Sick Pea Chick Died - Going to Vet School For Necropsy - Will Post Results

[kuntrygirl]

While I don't see how cayenne would interfere with the meds that you are giving, I can't be 100% certain about that.  However, I really think symptoms should have cleared up by now if you are dealing with cocci, which makes me wonder if that is what it is.  Keep in mind that this is just my personal opinion, I am not a vet.  Some folks claim cayenne is a natural treatment for blackhead (and worms), though I'm not sure I would use that as a sole treatment.  I have had wierd poops from birds before and had them clear up after adding cayenne to the feed so there could be something to that.  Birds don't seem to notice the heat, though a word of caution for you... if you try it make sure that you don't inhale any pepper dust, I guarantee that you will notice it!  It's extremely painful! 

I have heard the same thing about the cayenne.

Something else that I thought about is what if I"m not giving her enough medicated water (Sulmet). The bottle doesn't say "how much" to give orallly. The directions are for putting the meds in the water and allowing them to drink. I think that is crazy. Do they not realize it IS a possible that the bird has STOPPED eating and drinking.??? Putting the med in the water will not miraculously make the bird drink. Since she was not initially drinking, I was giving her the medicated water orally. The directions were as follows.

Following administration directions below, this will provide a recommended dose of approximately 61 to 89 mg/lb/day (134 to 196 mg/kg/day) body weight in chickens and 53 to 130 mg/lb/day (117 to 286 mg/kg/day) body weight in turkeys, depending upon the dosage, age and class of chickens or turkeys, ambient temperature, and other factors.

I researched so much and really couldn't come up with a definite dose. Who knows how much the really drink in one day. I did my own conversions. :/

If you all read these directions, what would you determine would be an appropriate dosage for a pea that weighs 2.47 lbs initially? How would you know what to give your bird if they had stopped drinking?

It won't hurt for me to try the cayenne.

 

[casportpony]

I am not a vet, nor an expert, just someone that has been to the vet several times with sick turkeys and peachicks. Each trip has yielded one of two results... 1) Treated for blackhead and recovered or, 2) Treated for blackhead, death, necropsy and tested positive for blackhead.

I've talked to vets all over the country and had to listen to some pretty grim comments. What I've learned is that the sooner you start treatment, the better your chances are.

I should also comment that the feed store that I go to has a huge problem with the poultry that they raise there. I went there last year and the manager asked me to look at six of their peachicks that were about they same age as this one. I took them out of their cage to weigh them and give them fluids as they were near death. They all weighed between 500 and 800 grams, had foamy, smelly, dijon mustard colored poo. One died in my arms, two more died that night. I went to the store and picked up the bodies to hand off to our state vet. The necropsy results were the same... Coccidiosis, severely emaciated and visceral gout.

What's my point? Our poop pictures don't look normal, put they don't look like any confirmed coccidiosis poop that I've ever seen.

 

[casportpony]

Call your avian vet and ask him/her how much Sulmet you should give as an oral drench.. He/she should be able to tell you.

 

[Frosty]

To me they look like some pics I've seen that were labeled as 'not eating'. Mustard colored is supposed to be a blackhead symptom, but anything yellow merely indicates that the liver is involved. I have to wonder, if this is indeed blackhead, could the sulmet have slowed the progression down? If it is cocci, it could be a form resistant to those meds. kuntrygirl, did you say that the peachick is eating and drinking on it's own yet? I'll go back and look, it just seems that I saw that... When you were dosing directly, how much were you giving?

 

[casportpony]

Another thought... If money and time off work are not an issue, I would leave now and make the drive to see the avian vet. I'd also take a printout of this thread... BTW, my vet is also 1.5 hours away.

 

[casportpony]

To me they look like some pics I've seen that were labeled as 'not eating'.  Mustard colored is supposed to be a blackhead symptom, but anything yellow merely indicates that the liver is involved.  I have to wonder, if this is indeed blackhead, could the sulmet have slowed the progression down?  If it is cocci, it could be a form resistant to those meds.  kuntrygirl, did you say that the peachick is eating and drinking on it's own yet?  I'll go back and look, it just seems that I saw that... When you were dosing directly, how much were you giving?    

I don't want to add confusion here, but it could be both coccidiosis and blackhead, though not likely.

 

[Frosty]

I don't want to add confusion here, but it could be both coccidiosis and blackhead, though not likely.

Actually, it might not be unlikely either. If the chick picked up blackhead, it's immunity could be trying to fight that off and the cocci could take advantage of that weakness to multiply.

Sulmet
Administration: Chickens And Turkeys

Add the required dose given above to that amount of water that will be consumed in 1 day. Water consumption should be carefully checked to insure adequate drug intake. As a generalization, 100 turkeys will drink 1 gallon of water per day for each week of age; chickens will consume one-half this amount.

So 100 turkeys are expected to drink 1 gallon per day per week of age.

1 gal = 128 oz, divide by 100, so they are each expected to drink 1.28 oz per week of age. Chick is almost 13 weeks, so expected consumption for a turkey that age is 16.64 oz (about a quart) and a chicken would be expected to drink about half that much (about 2 cups).

 

[kuntrygirl]

Call your avian vet and ask him/her how much Sulmet you should give as an oral drench.. He/she should be able to tell you.

I just got off the phone with LSU Vet School Pharmacy. I talked to them about the conversions. I have a headache. They were soooooooooooooooooo helpful and sooooo nice.

I wish that I could have recorded the conversation for learning purposes for all of us. It was an eye opener.

Basically she said with the information that I provided to her as far as the weight, the instructions on the Sulmet, that the pea should be getting 8 ounces (high end) of the medicated water EVERY day. I have NOT been giving her enough. Maybe that is why it's taking a while for her to recover. I'm so glad I called LSU Vet School. :/

 

[kuntrygirl]

To me they look like some pics I've seen that were labeled as 'not eating'.  Mustard colored is supposed to be a blackhead symptom, but anything yellow merely indicates that the liver is involved.  I have to wonder, if this is indeed blackhead, could the sulmet have slowed the progression down?  If it is cocci, it could be a form resistant to those meds.  kuntrygirl, did you say that the peachick is eating and drinking on it's own yet?  I'll go back and look, it just seems that I saw that... When you were dosing directly, how much were you giving?    

Yes Frosty, you are right. My girl started eating and drinking on her own. And I have also been hand feeding it when I get home. When I was dosing, I was giving 6 mls/ccs two times a day. Just found out from LSU pharmacy, I wasn't giving enough. :/

 

[kuntrygirl]

Another thought... If money and time off work are not an issue, I would leave now and make the drive to see the avian vet. I'd also take a printout of this thread... BTW, my vet is also 1.5 hours away.

Yes, neither is not a problem. My job knows how I feel about my animals, so I can leave. The only problem is the avian vet was not there when I called. He is the only specialist in the office. None of the others have experience. I will keep calling.

Thanks for the suggestion.