Vitamin B2 Deficiency - Is Nutridrench just Poly-Vi-Sol?

[Skink]

I got some Poly-Vi-Sol today thinking that Nutridrench might not be enough on its own for an ill chicken of mine. I cracked it open to find EGADS, THIS STUFF LOOKS AND SMELLS EXACTLY THE SAME! Imagine spending $11 on something you already have but didn't. I feel pretty foolish right now. Am I mistaken, or is this essentially the same stuff? I don't want to overwork my tiny bird's kidneys giving her far more than she needs!


If you want the story:
I have a two month old serama pullet who I found lying on the bottom of her pen tonight, unable to stand. Her toes are curled and feet tucked beneath her. When I picked her up I was shocked to find she weighs hardly anything and is all bones. She has always been a quiet, sweet little thing but has never been a fan of being held, just petted. I feel a fool to have let her fall so far from good flesh before noticing there was a problem.. from now on, I'm going to start weighing everyone weekly. She hid her illness well from me. She gorged on food and water (you'd think I wasn't feeding her!) and I gave her nutridrench and water through a syringe first suspecting she might not want to eat. It has been half a day since she received her Nutridrench, and I have found she can now uncurl her toes when picked up, something I couldn't even force her to do when I first picked her up and was checking for bumblefoot. She is quarantined, and is surprisingly not too uncomfortable, as she talks happily for attention same as always, even purrs and grinds her beak just because she's getting talked to. I think she might be enjoying the extra attention. Here's hoping she doesn't learn to pretend to be sick!

I know a lot of people are going to cry MAREK'S!!!! but I firmly believe this is a riboflavin/vitamin B2 deficiency. I'll be seeing a vet to confirm, but for now I'm treating it as such. This coincides with a switch in feed I recently made to Texas Naturals, because it was a local, soy free feed and I'd been erroneously led to believe it was corn free too. The first bag seemed pretty great at first! The second bag, not so much. Their ingredients change frequently from what I understand depending on whatever's cheapest. I'm already in the process of switching to fermented Scratch and Peck feed and just dished out everyone's first serving tonight, knowing that this feed wasn't as right for my chickens as I thought it was when I first got the stuff. I'm also working toward stretching the feed further with BSF grubs and fresh barley fodder, so I'm already working to improve nutrition. I think this was a case of too little too late. I've put vitamins in the water of all the birds I fed on Texas Naturals just in case.

 

[Skink]

The hen is recovering rapidly on nutridrench, and has already gained some weight. She is able to stand on her own again, albeit weakly. Only treatment has been bed rest with easy food + water access and being given the nutridrench by syringe.

 

[staar82]

I'm dealing with this exact issue with my 3 month old production red. How is yours doing? I started polyvisol yesterday and her toes are curled much less today. She isn't eating much yet though.

 

[Skink]

My gal recovered very rapidly! She was on her feet in 6 days. We kept her isolated a few days longer while she put on a little more weight, which she did so rapidly once she was given vitamins. She's now been 3 days w/no supplements and has not shown any backsliding. However, she also had the appetite of a starved hog the whole time. I think that helped a lot with her recovery. She was gaining almost an ounce a day, which is significant for a serama.

I really hope yours does better for you! If she doesn't eat well for you I'd consider taking her to an avian vet for a professional opinion on what to do. The lack of appetite would make me worry about similar diseases like Marek's or the potential need for pain management to encourage her appetite. Make sure what feed is available to her is high quality. Eggs have a good amount of riboflavin, offer them if she likes them.


Here's exactly what I did: Our little hospital area was a bin with lots of clothing as a soft bedding, and since she was so underweight and the AC was on she was also covered with a t-shirt or blanket. She seemed to be very comfortable. Vitamins were given directly by syringe and not by water, as putting nutradrench in the water made her refuse to drink. Water was changed frequently (whenever I thought about it, pretty much) to keep it cool, clean and appetizing, and bedding was laundered at least twice daily. She was kept in a room with natural sunlight during the morning hours but it was dimmer through much of the day, very quiet low traffic area. First thing in the morning and first thing at night, I checked on her strength by trying to encourage her to perch on my hand rather than lay in my palm. In the morning before feeding she was weighed daily. Evening right at bed time was when I gave nutridrench or poly-vi-sol w/o iron via syringe.

