Awooten

In the Brooder
Dec 30, 2019
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I have a 5 year old, 8.5 lb. Ameraucana rooster named Truman who came down with a respiratory infection yesterday. He is wheezing and has labored breathing. Eyes appear clear and I see no discharges. His appetite seems good and energy level is about the same. He's my favorite chicken, hatched on the farm, and I don't want to lose him! So far, I've given him vitamins and VetRX in his water and VetRX on his nostril and under his chin. I've put crushed garlic with olive oil on rice and mixed it with his regular food, and he loves that! He's staying in the house to hasten recovery, and I've noticed that his breathing seems to be getting worse. Unfortunately, we have no vets nearby that treat chickens, so I need help. I have researched on the Internet and see that chickens can take broad spectrum antibiotics. I have amoxycillin pills prescribed for me that I can break up and give him but the dosage recommendations appear all over the map in previous threads, ranging from 5 mg per pound or roughly 42 mg twice a day to 125 mg every 12 hours to 125 mg for every 2.2 pounds every 12 hours (almost 500 mg for Truman!). Any experts know the correct dosage? And is it okay to break up my pill and give that to him? Otherwise, I have no access to antibiotics.
 

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5 year old, 8.5 lb. Ameraucana rooster named Truman who came down with a respiratory infection yesterday. He is wheezing and has labored breathing. Eyes appear clear and I see no discharges. His appetite seems good and energy level is about the same.

He's staying in the house to hasten recovery, and I've noticed that his breathing seems to be getting worse.

I have researched on the Internet and see that chickens can take broad spectrum antibiotics. I have amoxycillin pills prescribed for me that I can break up and give him but the dosage recommendations appear all over the map in previous threads, ranging from 5 mg per pound or roughly 42 mg twice a day to 125 mg every 12 hours to 125 mg for every 2.2 pounds every 12 hours (almost 500 mg for Truman!).

I'm sorry that handsome Truman is not doing well.
How is he doing now?
Can you take a video of his actions/breathing? For video, upload to youtube and provide a link (the BYC upload does not work)

Have you added any new chickens to your flock recently?
Does your coop have plenty of ventilation?

No discharge, no mucous, eyes clear....look inside his beak to make sure there's no obstruction. Quick onset of wheezing and labored breathing, I would watch him for several hours to see if that clears up on it's own. He may be suffering from Stridor
which is usually from something partially blocking the airway (food, inhaled liquids, etc.)

How is his crop?

IF, IF he is suffering from respiratory disease (any new chickens?) then Amoxicillin would likely not be that effective. Tylosin and "cyclines" are most effective for bacterial respiratory diseases like Mycoplasma. If it's a virus, then usually those have to run their course. *Most* of the time with respiratory disease there are other symptoms, a reduction of activity and going off feed.

To answer your question about Amoxicillin though - dosage is 125mg/kg - that translates to 57mg per pound of weight. That is given orally 2 times a day for 7 days.
So...Truman is 8.5lb, he would be given 484.5 mg twice a day - so yes...IF I were going to give amoxicillin then I would give him 500mg twice a day.

I would not treat the rest of the flock. It's hard to know what's ailing him, but you would only administer antibiotics/treatment to birds that have clear symptoms of illness. Antibiotics should not be used prophylactically.

Keep us posted.
 
To answer your question about Amoxicillin though - dosage is 125mg/kg - that translates to 57mg per pound of weight. That is given orally 2 times a day for 7 days.
So...Truman is 8.5lb, he would be given 484.5 mg twice a day - so yes...IF I were going to give amoxicillin then I would give him 500mg twice a day.
This dose shown here is correct. This is the same dose that vets have told me to give mine.
I would not treat the rest of the flock. It's hard to know what's ailing him, but you would only administer antibiotics/treatment to birds that have clear symptoms of illness. Antibiotics should not be used prophylactically.

I agree, he is the only one that needs treatment.

Edited to correct spelling.
 
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I'm sorry that handsome Truman is not doing well.
How is he doing now?
Can you take a video of his actions/breathing? For video, upload to youtube and provide a link (the BYC upload does not work)

Have you added any new chickens to your flock recently?
Does your coop have plenty of ventilation?

