Received sick shipped birds - what to do?

[seminolewind]

To treat them I would start them on an antibiotic that you can find at your feedstore--Tylan 50 , Gallimycin, Oxytetracycline, Spectinomycin, or Duramycin10. These will treat respiratory disease such as mycoplasma, coryza, and others. It's scary to think that this guy is probably spreading disease at every poultry show if he is a judge. Here is the disease link if you want to read it: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

X2.
And I would not worry about burning bridges. You will most likely not buy chicks from him again. I would be seriously thinking about if they carried other illnesses .
If you paid him with Paypal or Visa, you may have some recourse.

 

[Scifisarah]

I will begin treating them tonight, but still need to find information about dosing with Tylan 50 (I already have some here so hopefully it will work). If anyone could tell me the dose for a bird this size, or refer me to somewhere I can find information that would be wonderful. I need to just print off dosing info and put it with every medicine I have so I'm not scrambling around to find out when the problem arises. They are beautiful mottled bantam cochins and the thought of having to cull them breaks my heart so I will treat them and keep them in quarantine. He told me he dosed them with Frontline before being shipped which makes sense because I did find a lot of dead lice among the ones that were still living and all the eggy feathers. They took almost two full days to get to me, so he thinks the stress of shipping could have led to them developing the respiratory problems. He had one other person report the same problem and success with treating them with Tylan 200 so I am hopeful. They were given apples for moisture/food in the shipping boxes but the silly cockerel didn't touch his and was crazy thirsty when I unpacked him. I am pleased with the response I got from the breeder and his request to stay updated on the situation. I believe if things go downhill from here, he is probably willing to make things right.

Here they are after I gave them baths and thorough blow-drying so they wouldn't get chilled. I made certain none of them got dunked under the water since their breathing already sounded so raspy. The warm water on their chests really seemed to loosen things up!

 

[seminolewind]

Those are adorable. I'm with you there when hating to cull. I think I would do an awful lot more research before I would go as far as culling, such as can they be carriers and infect your flock, or if it's just some snotty respiratory issue. But I have to say that shipping by itself would not give them a respiratory ailment, they would have had to have prior exposure to other birds with it. For the money you spent, you should not have been sent birds that were uncared for. As in carrying lice-really would have been an easy fix for a breeder. I would also worm them at some point because it's questionable that this person did any parasite care.

In the past year, I have heard so many breeder/unhealthy birds stories, it's become more frequent with smaller breeders. I am not saying that there are not good , thoughtful breeders of quality birds. Maybe people should think about asking for references, and get in touch.

 

[Eggcessive]

Tylan 50 can be given as an injection or by mouth at the same dose. Tylan 50 for injection into the breast muscle for 3 days--1/4 ml daily for bantams, 1/2 ml for standard birds, and 3/4 ml for large fowl. Oral dosing will be the same dose for 5-7 days.

 

[EggresiveAli]

Good luck.

 

[Scifisarah]

He told me to inject them in the breast with 2 cc of the Tylan 50 for 3-4 days so I will try that. They have been vaccinated for mareks, new castle and lt. I am probably a little more obsessive than most for keeping birds healthy with my biology/zoo/humane society background. If I am ever breeding so many birds that I can't keep them healthy, I would feel obligated to cut back. Probably difficult to cut back on how many birds you keep if you are looking to show on a national level. For now I feel busy if I hatch a dozen or two over the summer with all my other responsibilities!

 

[Eggcessive]

Dosages are all over the place. I think 2 ml of Tylan 50 for bantams is way too high especially if you are injecting it. I would not use more than 1 ml in a standard sized bird. Some recommend that you give 1/2 ml into the breast and 1/2 ml under the skin of the neck if you give a whole ml. Here is a thread about Tylan dosing: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/599057/tylan-50-dosing-instructions

 

[casportpony]

Dosages are all over the place. I think 2 ml of Tylan 50 for bantams is way too high especially if you are injecting it. I would not use more than 1 ml in a standard sized bird. Some recommend that you give 1/2 ml into the breast and 1/2 ml under the skin of the neck if you give a whole ml. Here is a thread about Tylan dosing: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/599057/tylan-50-dosing-instructions

OMG, yes, that does seem like way too much! I wouldn't give more than .8ml per 2.2 pounds.

-Kathy

 

[Scifisarah]

It does seem like a bit much when I stopped and thought about how much 2 cc is. Maybe he meant .2? I will research various sources before giving it to them. Thanks for the link and suggestions!

 

[casportpony]

Dosing info here, just find tylosin:
http://avianmedicine.net/content/uploads/2013/03/09_therapeutic_agents.pdf

-Kathy