Sinking feeling about my flock...neighbor's diseases my problem?

[subhanalah]

Thank you!!

Their coop is 4' x 6' (4 sq. ft./bird) with pine shavings for bedding. The coop is scrubbed out and given new bedding weekly.

The run is 8' x 8' + 4' x 6' area under coop (14 sq. ft./bird). The bedding is 8 in. dried grass over dirt. The grass is thoroughly dried before it is put in there. I don't use any pesticides or fertilizers (yard has been "clean" for 10 years) and is double mowed to prevent long blades. I've only used dried grass for two weeks, but so far it is still clean and fluffy. The chickens routinely scratch & turn the bedding throughout the day. There is no smell and no flies. My plan was to replace the grass once a month.

It's 95 degrees each day, but the run is shaded and I haven't seen any signs of heat distress.

Waterers are scrubbed out and refilled each day. They are on medicated chick feed (until next week, when they switch to grower feed).

The antibiotics are for 10 days. Can I put vitamins & electrolytes (such as Sav-a-chick) in with the antibiotics?

Should I wait to worm them until after they have finished the antibiotics? If so, will that be too hard on their systems (and should I wait a while), or can I give it to them as soon as they finish the antibiotics?

these are things I don't really KNOW the answers to, I only know what I would do...but I have to admit that part is not based really on anything I've read specifically and I can't see your birds so...I really have to pass the buck here lol.
Maybe @dawg53 can answer your questions, but really I think he's probably going to suggest getting the poop looked at under a microscope if you can. Most vets can do a fecal without seeing the animal.
If you could find an avian vet, that may or may not be a jackpot lol.

Another person that could likely help here (she has experience and time in this that I just dont!) is @casportpony
I'm not sure if they get messages telling them they've been tagged, so maybe you can write them a pm?

 

[casportpony]

I have treated a few birds with Safeguard and one or more of the following medications - Corid, Metronidazole, Baytril and Clavamox, but I would only do this if I suspected that more than one thing was making my bird ill and I would *never* treat my whole flock with more than one medication unless *all* of them were sick.

-Kathy

 

[6of6chicks]

Deleted 7/24/2014.

 

[casportpony]

I'll do a proper reply when I can get on a real computer, but I thought I should mention that I think with aspirin birds are supposed to get no more than 5mg/kg. 1/4 a baby aspirin is about 20mg, I think, which would be enough for a 4kg bird. Don't quote me on those numbers yet, let me look it up.

-Kathy

 

[ten chicks]

Dosage information i have for aspirin given to me by a vet is 25mg per lb of body weight per day or one 325mg aspirin per gallon of water. This is the dosage i have always used with my birds.

 

[6of6chicks]

Deleted 7/24/2014.

 

[6of6chicks]

Deleted 7/24/2014.

 

[ten chicks]

Wow - the Learning Center article was way more than that. This is the chart that the article listed:



With low-dose aspirin tablets it worked out to 20 tablets per gallon. I did half that because my girl is only 9 weeks old. But that's still WAY more than your vet said (2.5 x more). I'm glad I took her off it. She only had it for a day. I'm wondering if that's why I saw a little blood in her poo? She wasn't bleeding AT ALL before the aspirin, but aspirin is a blood thinner, so maybe I was accidentally overdosing her? Is the Learning Center article wrong? I'm so confused!

Yes i believe this information is incorrect and too high of a dose. I have seen this dosage listed on other sites and i believe the confusion may be a result of converting grains to mg,1 grain = approx 65mg,5 grains = approx 325mg. In this link i have listed it does mention 5,5 grain aspirins per gallon of water,but then goes on to say 1-324mg aspirin per gallon of water or 25mg per lb of body weight.I believe there is an error on this site and it should read 1-325/324mg aspirin per gallon(which is what they have listed) or 5-1 grain aspirins per gallon or 1-5 grain aspirin. No idea if this is the original source of misinformation or not,but 5,5 grain aspirins does not equal 325mg,it is around 1625mg.

msucares.com/poultry/diseases/solutions.html

 

[ten chicks]

Check limping chick for leg injury or slipped tendon issues.Explain how she is limping,example does she have wings spread out for balance,is she walking on hocks or is she holding leg up? Was blood in poop before you gave high aspirin dose? Is she eating/drinking?

 

[6of6chicks]

Deleted 7/24/2014.