Sick Frick in the 'hospital'

[NJchixs]

I hope that is just the beginning. I understand the husband thing, mine wasn't too happy when I sat one of our girls right next to him in the truck for a ride to get feed. Keep us posted please!

 

[theoldchick]

Lettuce does have a lot of moisture to help keep her hydrated.

 

[stoopid]

That's great news! Anything she eats will at least get her to pass out the nasty stuff, and make everything move normally.
And the corn is what I use.
I call it chicken crack! They love it.
YAY!

 

[fishnet1971]

here is what her poo is doing. There are a few solids, so that's good. the watery part is very bright yellow.

 

[littlepeeps81]

Hi fishnet1971. Have you ever tried giving your chickens pure sand. My chickens adore it. If my chickens have swollen crops it takes them down almost over night. It helps them grind up anything that is in there and flush it on out. My chickens have daily access to a bowl of sand and they eat it like it is going out of style. Also, I have saved several of my chickens by giving them about three doses of penicillin. Once a day for about three days.. The same penicillin that you give a horse or cow. You can get a small bottle at tractor supply or usually any farm store. I just give it right in the breast. Might try that if she is trying to fight any infection. Give her about .05 ml. Many chicken experts may disagree with me, but these things have worked for me.

 

[fishnet1971]

peeps, that is the only thing I have not tried yet is the penicillin. I learned how to give her the subQ shots two weeks ago and that went ok. feel comfortable with that. I have not done the muscular one and am kinda scared to do it, but we gotta do what we gotta do. I SO dont want to put her down. We both have fought waaaaayyyy to hard.

This morning she was sitting on the perch looking crapy. I picked her up and put her on the floor once again. It's really rainy and yeuchy out today so maybe she will stay inside and rest.

Which pen. did you use?

 

[littlepeeps81]

Fishnet1971, I used Norocillin by Norbrook. I will tell you that the bottle does not say anything about giving it to chickens, but it worked fine for me and my hen recovered. I found my hen Comet one morning barely able to breath. We thought she had come down with pneumonia. Her nose was clogged and she would gasp for air and gurgle. She also kept her eyes closed alot and would hang her head. The only thing I really new to do was try some penicillin that I have used on my horse. It worked. For the first couple of days there was not alot of improvement, but by the third day she was feeling much better. You can get a pack of 20G x 1/2" needles (recommended for chickens). They are a short thick needle, but penicillin is a thick medicine. I had never given a shot to a chicken before, but it must be given intermuscular. All I did was hold her against my chest and sink the needle to the hub into her breast. The breast muscle is pretty thick and the needle is pretty short. Just pull the feathers back so that you can see her skin good. My hen was perfect for me, and didn't even move. I think they know when you are trying to help. Give her 1/2 cc for 3 to 4 days once a day. There are other antibiotics that some people recommend over penicillin, but I wasn't able to find them at TSC or Southern States. Some say you can give Tylan 50. Penicillin worked for me. I can't promise it will save her but it sure can't hurt her. And if you can get her to eat some sand, that will help flush that crop. Best of luck to Frick. Hope she can recover soon.

 

[littlepeeps81]

Also wanted to recommend a site called "theholistichorse.com". They carry special products for poultry. If you decide to try the penicillin on Frick, and she shows signs of improvement, try something called Worm Guard Plus Broad Spectrum for Poultry. I used worm guard horse grade for my rescue gelding and he made a complete turn around. These products are not chemical, they are herbal and all natural. They fight parasites and promote good help. The wormguard consists of Diatomaceous Earth, Grape Seed Extract and Flax seed. The DE breaks down parasites physically, not chemically and keeps their bodies in a state that parasites cannot survive. Animals can eat this daily forever and never develope a resistance to parasites. I will tell you that I was sceptical at first, but I bought this horse grade wormer for my sick dying rescue horse, and after a week he was a new horse. He has made a complete turn around. Actually, now I feed Diatomaceous Earth to all of my animals to keep them healthy. Try the penicillin first to get her over the hump. Don't be afraid to give her the shot. I was afraid too, but I didn't hurt my hen, and she is okay now. The needle gauge I recommended will sink right into the depths of the breast muscle, and won't be long enough to go all the way through. I wish you the best of luck. I realize that what works for one person may not always work for another, but it is worth a shot, and I feel confident that these things will get Frick on the road to recovery. Let me know how she does. I have found out that if you work with animals long enough; you learn how to become a pretty good self educated veterinarian

Best of luck to Frick. Oh, and I know at TSC they sale the syringe and needles beside all of the cattle medications.

 

[scratch'n'peck]

Too bad Frick isn't a fan of scrambled eggs - it seems like she needs something easy to digest and dense in nutrition. Since she is passing something through her system and you already administered Tylan antibiotic last week, I wonder if you could hold off on the Penicillin for a bit to see if she can absorb some nutrition. Something along the line of these suggestions might be worth a try first.

Try feeding her hand feeding formula for birds. You can get it from PetsMart. It comes in powder form and you mix it according to directions. This is normally used by people who raise parrots and so forth, but it works well when trying to rehab a sick chicken. Lots of calories and easily digested. Once mixed looks a lot like yogurt.

There is also a product made for birds that is designed to help restore beneficial bacteria in the crop and intestines. I think it's called benebac or something like that. The paste comes in a syringe like tube and can be mixed with the bird feeding formula. Most avian vets carry it and any vet can order it for you. This product is much, much more effective than the yogurt purchased in stores. Yogurt is pasteurized so most of the bacteria is destroyed. Benebac contains bacteria needed to aid digestion.

If you are dealing with a sour crop a product called ToxiBan works very well. This charcoal-based liquid is designed to bind toxins and flush it out of the system. This product is commonly used in Veterinary practice to treat dogs/cats who have eaten poisons in which vomiting cannot be induced. ToxiBan is a black liquid and is very messy.

You are absolutely correct in not stressing her by over handling. Sometimes less is more, and no matter what you try, nature will take its course.

 

[fishnet1971]

She has been off of the antibiotic for 8 days now.

I am going to stop at petsmart on the way home today to see about the formula aswell.

I did pick up the Pro-G at TSC at lunchtime. I got the 22G needles,but was hoping to find something smaller that would hurt less. I so hope I am doing the right thing here. I'll post a picture of her later tonight.