Tylan 200 - oral or IM??

[ChickenLadyRN]

Hi everyone,
Of course I am rushing off to work but I need help fast! I have a 1.5 year old auracona hen named Georgia who had a respiratory illness about 2 weeks ago. My amazing babysitter who is also a farmer took her home to isolate her from my flock, keep her in isolation at her home and treated her with 3 days of Dura-Pen injections. She kept her for a week. When she returned I noticed her tail feathers were droopy and that she wasn't eating well at first and having diarrhea. I use apple cider vinegar in their water normally but made sure to put out extra waterers and included fresh oregano in the water too. After 4-5 days her tail feathers perked up, and began eating like a fiend, droppings firmed up. Last night I called my flock (9 girls) over for evening treats and noticed she was gasping for air after running over to me. I thought that looked bad but after a minute or 2 she calmed down. This am I went out to the coop and noticed she has what looks like labored breathing. I can see her using her neck muscles to indraw breath. No nasal or sinus discharge from eyes. Eyes look fine - not swollen. She is still eating great - gave her cracked corn and she went to town but stopped several times to sneeze which sounded like a honking. I separated her from the flock - have her in my basement with fresh water (acv and garlic in it) and a mixture of pellets, oats and cracked corn. After running around crazy this am and the little research I did, I ran to tractor supply company to get tylan 50. All they had was Tylan 200. I have been all over this forum and googling and now I have to leave for work soon and am too nervous to do anything to her until I have confirmation on what's best. I have read injection is best and others say give it orally. I read orally it is not as well absorbed which makes sense to my nursing brain (I'm an RN). But then I've read about muscle necrosis from injectable. I definitely don't want to cause her more harm!! I am also concerned about injectable dose. I have read everything from 0.5- 1 cc of the Tylan 200. One blog I went on said that the Plumbs Veterinarian Handbook recommends 5-20 mg/pound and another said Merck's Manual recommends 35 mg/kg. I don't have access to these books or a local vet that treats chickens. ADVICE?? Hoping to treat her later tonight when I get home from work. She's a love and my kids favorite chickens. Incidentally she had not laid a single egg since before Easter!!!

 

[Rickba]

1kg is the same as 2.20 pounds, so the dose is about the same for both books. Being an RN, and being there with your chicken, I'd say go with your intuition. It's probably your best bet. Personally though, I like to give oral med's, It's too easy to cause unintentional damage with a syringe.

 

[Eggcessive]

Tylan can cause muscle damage given IM in a chicken. Some do use it though. I would use it orally. Dosage I usually recommend is 10 mg per pound given twice a day for 5 days. Most use Tylan 50 in chickens because it is less expensive. Tylan 200 is better for larger animals or turkeys because the volume is smaller. Plumbs is a good reference, and 5-20 mg per pound give 2-3 times a day is accurate.

 

[ChickenLadyRN]

Rickba and Eggcessive, thank you for your replies. I am going with your advice Rickba and going with my intuition. I'm using the "wait and watch" ideology for now. I kept Georgia in her pen in the basement last night. I did a pretty thorough exam last night around the time she would normally roost (7 pm). Her crop seemed full, soft/moldeable/pliable, about the size of a crab apple. No nasal or sinus drainage, only occasional sneezing. Breathing seemed normal although I can visualize her indraw of breath in her neck muscles. I have honestly not done a lot of crop examination so I am not sure about the size - it seemed larger than I thought it would be but she has been eating well. I checked her out this am, about 5 am and her crop seemed smaller, like a small fig and still soft. Shouldn't it have been emptied by then though? Now I am wondering if her labored breathing is not due to a chronic respiratory illness but a problem with her crop? She did have diarrhea for about 5 days a week ago, following treatment with Durapen which I attributed to the antibiotics. Also of note which I am now starting to really consider, Georgia has not laid an egg since before Easter. Several of my other hens (1 Plymouth Rock and 1 Buff Orpington) stopped laying around the same time, or shortly thereafter and have not laid a single egg since. I have not changed their food, there were no other chickens introduced to the flock. I honestly just kind of wrote it off as just the bunch of chickens I got. Now I am rethinking everything and wondering if I am not connecting the dots correctly. Thoughts??