Syringe hydrating, medicating going on 5 days! No improvement...

[Lochloosachicks]

I'm going on my 5th day of giving my 25 week old Brahma water with a syringe. I have been giving her SMZ(antibiotic) for 6 days and CORID for 4.

She is still alive, but barely opens her eyes and only walks to go back to the coop after I give her water. She isn't eating or drinking ANYTHING on her own. Liquids by force only. She would
definitely not be here if I hadn't been giving her water. She is skin and bones. Every morning I am nervous checking the coop to see if she's still here. Somehow she is. If it were an illness that could kill her I would have expected it to happen. Should she be improving? What should I do next?

 

[Pyxis]

What symptoms is she having? What are you trying to treat her for?

Have you considered tube feeding? You may want to tube feed her some parrot formula to keep her going, as a stopgap measure until we figure out what is causing this.

 

[Lochloosachicks]

Very lethargic, sleeping standing up, not eating. We have had very hot, rainy weather. My rooster had an obvious respiratory infection about a week and a half ago. And improved quickly with SMZ(prescribed for respiratory for other hens in the past, I had leftover) he never got to the point of not eating on his own before I intervened. I wonder if that's what's holding her back from a full recovery.
I have no idea how to tube feed. It sounds scary. I am already worried about her inhaling what I give her with the syringe. Is it very complicated? Do you know where I could get parrot formula?

 

[Pyxis]

Yep, parrot formula can be bought at most pet stores or on Amazon.

Tube feeding isn't that scary if you do it right, and done correctly there's less chance of a bird aspirating than if you are trying to force liquids in her beak. There's a great thread here with instructions.

How does her poop look? Have you wormed and deloused her? Did she herself have any symptoms of a respiratory infection? Also, if it is respiratory, knowing which one you're dealing with is important because different antibiotics treat different ones, and some are actually viral and antibiotics won't work on them at all.

 

[Kiki]

 

[Kiki]

 

[Lochloosachicks]

She does have significant rattling when she breathes and is making the gasping motion sometimes. I didn't notice this intially, but I hear it now. Occasionally she squawks loudly. I'm not sure what that's about. I assumed the same mess that worries for the others would work for her, but it's either much worse or not working.

I can't be 100% sure I've seen her poop bc I have 25 hens, but the one time I was pretty sure it was hers it looked normal. I have not wormed or deloused. I don't see any signs of lice or mites, but I'm willing to rule everything out. Would it be okay to try that on top of everything else?

 

[Pyxis]

Yes, it wouldn't hurt to worm and dust her, and can really only help. You say she is gasping, could it be gaping? Perhaps gapeworm would be something to consider?

 

[Lochloosachicks]

I don't even know what that is... what are the symptoms? I'm learning a lot, but I'm still so new to chickens.
What is the treatment?
Would I treat the entire flock? They have all stopped laying for almost 2 weeks now so I feel like health is poor all around.

 

[Pyxis]

Gapeworms are worms that live in the trachea. They aren't very common in chickens but it does happen. As you would expect, they clog up the trachea and make it very hard for the chicken to breathe. The chickens also make a gaping motion while attempting to breathe - they stretch their necks upward and open their mouths to gasp for air. That's how the worms got their names. The treatment is five days straight of Safeguard goat wormer.