Top Ten Ways to Accidently Kill a Sick Bird

[Blooie]

Sorry about your hen. That's the sort of thing that can be really easy to misdiagnose. How big was the wire? In hind-site, what would you do differently if another one presented with the same symptoms?

-Kathy

Thanks....she was a beauty. The wire was so small we almost missed it....it was probably not much bigger than this letter "l" but it was really caught down there. It sounded to me from the get-go like something caught in her throat, just from the head shaking and the noise she made when she was breathing. I wouldn't be able to describe what it sounded like, but I can guarantee I'll recognize it immediately if I hear it again. I checked her nostrils and looked as far down her throat as I could but I couldn't see anything and wasn't sure I was experienced to know what I was looking for anyway. But it was clear there were no excessive secretions or mucus. I have just learned as of a few days ago that the local vet here does know poultry, so if it were to happen again I think that would be the route I would go and then she and I would make the decision on whether to treat or not.

That said, I must confess that I'd rather cull a bird than keep re-treating for the same issue over and over again. If I have a bird that constantly has the same problem coming up repeatedly it's time to cull her and get on with taking care of the healthy birds. I feel that constantly getting out the same meds to treat the same problem means that whatever that problem is will probably not go away - it will be chronic in that chicken and it's unfair to her, to me, and to the rest of the flock to just keep medicating.





Pearly-girl.

 

[casportpony]

Quote: She was a pretty girl.

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

Something to think about... Yesterday I found a Muscovy drake looking off, head pulled in, fluffed, scruffy looking, etc. His neck looked a little funny, like it's too thick, but nothing else seemed wrong until he pooped some green and yellow slimy stuff. Many things could cause this, but how can one know for sure without going to a vet? The treatment I decided to do was Baytril 20mg/kg once a day for five days, metronidazole 50mg/kg twice a day 7-10 days and Safeguard 50mg/kg once a day for five days. It's only been 16 hours and he's started eating and looks like a completely different duck. Poop looks much better, too!

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

List of Top Ten Lists
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/934088/top-ten-misinformation-lists

 

[sbhkma]

I'd add leaving a bird outside with a large wound and not covering it to protect from flystrike. I can't count the number of times I've seen those posts on here and then a few days later their bird had died and was full of maggots.

 

[casportpony]

I'd add leaving a bird outside with a large wound and not covering it to protect from flystrike. I can't count the number of times I've seen those posts on here and then a few days later their bird had died and was full of maggots.

That's a good one! Why are so many people incapable of properly cleaning a wound?

-Kathy

 

[enola]

Because they are squeamish.......

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Because they are squeamish.......

While I can understand feeling that way (not from personal experience as I am so not squeamish), there just comes a point where you have to either get over it or get the help of someone who can get over it -- and that point is when an animal you have taken responsibility for needs care.

 

[Michael Apple]

1. A hen has lost weight and becomes anemic, yet claims of DE or Ivermectin use being effective dewormers are still parroted throughout the forum.

2 Believing the claims that specific diets alone prevent endoparasites.

3. Those who treat birds for ectoparasites, but don't treat premises with an effective residual, then wonder why their birds are re-infested and sick within a few weeks.

4. Claiming apple cider vinegar is anti-protozoan and supplementing birds already suffering from enteritis.

5. Syringe feeding a bird and causing aspiration.

6 Believing medicated feed from the beginning to 4-5 months of age will give your chicks immunity to Coccidiosis.

7. Cockerels are bearing injuries, yet not being separated because someone stated cockerels should be kept together.

8. Sick and injured birds are becoming numerous, yet they continue believing claims that diverse flocks of chickens, geese, ducks, turkeys, peafowl can all live together in harmony.

 

[enola]

There is a thread on here somewhere about budgies being kept in the hen coop.........*rolling eyes*