Some type of worm?

[Adey65]

Yes, I'm in the UK

 

[Adey65]

I doubt oregano oil would help, it probably won't hurt anything either. The sporadic laying could also indicate a reproductive problem. In the absence of vet care my usual course is to worm them, and if I'm seeing nasty, yellow green, abnormal droppings or runny, mucousy droppings that do not improve with the worming I will do a round of amoxicillin, in case there is a secondary infection from parasites. If she's developing a reproductive problem, then most of those don't really have good treatment options. If worming and the round of antibiotics don't help, then that would be the next thing I would suspect. That's just what I do in my flock.

As I live in the UK, I'd need a prescription for antibiotics. Is there a place in the US that you know of that ships to the UK. Are we talking about the amoxcillin 10% powder? Thanks again.

 

[coach723]

Any amoxicillin can be used. Sometimes people have leftover human pills they use. Dose is 57 mg per pound of body weight 2 X a day for 5 - 7 days. You can mix in a bit of moistened feed if she will eat it. I grind it up or empty capsules and mix in some softened coconut oil and then freeze til it's hard, then it goes down like a custom pill easily. Just make into appropriate dose sizes. In the US we can get it as a fish antibiotic without a prescription, I know you have different accessability in the UK.

 

[Adey65]

@coach723 how do you weigh such a small amount of powder?

 

[coach723]

I don't weigh it. I usually get capsules and they run either 250 or 500 mg. So for a 6 lb bird , at 57mg per pound of body weight, that would be 342 mg per dose needed. If you dose twice a day for 5 days, you need 10 doses. So a total of 3420 mg. 3420 would be 6.85 of the 500 mg capsules or 13.68 of the 250 mg capsules. I would just round up to the next whole capsule, so 7 of the 500 mg or 14 (or 13 3/4 if you want to be closer) of the 250 mg (the difference is going be divided into the 10 doses so is going to be very small). The number you need will vary depending on the weight of your bird. I always err on the side of a little too much rather than a little not enough, amoxicillin is usually well tolerated, and the amount of overage is generally very small. It also allows for any missed residue in your bowl after you are done. If it works to an easy number, like half, that's easy enough to manage to divide out when emptying a capsule. Empty the capsules into a small bowl, mix in enough coconut oil to allow you to make 10 small amounts. Mix it up really well, divide into 10 doses on some parchement paper and then freeze them. Once frozen you can put them in a small container in the freezer, or leave them on the parchement. Take one out at dose time and give. I usually carry it on a paper towel so that the heat from my fingers or hand doesn't melt it before I get it in the bird. You can break up the dose into smaller bits if needed to get it down, just get the whole amount down each time. I find that with coconut oil, even a large bit goes down easily. That's how I do it since they are often not eating well. If the bird is eating well, you can mix the medication into some moistened feed, but I find giving it directly to be quicker, easier, and I know for certain they got it all. Hope that all makes sense.

 

[Adey65]

Thanks, @coach723 I started her on amoxicillin last night following your instructions. I got a pack from a friend. I think my hen hates me now, lol. I'll be giving her 2 doses per day over 5 days, hopefully, that will sort her out. I gave her a second dose this morning when I let them out. It was easier to get her while she was in the coop. What's the preferred gap between doses? She doesn't seem very happy at the moment and is just resting up, but I imagine it takes two or three days before I'll see any improvement. Thanks for all your help.

 

[coach723]

As close to every 12 hours as possible. If she's hard to catch then give one early in the morning before they are out of the coop, and then another after she goes in to sleep. It can take several days, just depends on what is actually going on.

 

[Adey65]

I bring her inside during most of the day so I can monitor her drinking and eating. Neither is great today, drinking was fine yesterday. This is a video of her breathing, her eyes are sometimes closed. There's no noise that I can hear while she's breathing this was and nothing coming from her eyes or nose. She had her 5th of 10 amoxocillin today. Any ideas? Sorry to be a pain @coach723

 

[Adey65]

I bring her inside during most of the day so I can monitor her drinking and eating. Neither is great today, drinking was fine yesterday. This is a video of her breathing, her eyes are sometimes closed. There's no noise that I can hear while she's breathing this was and nothing coming from her eyes or nose. She had her 5th of 10 amoxocillin today. Any ideas? Sorry to be a pain @coach723

Sorry, it won't let me post the video. Basically, her head slightly moves up and down when she breathes. It might be normal and I'm.over thinking it.

 

[coach723]

I'm sorry, I've been gone all day, had my own emergency and have an animal in ICU over an hour away from home, and was gone for 12 hours today.
If you can upload a video to another host, like youtube, and put the link here, it can be seen. It's hard to say, it may be something that antibiotics won't help. Without vet care, we go with the most common things, what has worked in the past, and hope it works. Many reproductive problems don't really respond to treatments. The sporadic laying and now it's stopped, kind of points that direction.