Which antibiotic for egg-bound chicken?

[KarliRae]

When searching the forums for information on egg-bound chickens I read that everyone recommends antibiotics if the egg breaks inside the chicken but no one has said which one. I have a chicken who was egg-bound but passing yolk, so I knew the egg was already broken. I was able to remove the remains of a leathery shell. She is still passing some yolky-looking stuff though and I don't want her to get an infection. So which antibiotic is recommended for this situation?

Thanks!

 

[casportpony]

When searching the forums for information on egg-bound chickens I read that everyone recommends antibiotics if the egg breaks inside the chicken but no one has said which one. I have a chicken who was egg-bound but passing yolk, so I knew the egg was already broken. I was able to remove the remains of a leathery shell. She is still passing some yolky-looking stuff though and I don't want her to get an infection. So which antibiotic is recommended for this situation?

Thanks!

One with both gram positive and gram negative coverage.

 

[dawg53]

I recommend a vinegar/water flush to prevent bacterial inferction; like a douche:
Use a large syringe without needle, mixing one tablespoon of WHITE vinegar to one quart water. Use a full syringe of the mixture and insert the syringe into her vent and gently flush. Use about 3 or 4 syringefuls, the liquid may or may not flow out of her vent afterwards.

 

[realsis]

I'd start her on a general anti infective such as galliamycine you can get gallimycine water soluble at the feed store. I think this will help prevent the infection that your worried about. its a general anti infective so it should be appropriate for this treatment. and should do the job of keeping the infection at bay. I hope this helps and I wish you the very best of luck.

 

[dawg53]

I'd start her on a general anti infective such as galliamycine you can get gallimycine water soluble at the feed store. I think this will help prevent the infection that your worried about. its a general anti infective so it should be appropriate for this treatment. and should do the job of keeping the infection at bay. I hope this helps and I wish you the very best of luck.

Gallimycin is geared more toward respiratory diseases, ie mycoplasmas, coryza. If an antibiotic were needed in this instance, I'd most likely go with baytril, maybe even penicillin/amoxicillin. The vinegar water flush works, I've done it. Give it a try first before antibiotics.

 

[casportpony]

Whatever she gets, it should be given orally to ensure proper dosing, IMNSHO, lol. What antibiotics do you have? Can be anything, even ones that you took. If she were mine, I would probably give her Baytril, Clavamox, or amoxicillin. Off the top of my head, I think the dose for Clavamox and amoxicillin are around 100-125mg/kg by mouth twice a day for 7-14 days. Baytril is 15-20mg/kg orally or SC once a day for five days.

 

[KarliRae]

Whatever she gets, it should be given orally to ensure proper dosing, IMNSHO, lol. What antibiotics do you have? Can be anything, even ones that you took. If she were mine, I would probably give her Baytril, Clavamox, or amoxicillin. Off the top of my head, I think the dose for Clavamox and amoxicillin are around 100-125mg/kg by mouth twice a day for 7-14 days. Baytril is 15-20mg/kg orally or SC once a day for five days.

The only one I could find at the feed store nearby was Duramycin -10 (tetracycline hydrochloride).

I read this about it:


As a class the tetracyclines generally act as broad-spectrum bacteriostatic agents inhibiting protein synthesis by reversibly binding to the 30S subunit of bacterial ribosome; thereby blocking access of aminoacyl-tRNA to the acceptor site on the mRNA-ribosome complex preventing the growth of susceptible bacterial organisms. They are also believed to reversibly bind to 50S ribosomes, plus altering the permeability of cytoplasmic membrane in susceptible organisms.(1)
Tetracycline is effective against infections caused by trachoma, rickettsiae, mycoplasma, and chlamydia, as well as, Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria.

Source: http://ratguide.com/meds/antimicrobial_agents/tetracycline_hydrochloride.php

 

[KarliRae]

I recommend a vinegar/water flush to prevent bacterial inferction; like a douche:
Use a large syringe without needle, mixing one tablespoon of WHITE vinegar to one quart water. Use a full syringe of the mixture and insert the syringe into her vent and gently flush. Use about 3 or 4 syringefuls, the liquid may or may not flow out of her vent afterwards.

From what I have read, I understand that the risk of infection for chickens is if part of the egg gets into the abdominal cavity through the cloaca. Since the vent is superior to the cloaca, this could happen. The egg material then basically rots in the abdominal cavity and causes a bacterial infection, swelling, difficulty pooping, etc. I found it is called "Egg yolk peritonitis".I am not sure if just the yolk or ANY part of the egg could cause this, because I know that the yolk was discharged while she was roosting and it looked like none of it got into her abdominal cavity.

I am not sure that a vinegar flush could prevent this.

It's been 5 days since I helped my little chicken get the pieces of a leathery egg shell out of her vent. A day after that she laid one leathery-shelled egg. Two days later she was back to her normal self. She hasn't laid another egg and now she is seeming to have difficulty pooping again. She will strain and nothing will come out, then she will walk a few steps and make a little tiny poop pile. I haven't yet treated her with antibiotics but I am worried that this might be the signs of developing egg yolk peritonitis.

Any thoughts?

 

[casportpony]

Have you stuck your finger in to check?

 

[KarliRae]

I am not sure how "sticking my finger in to check" would tell me anything about whether she was getting egg-yolk peritonitis. But just to bring some closure here, my little chicken is doing fine.