very sick hen

[lorlibby]

hello! so one hen about 2 weeks ago didn’t come out whe i let everyone out for the day she was very lethargic and wouldn’t do much but just sit there at this point she was super bad off and her eyes were still open so we immediately brought her in to investigate she had signs of beginning coccidiosis (mucas poop/ diarrhea) and also a slight respiratory infection so i immediately got corid to treat her inside and the rest of my flock outside. she seemed to improve slightly i followed everyone up with vitamins so i thought she was ready to go back with her friends! she was excited to go in with them and was pecking around come dusk i go to close them for the night and she’s in the run puffed up eye closed mouth breathing so i immediately bring her in for the second time and continue supportive care for the respiratory issues and include vetrx the other ladies aren’t showing extreme outward signs of symptoms so i continue to treat with vitamins and just see if there’s any improvement. she’s continually gotten worse and worse until the point she was just sleeping laying down 24/7 with eyes swollen shut and would only eat and drink if i assisted. i finally decided enough was enough and contacted a friend who also happens to be a past avian vet i explained symptoms and expressed i really want to do everything possible to save her culling is a last resort. she gave me baytril injection and a steroid as well i stupidly did not do my research on the medication given before i administered it so whats done is done now.

Baytril and a steroid is forsure a forever egg withdrawal correct? if not that’s amazing and i will be so happy. if so its totally fine its a mistake i made and whats already done is done i resigned myself to the fact she’ll just be a house chicken from now on so i do not mix up her eggs by accident because ultimately my kids are my up most priority and i wont risk their health. its day 2 of treatment and she does already seem significantly better.

now here’s my biggest issue. my older ladies are totally okay BUT my new youngest chicks (almost all of them about 6) have fallen ill with the same exact symptoms as she presented with a couple of the worse off ones did not go into the coop lastnight (i checked throughly for mites) which is completely odd and out of character. i cannot bring them all in or treat them all individually with baytril plus i do not want to never have eggs again it’s the main reason i got chickens to begin with i’ve worked very hard on my flock and their care is solely on me. ive heard tiagard is a good alternative but i fear the worst off ones are too far gone for a less aggressive treatment. plus im a 22 year old single mama to two i’ve exhausted all of my extra expenses on the medication and vitamins i have already purchased so i dont have much wiggle room at all for anything else. Please help!! what would you guys do and what would you recommend????

i love my girls and ill do whatever i can do to help them but it does come to a point where ive done all i can do and i have no other options. thank you for reading my long rant im just lost on what to do!!

 

[A Swede in France]

Hi, that's a lot to deal with. I'm just popping in to say that baytril doesn't mean you can never eat the eggs. When they say forever, it just means they haven't researched it enough to give you a time. Unless you are very worried about contamination, just wait a few weeks after you finish treatment. That's what I do.