I am new to western Washington I moved here from Texas...big change. I've always had back yard chickens and never once did one get a respitory infection in all of my 30+ years in Texas. Well what do you know? Just 4 days after I brought my new big girls home, one of them came down with the sniffles.
I own an organic family farm and wanted to keep it that way, so I removed her from her pals and brought her into the house. I gave her Mrs. Bragg's brand apple cider vinegar mixed with water to help. (1/4 cup to one gallon of h2o.) I also put the other girls on the same remedy to prevent them from also getting the sniffels too.
Well, the other girls still seem fine, but Ruby took a turn for the worse and I had to break down and buy the big guns...antibiotics. I had never administered antibios to chickens before and the instructions were so vague I was scared I would over do it. I scoured the BYC forum for help and found it within 5 minutes!! I read what ratios to use in her water. I used a short straw and my thumb at the end to hold the mixture in the straw while I carefully opened her beak to drip the meds in. I recommend this method because the drips go in so gently.
It took about 12 hours (overnight) for her to begin eating again, which is a sure sign that she is on the ups. I still give her some medi-water 3 times a day because I have no way to moniter if she is drinking on her own yet. Her raspy breathing and sneezing are all but gone now, it has been about 24 hours since I first gave her the initial antibiotics. (She is known about the house as "The English Patient".)
Here is my question to all of you northern climate chicken owners; what will the side effects be from being on antibiotics? Also, please let me know if there is anything elso I need to know. I do know that I can't eat her eggs for quite a while...if she ever starts to lay again. (I have been keeping her in the semi dark to keep her from laying right now while she is recovering.)
Thanks for all the help!!
I own an organic family farm and wanted to keep it that way, so I removed her from her pals and brought her into the house. I gave her Mrs. Bragg's brand apple cider vinegar mixed with water to help. (1/4 cup to one gallon of h2o.) I also put the other girls on the same remedy to prevent them from also getting the sniffels too.
Well, the other girls still seem fine, but Ruby took a turn for the worse and I had to break down and buy the big guns...antibiotics. I had never administered antibios to chickens before and the instructions were so vague I was scared I would over do it. I scoured the BYC forum for help and found it within 5 minutes!! I read what ratios to use in her water. I used a short straw and my thumb at the end to hold the mixture in the straw while I carefully opened her beak to drip the meds in. I recommend this method because the drips go in so gently.
It took about 12 hours (overnight) for her to begin eating again, which is a sure sign that she is on the ups. I still give her some medi-water 3 times a day because I have no way to moniter if she is drinking on her own yet. Her raspy breathing and sneezing are all but gone now, it has been about 24 hours since I first gave her the initial antibiotics. (She is known about the house as "The English Patient".)
Here is my question to all of you northern climate chicken owners; what will the side effects be from being on antibiotics? Also, please let me know if there is anything elso I need to know. I do know that I can't eat her eggs for quite a while...if she ever starts to lay again. (I have been keeping her in the semi dark to keep her from laying right now while she is recovering.)
Thanks for all the help!!
