What antibiotic do you give for resp illness??

[mp5girl]

I'd try some "silver sol". It's anti viral/fungal/bacterial etc. It should help! You can find it on amazon or www.neofera.com. It'll boost their system and won't kill good stuff like normal antibiotics!

Good luck!

 

[Ash123]

Ok, I just went to the feed store and got some terra-vet bc it's what they had. It is an antibiotic, I guess I'm one of those people it's only bc of all the different advice I get, which is awesome but a little confusing too. I heard from a local farmer that apple cider vinegar is a kill all and natural antibiotic. Is this true to any of your knowledge? I would agree that it's hard to dose the antibiotics bc of the instructions on the back (might as well be in Spanish.) Maybe I will go take up the antibiotic water and think some more. My human family doesnt take antibiotics at all and I don't really want to be eating eggs with them in there. Can someone just come to my house and take care of them for me?!?! Lol jk jk

 

[cafarmgirl]

ACV (apple cider vinegar) will not solve this problem. Many people believe it to be a cure-all, end-all, do-everything product and it does have it's place but it's not the miracle some make it out to be.

Giving antibiotic's to your birds is certainly your choice. I have done so on one occassion and I certainly don't regret it. It will not cure them of whatever they have but it will prevent secondary bacterial infections and pneumonia that are so common with any kind of respiratory illness in birds. Birds can often survive these diseases it's the complications that so often kills them. However, even after they have recovered they will remain carriers of whatever this is, it will likely crop up again now and then and they will have the potential to infect any new birds you get.

Getting a diagnosis is very helpful as you will then know exactly what you are dealing with and how to manage it, or if you even want to try to manage it. Some of these diseases are worse then others in terms of it coming back over and over. We have dealt with infectious bronchitis here 2 1/2 years ago. Since then only one bird of that flock of 8 has had a mild recurrence. So if you have a bird die get it necropsied or take a live bird to an avian vet and have some testing done. This is best done before any antibiotic's are used so that anything bacterial can be caught in the testing.

 

[Ash123]

I think ventilation may be part of the problem as well. They have a huge coop with a large run but the only opening in the coop is the small hole they come in and out from.

 

[Ash123]

The ground is just dirt (and poop) so there is no "cleaning out" the shavings and such. Sometimes we bring fresh dirt in.

 

[Eggcessive]

Ok, I just went to the feed store and got some terra-vet bc it's what they had. It is an antibiotic, I guess I'm one of those people it's only bc of all the different advice I get, which is awesome but a little confusing too. I heard from a local farmer that apple cider vinegar is a kill all and natural antibiotic. Is this true to any of your knowledge? I would agree that it's hard to dose the antibiotics bc of the instructions on the back (might as well be in Spanish.) Maybe I will go take up the antibiotic water and think some more. My human family doesnt take antibiotics at all and I don't really want to be eating eggs with them in there. Can someone just come to my house and take care of them for me?!?! Lol jk jk

TerraVet10 looks to be identical to Duramycin 10 (tetracycline) down to the number of grams on the label. For Duramycin10 the dosage is 1 tablespoonful of powder per gallon of water. Some recommend adding a little cranberry juice (subtract amount from water) or some red koolaid just to give it a better flavor. You could watch them for a day or two to see if they really need the AB's. There is nothing wrong with a dirt floor. Inside the coop it is ideal for the deep litter method, and outside many use sand or add mulch or savings to keep things cleaner. Good luck with your chickens.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I think ventilation may be part of the problem as well. They have a huge coop with a large run but the only opening in the coop is the small hole they come in and out from.

The ground is just dirt (and poop) so there is no "cleaning out" the shavings and such. Sometimes we bring fresh dirt in.

You've discovered the problems. Chickens are outdoor animals.
Basically you have NO ventilation. Get out a circular saw and cut big openings stud to stud and cover them with hardware cloth.
The shavings absorb moisture and the feces gets mixed in. ~~If you can bring in fresh dirt, you can bring in shavings.
I bet if you went in there and knelt down so your nose was at chicken height, the ammonia would be overwhelming. Chickens have tiny respiratory systems and are easily stressed, leading to disease.

You don't need someone to come fix them. Make big windows.


1/3 of both east and west wall open. Breeze blows right through at roost height year round and no respiratory diseases.

 

[Ash123]

Ok. I do have shavings in their coop. It started out just in the nest boxes but they are constantly pushing them on the floor. So I guess my floor is shavings, dirt and poop. My husband made windows In the coop and was afraid they would be too cold if he didn't put glass in. That's why no ventilation. I gave him his honey do for the weekend so the windows will be taken out and then screened. Thanks for the help.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Don't feel bad. It's a common mistake. 'Cooping up' the birds. One should never worry about chickens being too cold in Texas. It hit -19 here this winter with those big openings. People get cold but chickens have a nice tight down coat and about 105F body temperature. When it gets well below freezing, pick up a hen and feel under her wings.
Chickens might be a little cold but can handle well below zero if precautions are taken against frostbite - that means big ventilation to exhaust humidity.
What chickens can't handle is heat and bad air. They pant at 85, suffer at 95 and start dying at 105.

 

[Ash123]

Well, we live in Texas so we need to be more worried about the heat rather than the cold it sounds like. We just built this new coop and the old one had tons of ventilation so that would be why I haven't had this problem before. It's all starting to make sense. Being that we most likely know what the problem is, do I need to have them on medication or will this clear up with the new ventilation? I would hate to lose them from pneumonia or some other secondary infection.