Baytril for everything!

[lettucegrow!]

Just got back from vet trip with my poorly girls. Babs really thin despite eating and no obvious signs of anything wrong. Esmerelda has what looks like bumble foot and swollen wing joints, partly I think from the others still beating her up for being a newbie!
I've wormed them, de-liced them and given all the tonic stuff and the other two in with them are in lovely condition. I've read that bumblefoot can be caused by the staphyloccocus bacteria which I thought I'd read somewhere doesn't respond to Baytril but the vet says they don't have access to other poultry antibiotics. She's been given an anti-inflamatry for the wings as well so we'll just have to see how we go.
Going to have to go back to putting booties and iodine paste etc for quite a long time apparently!!
Told OH that I'm no spending loads more money, vet was talking about possibility of x-rays and sedation etc etc but what that will tell me apart from yes the joints are swollen I'm not sure. He may have to do the deed

[julesapple]

DD has said today that Buffy has bumblefoot. I haven't checked it out yet, but apparently bumblefoot can be caused by lack of vitamin A. When vitamin A is brought back into the diet, the bumblefoot heals. So I've just given all of ours a big pile of grated carrot. The littlies have wolfed it down, but the big girls, including Buffy, have turned their beaks up. I shall get some liquid poultry vitamins tomorrow.

I found this online "Improper Nutrition -Bumble feet is also likely to occur when there is insufficient Vitamin A in the system. Seeds, a chicken favorite are low in vitamin A. The vitamin promotes increases resistance to parasite infection aside from promoting digestion and appetite. An obvious sign that the chicken lacks vitamin A is when the plumage lacks the usual luster, is pale, and is rough. There is also the lack of color intensity in the cere and there is yellowish and scaly accumulation on the beak."

My girls haven't been going through their pellets as fast lately. I put this down to an influx of garden greenery, but maybe the greenery hasn't got everything they need. There isn't anything wrong with the perches, bedding or ground they are on. Maybe they aren't getting the balanced diet I thought they were.

Jules

[sheena]

Did you know that carrots are supposed to be a natural wormer for chooks?

I didn't either til i read it in one me books a while back. Only after I went out and bought some Verm-X (Damn my mother to hell for not buying the book sooner )

[RichmondHens]

Sorry you're having so much trouble with your girls LG.

Not heard about carrots for worms Sheena but like Vermex I guess they act as a deterrent rather than actually killing them. Mine get quite a lot of carrot peel and love it. Dandelion is supposed to be a natural worm deterrent too. Ultimately the best thing is to rest the ground whenever possible and move chooks onto a fresh area. Chicken sick ground can lead to all sorts of problems and I suspect this is why some people are experiencing so many problems with their birds.

[Hilary B]

Green stuff ought to contain a fair bit of Vitamin A, unless it has had too much sun on since it was cut. For hens in lay, the most obvious sign of a Vit A shortage is pale yolks.....
I don't know whether sunshine depletes Vit A in animals/birds as it does in plant material, but if they've been doing a lot of sun bathing lately........

[julesapple]

Green stuff ought to contain a fair bit of Vitamin A, unless it has had too much sun on since it was cut. For hens in lay, the most obvious sign of a Vit A shortage is pale yolks.....
I don't know whether sunshine depletes Vit A in animals/birds as it does in plant material, but if they've been doing a lot of sun bathing lately........

Our yolks still look like little oranges, so that's good. There is a lot of sun about though, and they do like to sunbathe.

I had been told that carrot puree was a good wormer. Apparently it goes through them like a dose of salts, taking parasites & eggs with it. I might try making some puree as an 'extra' although they are getting flubenvetted just now.

Jules

[lettucegrow!]

OK, sorry to be a pain but going back to my origonal post I wondered about vets and their habit of just dishing out Baytril. I really felt that I was telling the vet stuff, having researced what can cause certain ailments and what they respond to. Was a bit annoyed that I was charged two consultation fees for two birds just to be given the only antibiotic they can prescribe. Why could I just not ask for that and get it? But I know they need those consultation fees, so I suppose I've answered my own question.
But how do get specific antibiotics for certain bugs? I need to find livesock vet I guess in suburban Stevenage,

[petal]

There is a place up near us called Deepdale vets I think - they keep chickens and actually know what they are doing, so I have heard.
We have a light sussex hen with bumblefoot too, I have poulticed her feet with animalintex(a horse dressing) to draw out the pus, I make a paste of herbs too: calendula petals, comfrey leaf, parsley, garlic - all natural antiseptics and old poultices.She is not lame today, swelling has gone down and she is a lot perkier. I will grate some carrot too - good idea. I personally don't believe in antibiotics unless there is no other choice, we shall see.

[julesapple]

OK, sorry to be a pain but going back to my origonal post I wondered about vets and their habit of just dishing out Baytril. I really felt that I was telling the vet stuff, having researced what can cause certain ailments and what they respond to. Was a bit annoyed that I was charged two consultation fees for two birds just to be given the only antibiotic they can prescribe. Why could I just not ask for that and get it? But I know they need those consultation fees, so I suppose I've answered my own question.
But how do get specific antibiotics for certain bugs? I need to find livesock vet I guess in suburban Stevenage,

They are exactly the same for birds of prey. Bit of a cheek to charge you twice though. Our vets seem to know nothing about chickens, even though they told me they are seeing quite a lot now chooks are trendy pets.....you'd think maybe they'd go on a course to update their knowledge according to what animals/birds they are seeing. They advertise themselves as agricultural vets but I guess that means horses, cows, sheep & pigs.

Ours nod and agree with everything you're saying to them, then say the only thing they can do is administer baytril.

Jules

[Suechooks]

One of the girl vets in our practice has done just that! She realised that there were a lot of "pet" hens coming through so went on the only course available to her. I make a point of seeing her now with the chooks to try and give her the experience. She is always ready to share information too and will prescribe or not depending on problem.

[Hilary B]

There is a place up near us called Deepdale vets I think - they keep chickens and actually know what they are doing, so I have heard.
We have a light sussex hen with bumblefoot too, I have poulticed her feet with animalintex(a horse dressing) to draw out the pus, I make a paste of herbs too: calendula petals, comfrey leaf, parsley, garlic - all natural antiseptics and old poultices.She is not lame today, swelling has gone down and she is a lot perkier. I will grate some carrot too - good idea. I personally don't believe in antibiotics unless there is no other choice, we shall see.

Not sure comfrey is a good ingredient when there may be infection. Comfrey accelerates healing, and if there is any infection underneath, you don't want it to heal over that!

[RichmondHens]

I would get yourself a good livestock vet. It seems a lot of small animal practices either won't see chickens or if they do, don't know much about them.

Chickens have been looked on as "disposable" for a long time - ie cheaper to kill and replace than cure - but now there is a big movement towards keeping chickens as pets so the vets better get their act together.