Sick SLW- 7 months old- nothing is helping

[gander007]

Good I would like to read about what is found when you get back and I hope you
got to read casportpony's post before you left to the vets office ......

gander007

 

[Eggcessive]

I was under the impression that Tylan was more of a gram positive antibiotic and probably useless against e.Coli. Would be best to have a vet do a gram stain and have them advise.

-Kathy

If you would go back and read, the Tylan was supposed to be for enteritis, one of many drugs that were suggested. The first drug that was suggested was penicillin which she started. But last night her chicken developed some swelling around one eye, so the Tylan was suggested, since it works on enteritis as well: http://aac.asm.org/content/47/10/3311.long

 

[Eggcessive]

Ok, so here is what Dr. Doss (the state vet) suggested: It could be Necrotic Enteritis as a secondary issue from Cocci. However, it could also be an intestinal worm(s) causing her illness as well. He suggested that I keep with the Penicillin, to treat for NE, for 3-4 more days then give her a 3-4 day rest with vitamin and minerals supplement. What is the best kind? He said any that the farm store carries, but I'm sure there is one that is the BEST. After the 3-4 day rest if she is still not better I am to come back with Amprolium because if the original culprit was indeed Cocci then he would treat with Amprolium over Corid. Also if it is intestinal worms of some sort then he said to use Safeguard for dogs 1 oz/20lbs of feed. Mix with water and apply to feed and treat all of my birds not just Velma. He said to do this tomorrow because the active ingredient will not counteract with the Penicillin. If any of you have used Safeguard as a dewormer please let me know about your experience. Or, if there is something out there that is better (that gets more worms) let me know as well. What are the dosages you give and how do you all administer it to your birds? I would rather go with something topical that way I KNOW she is getting it- via food is not for certain if she is not eating on her own tomorrow or eating from my hand. I will go to the feed store tomorrow and pick it up fyi. Since Arkansas state vet service does not have a full set up of a lab they cannot do a fecal float, however, he suggested that I call around to try and find a vet that would be willing to do one. I have been calling all over the place with either no returned phone calls or simply no's. I don't want them to see her as a "patient" just do the darn float! It's frustrating at this point. He also said with her symptoms being all over the board this is just a start and a shot in the dark. However, the state lab does offer necropsy services for free to the customer. And if she dies he recommended I get one done or they can euthanize her now and do one for safety of my other girls. I will not give up on Velma so the euthanization is out of the question, but as I stated before if she dies naturally I will get one done, for sure. She has fought for this long and I will continue to fight with her. So what do you all think about these suggestions? I am all ears open...

Amprollium and Corid are the same. Corid is a brand name. Most people with chickens use Safe-Guard Liquid goat wormer or Safe-Guard horse paste. The liquid is 100mg per cc/ml andas Kathy said the dose is usually 20mg per Kg (or 2.2 lbs.) The paste dose is a pea-size dab--not real accurate, but close enough. I'm glad the state vet thinks you are on the right track. Did he say anything about the eye swelling? Here is an article I found from University of Arkansas on enteritis: http://www.avianadvice.uark.edu/AA PDFs/avianadvice_su07.pdf

 

[STaggart]

If you can afford the extra $$, have them check for yeast and bacteria microscopically, too. My vet just did that for me and it cost $31 and an additional $25 for the float. Float was negative, but the other showed yeast, for which I got a bottle of ketoconazole - no bacteria present. Please, please, please, have them do a gram stain and check for yeast. If nothing else, have them explain how it could help to treat your bird.

-Kathy

The vet I went to did not have the equipment to do the yeast and bacteria check. However, there may be a different vet that can do it, but the office is located 2 1/2 hours away (1 way). But I will keep looking into someplace closer. Thank you Kathy for this advice as well!

 

[STaggart]

Amprollium and Corid are the same. Corid is a brand name. Most people with chickens use Safe-Guard Liquid goat wormer or Safe-Guard horse paste. The liquid is 100mg per cc/ml andas Kathy said the dose is usually 20mg per Kg (or 2.2 lbs.) The paste dose is a pea-size dab--not real accurate, but close enough. I'm glad the state vet thinks you are on the right track. Did he say anything about the eye swelling? Here is an article I found from University of Arkansas on enteritis: http://www.avianadvice.uark.edu/AA PDFs/avianadvice_su07.pdf

No he didn't say anything about the swelling of the eyes. But I got the report back from the float and will post it up. I will check out that website too!

 

[casportpony]

The Safeguard dose I use currently is .5ml per 2.2 pounds once and repeat in ten days. This is the amount that several avian vets have recommended. If I were to use the .2ml dose it would be for three days and if I suspected capillary worms it would be the .5ml dose for 5 days, but I would never use the.2ml dose for just one day.

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

Did he suggest looking for bacteria and/ or yeast?

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

Regarding the pea size amount of paste... There is no reason to guess because 1ml of paste has 100mg just like the 1ml liquid does. The paste is measured in grams, 100mg/gram and I actually weighed it to verify that 1ml of paste weighs 1 gram, so 1ml paste = 1ml liquid. Make sense?

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

The vet I went to did not have the equipment to do the yeast and bacteria check. However, there may be a different vet that can do it, but the office is located 2 1/2 hours away (1 way). But I will keep looking into someplace closer. Thank you Kathy for this advice as well! 

He didn't have a scope or way to do a gram stain?

-Kathy

 

[STaggart]

The full, but small report: Velma has a worm called Heterakis Gallinareum. It is treated with Febendazole- 10-50 mg/kg and I am to repeat in 10 days. She also suggested that I deworm all of my girls, however the two week period is not up yet from my original deworming with Wazine. So? do I go ahead and deworm with the Safeguard tomorrow or wait until the 2 weeks is officially up? I haven't had a chance to do research on this particular worm and it's effects, but if anyone knows anything about it scream it my way. lol There was no presents of Cocci, but that doesn't mean that it wasn't there to begin with? Can a parasite cause this much trouble? I will stick with the Penicillin for another 3-4 days and deworm and we will see if she improves. If no improvement then I will give her a break and treat with Tylan. Unless someone else has any other advice???

On a side note, it was so hard tracking down 1ml syringes. Every pharmacy looked at me like I was a crack head or something. Then proceeded to ask what I was using them for and such. I would tell them and they looked at me like ya right you have chickens? I guess I am not the "type" to have chickens by societies perception... Bum bum bum... WHATEVER! I finally found a pharmacy willing to sell them to me YAY! The farm store didn't have anything smaller than a 3ml syringe.