I did schedule an appointment with an avian vet. It was a week out from time of discovery (catching appointments w/specialty vets can be hard) and she'd recovered so much I didn't take her in, but the appointment was there if I needed it. If she had not gained weight, not regained full mobility, and/or lost her appetite I would have brought her in.

 

[RockyMtnPeeps]

Did you ever learn the answer to your post question: Nutri-Drench and Poly-Vi-Sol being the same? I’d really like to know. We have two 3 month old Turkins that are having leg/foot issues similar to what you described. None of the other 12 pullets are. They already get ND in their water, have for months. I don’t want to go to/add PVS if they are the same! Thanks!

 

[RockyMtnPeeps]

I partially found the answer to my own question - So in case anyone else ever has it:

Since Poly-Vi-Sol is designed for human infants and Nutri-Drench is specifically designed for chickens the % of daily value is beyond my knowledge nor do I know how to do the fancy math, etc. to figure that out. So there is the "partial" part.

Being vitamins/minerals/electrolytes for chickens the Nurti-Drench bottle gives you dosage amounts for mixing into water and directly into chicken's mouth.

Since Poly-Vi-Sol is vitamins for babies, the Poly-Vi-Sol dosage for chickens is a large consensus from BYC folks and other chicken care sites of 1-5 drops, 1-2x a day (depending on severity of condition) directly into chicken's mouth until recovery which can be days to weeks again depending on the severity of the condition. I cannot find an actual answer to a dosage for Poly-Vi-Sol in water on BYC or via Google search. On BYC I find all threads asking about a water dosage have no replies. So it's a mystery, though if you knew the fancy math I believe you could mix it into the drinking water since the human administration can be done directly into mouth or mixed into formula or similar.

Being specifically formulated for chickens and designed to actually be absorbed instead of digested (so if your chicken isn't eating, they still get the nutrients when you give directly into the mouth) I will personally go to the Nutri-Drench for extra supplement when they are just needing a boost.

BUT the Poly-Vi-Sol actually HAS some EXTRA vitamins that Nutri-Drench DOES NOT that are often the ones in many chicken VITAMIN DEFICENCIES: B12, B6, and Riboflavin.
Poly-Vi-Sol also has Vit. C, which chickens actually synthesize themselves except under stressful conditions like illness, heat, etc.

They BOTH have: Niacin, Thiamin, Vit. A, D, and E. Vit. E is also a common vitamin deficeny.

Nutri-Drench has two amino acids: Lysine (aides in metabolism) and Methionine (protein building and other functions), Poly-Vi-Sol does not. I have seen those two in other chicken specific supplements.

So, I believe which one you ultimately choose comes down to what your chicken really needs to address what is ailing them. I hope this helps some folks!

The pictures show the nutrients and ingredients for (bottle) Nutri-Drench & (box) Poly-Vi-Sol w/o Iron

 

[Eggcessive]

NutriDrench does not contain riboflavin (vitamin B2) which is helpful in treating leg and foot problems. However NutriDrench does indeed have niacin (B3) and thiamine (B1.)
The main difference in the 2 products is that NutriDrench is a vitamin/mineral/electrolyte medication for chickens, and PolyVisol is only vitamins for babies.

 

[RockyMtnPeeps]

NutriDrench does not contain riboflavin (vitamin B2) which is helpful in treating leg and foot problems. However NutriDrench does indeed have niacin (B3) and thiamine (B1.)
The main difference in the 2 products is that NutriDrench is a vitamin/mineral/electrolyte medication for chickens, and PolyVisol is only vitamins for babies.

I like the classification of "vitamin/mineral/electrolyte medication for chickens" for Nutri-Drench.

The Nutri-Drench I have doesn't have niacin (B3) and thiamine (B1.) Listed in the % analysis, but I see it now in the ingredients! Don't know how I missed that! Thanks! I will correct that in my original post.