[janiejakemum]

Hi

You might remember me i posted a couple of weeks ago on behalf of my dad.  He had trouble introducing his 4 new hens to his 4 original hens, he lost two then gave up and rehomed 2.  Anyway, the 4 original hens have now gone down to 3 and one of those is quite poorly.  Dad has told me that the one that has died seemed to have a cold and has now passed it so they all have it, one of them is quite poorly.

Is there anything he can do for them? I was hoping to get hold of a general Anti Biotic for him to giive to them - can anyone suggest one that i might be able to get?

Dad has rung his vet and he wants £30-40 + drugs so we were hoping to sort this out ourselves.

I dont know if the stress of the new hens has caused this but its such a shame he started with 4 healthy hens then bought 4 now only has 3 - one of which may well not survive.

Thanks in advance for any help.

[SnooziSuzi]

I'd consider getting them to a vet TBH, what you describe may indicate something much more sinister.  

What's her poo like?

[Foxy]

your hens have an infection by the sounds of it -could be mycoplasma - commonly affects younger birds, symtoms watery discharge from nostrils and can have a "frothy" appearance around the eyes.Look at the beak it is usually slightly open with the bird panting. Generally an upper respiratory infection and will spread if not treated. Birds will either die or end up with a chronic problem which will mean they will be prone to infections  and consequently laying could be affected. Most respiratory infections are treated with a good broad spectrum antiobiotic  the most common ones used for poultry are "Baytril" and "Tylan" both effective against most mycoplasmas and other bacterias causing respiratory inf. in poultry.
Treatment is essential as well as a correct diagnosis, in summary you need to take one of your birds to the vet for treatment and then request enough antibiotic to treat all your birds.
In the meantime clean and disinfect house,check bedding is dry-use straw in nestboxes (not hay) dust extracted woodshavings for floor. Apple cider vinegar drinking water and crush a couple of garlic cloves in their to helpboost immune system.
Hope this helps!

Good luck!

[janiejakemum]

Hi

Thanks again for all your help.

Dad has got an appointment for later on today.  

Its very difficult as he doesn't want to spend lots of money especially after what's just happened.  Not long after he got them one of the hens had an accident and broke its leg, i dont know how much it all was but he had it repaired - the vet put pins in the chickens leg, numerous x rays, re exams, 2 GA's and drugs.  I think dad is worried he will get sucked in and before long he could have spent a small fortune.

Fingers crossed he'll just get some drugs and all will end well.

Thanks again

[kimT]

Ring/email Retford Poultry vets and they will send you drugs in the post.

They really are most helpful.

http://www.retfordpoultry.co.uk/

[janiejakemum]

Thanks KimT  but dad would have been by now, i just hope it was something easy to treat.

He did ring the vets and asked if they could let him have some Baytril but they wouldnt without seeing the hen first.

For furture reference, Do retford offer some kind of diagnosis or do they just offer broad spectrum A/B?  We live in Essex so wouldnt be able to visit them, so you know if they could still help?

Thanks again

[kimT]

They will talk to you on the phone and they deal with chook folk all over world and send stuff out.

I am very lucky with my vet as all I need to do is ring him and ask for what I want and he leaves it at the desk for me to pick up.

He trusts the knowledge that I have about chookie illnesses and when we do meet we have real good natter about drugs for chooks etc and he laughs and says I should be the other side of table i.e. where he is standing!

I hope your Dad has gone on ok and do let us know what the vet has diagnosed.

Personally I would want Tylan from what you have described but then I'm not a vet.

[janiejakemum]

Well dad rang me to say that the vet has given him some powders to put into the hens water, they have an infection that has been brought in. (Probably by the hens he recently purchased)

Thats all i know, he thinks they will all be ok though so hopefully panick over.

Whilst doing some research before he got the hens i read that Baytril is given in a lot of cases as its broad spectrum, dad asked the vet about this and told him that once Baytril is given the eggs cant be eaten ever??, Is this correct or has my dad got a bit confuzzed?

The only reason i recognised the product name was because i used to work for a vet and came across it, never even new what it was but i know there are several forms and strengths of it.

Thanks again to everyone.

[Aunt Sally]

My vet told me not to eat the eggs for two weeks after the Baytril was finished.

Baytril is enrofloxacin and  This paper says that "The withdrawal treatment periods in hens are six days for enrofloxacin in order to avoid violative levels of egg residues."

So I would say 14 days is more than generous.  A lot of vets don't know much about hens  

[kimT]

I can't believe that the vet said that................sorry, but how long do they train for and Baytril is used not only for poultry it’s a common medicine for its of animals.

At the end of the day the hens have some medicine and Aunty Sally is absolutely right about the withdrawal of the eggs.


Hope they get well soon.