Sick hen...vomiting, diarrhea - please help

[Roo Boy]

Would you recommend treating the entire flock?

 

[casportpony]

Yes, that would be best.

-Kathy

 

[Roo Boy]

She seems pretty weak compared to her normal self. Are any of the drugs available for worming/mites easier on the chicken but also allow quicker egg retrieval? (All of our laying hens have stopped except her, and she has become inconsistent) so now, wondering if the older ones have it but are faring better. Anyway, hoping to get her better and see if we can get the other 4 to resume asap. (we have four small kids and they love eating and retrieving the eggs) We just assumed the older ones were getting out of their prime.

 

[casportpony]

The products I mentioned are what I use when I find a sick bird. They get weighed, dusted and de-wormed them unless the act of handling them is likely to cause death. The wormer is safe for use in kittens, puppies, foals, calves, chicks, ducklings, etc.

Treating for parasites is the always my first course of action.

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

I'll give you an example of one I treated about a week ago... Older rooster, standing with eyes shut, not crowing, not chasing hens, purple tint on tips of comb, thin, not roosting, bright yellow and green poop, mostly liquid. Dusted for bugs, which he had, de-wormed with Safeguard and gave 200mg metronidazole (suspected blackhead ) for 5 days. Yesterday I saw him chasing hens.

The point I'm trying to make is that dusting and de-worming him had no ill effects even though he was *very* sick.

-Kathy

 

[Roo Boy]

ok, last question. what is the best method for weighing them? I just tossed the family scale (and have not replaced), but I'm sure it wasn't sensitive enough. Looking for a cheap/effective way to get them all weighed... thanks for all your help .

 

[casportpony]

I bought the cheapest food scale at Target, look for something that weighs up to 5kg.

-Kathy

 

[Roo Boy]

Found the dewormer. It's a paste for horses. Should I use this per the dosage you recommended.

 

[casportpony]

Found the dewormer. It's a paste for horses. Should I use this per the dosage you recommended.

Yes, .5 ml per kg (2.2 pounds). Check to see if they have the liquid for goats, it's about $20 and has more doses. Tube has 25 grams (with this paste, 1ml = 1 gram, trust me I checked), the small bottle has 120ml, it's a much better value.

 

[Roo Boy]

Yes, .5 ml per kg (2.2 pounds). Check to see if they have the liquid for goats, it's about $20 and has more doses. Tube has 25 grams (with this paste, 1ml = 1 gram, trust me I checked), the small bottle has 120ml, it's a much better value.

Alright. I got the paste, my digital scale from science class (I'm a teacher), and we are ready to go. We will treat them tonight. I will post results soon. Thank you for your help!