swollen eyed chicken help!

[rbaker0345]

It could be ILT, but I hope you're right about the fowl pox. It does look a little poxy (ha, I found a use for that word even though Words With Friends insists that it isn't a word). The best thing to do is to wait it out. Actually, the best thing to do is to bring a bird to your state vet lab for a solid diagnosis. As you can see, there are only so many symptoms that chickens can show outwardly and so many different illnesses can present with the same symptoms.

But I do see those lesions on her eye and an especially suspicious pustule on her waddle (but could those be mosquito or fire-ant bites?). A bird vet could probably give you a diagnosis without having to euthanize the bird such as the state lab would do, but the state lab is a heck of a lot cheaper.

Baytril can be purchased from ebay as a fish med, doxycyline is also available and its a good broad spectrum. I wouldn't give abx's unless you actually see a secondary inf develop, but have an eagle eye because chickens are very stoic and once a secondary gets a foothold, then you're onto crazy stuff like denagard and penicillin injections.

But seriously, I highly recommend calling your state vet for advice, you pay taxes so that they can be there to give you advice and to run inexpensive lab tests.

 

[dartfreak75]

Im pretty sure mine got fowl pox to I'm hoping it will pass soon

 

[rbaker0345]

As far as meds are concerned. The only abx approved for use by the FDA in poultry is penicillin which only works for things like spirilla. The resistance issues that the FDA is worried about (which is almost total unfounded hysteria) is when people eat the eggs and then take in some kind of trace amount of the drug and create a resistance in themselves (the humans). The FDA doesn't care about chickens developing their own resistance to baytril. When you give an antibiotic, you should see results in 3 days. If you don't see improvement (not resolution, but just improvement) in three days, discontinue that abx and rotate onto a new one. However, like I said, save antibiotics for an actual bacterial infection.

That being said, when shopping for baytril on ebay, it goes under the generic name: ciprofloxacin or fishflox (its the same as the generic baytril that you would get in the pharmacy, just marketed for fish). Poultrypedia gives good advice for dosage. You have to warm the water slightly in order to get it to dissolve, but don't make it hot, just above tepid will do. Doxycycline is also a good med which is available as a fish or parrot med. A lot of pigeon raisers supply websites sell a range of meds because I guess the FDA doesn't see racing pigeons as a possible food animal.

I'm not a vet, I am an unlicensed vet tech so I can tell you these things and risk nothing. Its not illegal to give baytril to your chickens but a vet could lose their license and face a fine for prescribing or dispensing these meds to you. However, depending on the amiability of your small animal vet, there is nothing saying that he or she couldn't prescribe them for your "cat" or "dog" or even for your "avian ornamental".

 

[dartfreak75]

 

[layinfram]

Ok thank you for all your help! I have been flushing her eye with saline just to clean it out. I havnt noticed any puss pockets yet. I will keep an eye on it.

 

[rbaker0345]

Can you take a closer pic of the lesions and that bump on the waddle? Or take the bird to a vet. Parrots get pox too, so any bird vet can diagnose it and I don't think its a reportable disease.

 

[dawg53]

Do NOT give antibiotics to a bird that has fowl pox unless there is a secondary bacterial infection such as a scratch that has become infected. Fowl pox is a virus, antibiotics are useless.

 

[rbaker0345]

antibiotics shouldn't be given for any viruses at all. Viruses don't respond to antibiotics. Antibiotics should only be given for secondary infections.

 

[Eggcessive]

If you read the suggestions for antibiotics, they are for secondary bacterial infections that may occur. They will not treat the pox, but infections that occur during the pox, and should only be given if those secondary infections occur as stated by Dawg53.

 

[jamieme]

I just want to add that baytril is enerofloxacin not ciprofloxacin, although they are in the same family of antibiotics. Just FYI