St. John's Wort

[leadwolf1]

You can vaccinate birds of all ages...the dose is .2mls per bird, no matter the age or size.

The vaccine only is viable for 1 hour from reconstitution. You have to work quickly. All unused vaccine must be disposed of properly.

 

[happyhens120]

Ok thanks for the info! I've only vaccinated my dog, but it was done sub-cutaneously so it shouldn't be too different in chickens. Do I need to reconstitute the whole vial at once or is there a way to keep part of it? After reading about Marek's and selling more chickens (and having people visit my chicken "ranch" looking to buy chickens) I'm realizing that this is something I definitely need to do! I would love to be able to buy a big vial of vaccine and use multiple times but I'm wondering if that's even possible now...

 

[leadwolf1]

Some people do separate it..especially if you are lucky enough to get the tablet and not the powder to reconstitute. Since I want to make sure that I am administering the correct dosage, I never try and separate. If I did, I would need to be in a lab setting where I would have the proper scale and measuring devices to do it properly. I've bought 1000 doses for just 2 chicks..

 

[happyhens120]

Ok. Since I'm going to be doing about 50 or so birds I'll just get it and go with it. I'm looking at all this on jefferslivestock.com. Is there a place you would recommend to purchase supplies from? I'm also looking at giving the Newcastle-Bronchitis vaccine. Is that something that is worthwhile? It says a drop in the nose or in the eye... yikes! I would probably be more comfortable sticking them with a needle... lol

 

[happyhens120]

And yet another question... what if the birds are already vaccinated but you don't know that they are. Can it hurt them to be vaccinated twice? I have a few older birds that I don't know if they were ever done or not.

 

[leadwolf1]

No problem with vaccinating twice. I do...and I will then booster every year.

I get my vaccine at twin city poultry and needles at tsc. I use 1cc syringes and 25 G needles to actually do the vaccinating. I had those left over from my dog that was insulin dependent.

 

[happyhens120]

No problem with vaccinating twice. I do...and I will then booster every year.

I get my vaccine at twin city poultry and needles at tsc. I use 1cc syringes and 25 G needles to actually do the vaccinating. I had those left over from my dog that was insulin dependent.

Awesome I'm going to get the ball rolling on this. Thank you so very much for your advice!

 

[lesleelay]

I put my young chickens in their new coop. Within a few days one here and then 2 weeks later one there started dyeing. I thought it was and it still may have been the heat. They would be fine during the day and the next morning dead. One morning I went out and a pullet was acting sick. I got her out and inside to examine. At first she acted like she was straining and walking like a duck. Since the pullets had just started laying I thought she was egg bound. 2 hours later I realized it was worse. She had started having breathing problems and there was crust at her nostril openings. I rushed to the feed store and they told me that the heat was causing a respiratory infection in all the chickens. The temp at that time here in Texas was over 100. They sold me an antibiotic and I rushed home to find the pullet had died. I treated the rest of the chickens with a half dosage hoping this would stop the infection. That evening I noticed one of my roos trying to walk up the rung. He would take a step and stumble. I grabbed him up and off to the house we went. In the house I made sure that he had not been injured by any the other roos. That's when I noticed that his left leg would not support him and his left wing was dropping. I gave him an extra dose of the antibiotic. Put him in a dark box and hit the internet. I read article after article and came to the conclusion that he had Marek's. Article after article said "no cure" "no treatment". Then I found this one about using Hypericum. Sunday morning I get up to find an open health food store. Nothing. So I did research on Hypericum. It's common name is St. John's Wart. Yeppi! I check on the roo and he was losing the use of his right leg but he was still alive. So, I gave him another dose of the antibiotic and tried to get more water down him. After church we went to Walmart and got some St. John's Wart. I followed all the directions in the original post from MoodyChicken. Except I probably gave him more than 15 drops. After every dose he got better. By Tuesday Morning he was standing on both legs but his appetite wasn't back. By Tuesday night he was roosting on the sides of the box and his appetite was great! I kept him inside until Thursday morning to get some of his weight back on. Then I introduced him back to the flock. That was almost 2 wks ago. He is doing great. Thank you MoodyChicken for your article. I believed that it saved our now named Lucky and the rest of his friends. I have also enjoyed all the comments following the original post. They have taught this beginner a lot.

 

[destinidawn]

I'm going today to get this. I have a chicken who I believe has mareks. She started limping Thursday, Friday she could barely walk, took her to the vet. X-rays normal except a possibility vet not sure of a back injury, but could be old. On antinflammitories and no improvement. Healthy appetite. Eating layer crumbles with water on them to make sure she is hydrated. I hope this works. I can't quit crying over my poor ill helpless chicken. No other birds are sick, my chicken is in my bedroom in a towel lined rubber made container, no lid. Thanks for the hope my vet said it could be mareks but she wanted to try the antinflammitories, since she thought it could possibly be from the back thing.

 

[city chicks]

This was VERY helpful for me! I have been feeling helpless all day. I had a vet recommend killing her today! I will try this THANK YOU