption does what? Inhibits the growth of the coccidia....and if you'll read the definition of an antibiotic above, you'll see that it qualifies as an antibiotic.

that acts upon Coccidia parasites

An antiprotozoal is a sub class of antibiotic, much like an antifungal, antibacterial or antiviral. Any time you see that "anti", it means against. Biotic describes a living or once living component of a community; for example organisms, such as plants and animals.

Here's an example of an antimicrobial~another type of antibiotic~ and a description of what it does...sound a little familiar?

(vitamin B9) through the diet.[4]

Let's find another description of an antiprotozoal....a drug that treats an infection caused by protozoa...like coccidia...and a drug that treats an infection is? An antibiotic...against that organism.

, giardiasis, amebiasis, Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP), and malaria are examples of diseases caused by protozoa.

I know all you folks like to minimize Corid, or Amprollium, as a thiamine inhibitor but that just describes the action on a cellular level, it doesn't describe the drug for its use or for its ultimate goal or action and that is to inhibit growth and multiplication of coccidia. It does this by denying it thiamine uptake...in essence, the drug works against (anti), the protozoa (biotic)...and the type of antibiotic it is, is called an antiprotozoal.

Break it down and that's exactly what it is. Sorry. I know the USDA has worked to word the usage of the drug as merely a coccidiostat but a coccidiostat is another class of antiprotozoal...which treat infections.

 

[Amina]

I prefer not to routinely use medicated feeds, and my choice really has nothing to do with how safe the resulting eggs or meat might be for whoever eats it. Rather, it's because antibiotics are a limited resource. Microbes will always evolve to overcome them, so we need to treat them like the limited resource they are, to put off the antibiotic resistance for as long as possible. This means limiting how we use them. If we can get good results by improving sanitation, then I think we should do that.

 

[katbriar]

Annually our local Ag extension orders large quantities. They sell for .30 to .50 a straight run white chicks, "broiler" is all that was listed. Kids use them for 4H can get them there too and get a larger group to choose good ones from to show with less cost)
So we ordered double our usual order we get from other sources.
These AG chicks are quicker growing than the layers but still took much more time and lost a few to odd reasons. I wasn't happy with this batch while growing out but LOVE the dressed birds! The other sets I processed grew fast, looked uniform, all dressed out similar. This batch is all over the place in weights and seemed to drag on (January 3rd order so almost 4 months? lol)

My hatchery offers two types of cornish x. A "fast" grower which finishes at 8 weeks and a "slow" grower which finishes at 12 weeks. Slow growers supposedly have fewer problems at higher elevations (ascites) , flip, etc.

Sounds like that's what you got.

 

[dutchbunny83]

So much information, thank you all so much!!!
I tried to give you all "thumbs up", but apparently I'm over my quota? Haha I didn't know they were limited