No discharge, no mucous, eyes clear....look inside his beak to make sure there's no obstruction. Quick onset of wheezing and labored breathing, I would watch him for several hours to see if that clears up on it's own. He may be suffering from Stridor
which is usually from something partially blocking the airway (food, inhaled liquids, etc.)

How is his crop?

IF, IF he is suffering from respiratory disease (any new chickens?) then Amoxicillin would likely not be that effective. Tylosin and "cyclines" are most effective for bacterial respiratory diseases like Mycoplasma. If it's a virus, then usually those have to run their course. *Most* of the time with respiratory disease there are other symptoms, a reduction of activity and going off feed.

To answer your question about Amoxicillin though - dosage is 125mg/kg - that translates to 57mg per pound of weight. That is given orally 2 times a day for 7 days.
So...Truman is 8.5lb, he would be given 484.5 mg twice a day - so yes...IF I were going to give amoxicillin then I would give him 500mg twice a day.

I would not treat the rest of the flock. It's hard to know what's ailing him, but you would only administer antibiotics/treatment to birds that have clear symptoms of illness. Antibiotics should not be used prophylactically.

Keep us posted.
Thanks so much for your response. Truman seems to be getting a little better. I gave him a shot of LA200 earlier today. I tried to find Tylosin but no one had it locally. Truman is still wheezing, but he's eating and drinking and walking around. I have not added any new chickens recently and my coop has good ventilation. I haven't seen any obstruction inside his beak. His comb is a good red color, although another roo beat up on him a bit a few days ago and bloodied it a little. (Truman is my main roo...the daddy of the others...and the others usually leave him alone.) I'm hoping that the worst is over and that the meds will kick in soon...
 
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This dose shown here is correct. This is the same dose that vets have told me to give mine.


I agree, he is the only one that needs treatment.

Edited to correct spelling.
Thanks for your response! I am going to wait and see how Truman does. I gave him a shot of LA200 this morning and he seems to be the same or a little better...
 
His crop is a good red color, although another roo beat up on him a bit a few days ago and bloodied it a little. (Truman is my main roo...the daddy of the others...and the others usually leave him alone.) I'm hoping that the worst is over and that the meds will kick in soon...
Glad he's doing a bit better.

The crop is located on the right side of the breast, it's what holds food - is that emptying by morning?
Did he start having difficulty (wheezing/labored breathing) after the fight? How soon after the fight did you notice? Have you felt him all over really well just to make sure the difficulty is not from a ruptured air sac? You would probably feel a bulge (air pocket) under the skin that shouldn't be there. Chickens have 9 air sacs - the photo below shows the general location. IF he was kicked hard during the fight, it's possible one of those may be leaking.

8114589b4bab38ed9820950809eaba95.gif
 
OMG. That could be the problem. He did get into a fight with his son, who bloodied his comb, and the wheezing started shortly after that. I don't feel an air pocket but I'll examine him again. What is the treatment/remedy for a ruptured air sac? Truman seems sensitive on the right side of his neck. I massaged his neck tonight and he really liked that and seemed to ease up on the breathing. I'll check his crop in the morning. He didn't eat much today until this evening and then ate and drank well. I didn't know about the air sac possibility but began to consider today whether his labored breathing could be caused by an injury.
 
Update: Truman definitely has a ruptured interclavicular air sac. I punctured the skin above it last night and again this morning, which allowed the air to escape and provided some relief. Truman is again eating well and is trying his best to crow, which he did not do yesterday because he was gasping for air. Thank you, Wyorp Rock, for educating me about this possibility!
 
Update: Truman definitely has a ruptured interclavicular air sac. I punctured the skin above it last night and again this morning, which allowed the air to escape and provided some relief. Truman is again eating well and is trying his best to crow, which he did not do yesterday because he was gasping for air. Thank you, Wyorp Rock, for educating me about this possibility!
Oh boy! So he did have a ruptured air sac?! Did that help with his breathing when you released some of the air?

I hope he starts to make a full recovery. I would still finish with the course of LA200 if you started that.
 

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