pullet coughing? please help?

[adbayer]

hi all! im new... but i have a question!
3 weeks ago i bought 5 pullets, 1 banty, 1 aericauna(sp?) 1 barred rock, and 2 golden comets. my first set of chickens!
they almost all adjusted beautifully, my aericauna layed two days later, my banty 4, my comets just started laying last week.
buutt every now and then i noticed my rock coughing or sneezing.
and the afternoons that i have gone out, i noticed that she doesnt greet me at the door, or get up and come for snacks or feed like the others.
she also hasnt been roosting in same spot as the others... and she isnt laying yet.
however, i paid a little more attention when i went out to water the garden about 8 tonight, she was out and about and running around, didnt hear a single sniffle, sneeze or cough... it has been RIDICULOUSLY hot here, im in north texas.... maybe shes just exhausted during the day?
i called and talked to my mom, who has had chickens for several years- she said to go get duramycin-10 from tractor supply and treat all the ladies...

any suggestions or thoughts?

 

[MotherJean]

Listen to your mother!

 

[adbayer]

thank you. i was looking it up in my storeys book- and it was sounding like i might as well kill and burn her now and i sooo didnt want to do that!!!

 

[adbayer]

okay, i got the antibiotic today, and i need to treat all of them right?? sooo how do i determine dosing?
sorry, im a total chicken noob!


and i will need to throw out the eggs while they are being treated, yes?

 

[MotherJean]

Is it Duramycin-10 powder? If it's the 6.4 oz. package, I think the dosage would be about 3/4 tsp. per quart of water. It needs to be mixed fresh everyday, so dig out the old quart size water fount. If your package is a different size or the dosage recommended on the label is different than: "400-800mg tetracycline chloride per gallon per day," repost what the dosage recommendation on the label says along with the size package you purchased.

Manufacturer recommends treatment for 12-14 days.

ETA: You should not eat the eggs during treatment or for 3 weeks after, so about 5 weeks of no eggs. Sorry.

 

[adbayer]

thank you so much, your amazing.


however, we got to watching,adn thinking... she only acts like this when its the hottest parts of the day...
and shes a spiked barred rock... which means shes a heavier breed yes??? so she may just not be tolerating the texas heat as well as the others... because when we check later in the evening, and early mornings, she acts fine... so do you think we should hold off and see how it goes? my mom thinks we should, buuut shes lost two chickens this week, and from the same place we got ours, and idk, i guess im just worried about it! i dont want to dope them up if they arent sick, but if they are i dont want to miss it until its too late, yk?

we have had 3 days 103 and over in the last two weeks...

and they dont have much shade, i thought we had them a decent amount, but during the hottest part of the day, it doesnt shade much, tomorrow we will be fixing that.

 

[MotherJean]

There's probably no harm in waiting and watching for a couple of days. I think the key is whether or not she still eating/drinking. In that heat she needs more than average water. If she's lost weight or not drinking enough, her body is stressed and less able to fight off infection (if that's what's going on). I suppose a compromise would be to just treat the one hen - not the whole flock. Do you have someplace you could isolate her for two weeks?

 

[adbayer]

oh man, are they drinking a ton! everybodys gulping tons of water. they all cut back on food, but it appears everyone is eating some atleast. i would think heat on that one.

but i could be wrong.i dont want to be overly optimistic and mess up here, lol.

and no, not really. short of a bathroom, lol. but ya got to do what ya got to do i spose?
we have a min pin, and my only concern is he really wants to eat them. and hes been confined to the house, and outside int he front on a leash for the last 3 weeks, because he cant stop trying to eat them.

how much should one girl eat?

she doesnt seem to be losing any weight, but she stays puffed up most of the time. i will watch her closely tomorrow when we work in the back yard. and keep checking on them frequently!



i very much so appreciate your help. you are awesome!

 

[SouthernChick]

Seperate the hen from the others for 3 weeks and your mom was right about the antibotics during this time you have her in a cage. Watch her closely during this time also.