Antibiotics at Tractor Supply?

[SeaSea47]

Seven days might be fine. It was recommended to me by a vet -- NOT my avian vet -- to give the medicine for 10 days. Hope I didn't worry you unnecessarily.

When I finally was able to contact my avian vet, she also suggested an anti inflammatory. But by that time, Golly's foot wasn't swollen anymore.

And Golly always wants to KILL me when I take her eggs!

Oh, I've been worrying from day one, so definitely not your fault! The box I used said 10 days, but that was also putting it in her water and not giving it to her directly, but Quatie and some other kind people here showed me how to do it orally and the correct dosing, thank goodness.

What kind of antiinflammatory would you give? I did the 7 days, and I was doing Epsoms salt soaks for a couple of weeks (every other day at first and then every day for about a week), but I didn't feel like they were helping and just stressing her out. She's still got some fluid on her foot, but she's not limping like she was, and she isn't holding it up when she stands still anymore. It's also not as warm as it was. She seems to feel better overall. I'd just feel better if it went away completely as I fear it will become infected again. I'm debating when to put her back with the flock and let her get more exercise or if I should keep her on the porch where she's not as active for a few more days.

My mammal vet used to see my birds, and he's not an avian vet, but he's really good about researching what he doesn't know and has always been really good and accurate, but I had an injured chicken (I think my roosters got into a disagreement and she got in the middle of it) a few months ago and called to make an appointment, and they told me he'd stopped seeing birds. I could have cried! It took me forever to find someone else who would without charging me a million dollars, but the chicken died before I could get her there (which I really didn't expect her to survive anyway and assumed they'd end up just euthanizing her). So, that's why I've been trying to treat this myself.

 

[Callender Girl]

The avian vet suggested meloxicam (Metacam).

I totally understand your predicament. The avian vet used to work with my small animal vet in a nearby town. She began practicing further away (I've begged her never to move again), and the small animal vet doesn't treat birds.

The down side -- besides the distance now -- to taking a bird to avian vet is that I NEVER get away for less than $100. The last time I took a duck there, I spent about $300, and Franny died anyway, after multiple visits and laser treatment. I would not have regretted spending the money if she had lived, but it's hard to justify that much money and not end up with a live patient.

Best wishes for your girl. I know you are doing everything to help her.

 

[SeaSea47]

The avian vet suggested meloxicam (Metacam).

I totally understand your predicament. The avian vet used to work with my small animal vet in a nearby town. She began practicing further away (I've begged her never to move again), and the small animal vet doesn't treat birds.

The down side -- besides the distance now -- to taking a bird to avian vet is that I NEVER get away for less than $100. The last time I took a duck there, I spent about $300, and Franny died anyway, after multiple visits and laser treatment. I would not have regretted spending the money if she had lived, but it's hard to justify that much money and not end up with a live patient.

Best wishes for your girl. I know you are doing everything to help her.

Oh wow, $300 seems like a bargain. I found a mobile vet who treats birds in my area, but she wanted to charge me just $400 just to sign up as a new patient, plus any treatment she did! There's also an Avian vet about an hour from me, but he stays booked up for weeks at a time (and very expensive), and there's another reasonably-priced clinic near me with rotating vets — one actually has a poultry science degree and will see poultry and waterfowl, but you have to catch her when she's there.

Well, thanks for the information! I think I'm just going to keep an eye on my girl for the next couple of weeks and see how she does. If she gets better or doesn't get worse, I'll leave her alone, and if she seems to get worse, I'll see if we can't get an appointment.

Best wishes for your goose too!

 

[Callender Girl]

I am horrified that a vet would charge you to sign you up as a customer! I understand exam fees, but that $400 is ridiculous -- especially before rendering any treatment at all.

Guess I should be more grateful for the one who sees my birds (I absolutely ADORE her; she not only has her own chickens, she was willing to take my problem rooster off my hands and let him live with her bachelor boys).

Keep us posted!

 

[SeaSea47]

I am horrified that a vet would charge you to sign you up as a customer! I understand exam fees, but that $400 is ridiculous -- especially before rendering any treatment at all.

Guess I should be more grateful for the one who sees my birds (I absolutely ADORE her; she not only has her own chickens, she was willing to take my problem rooster off my hands and let him live with her bachelor boys).

Keep us posted!

I was shocked too! The most I've ever paid with my regular vet (in a non-emergency situation) was $250, I think, and that was for two dogs' regular checkups and flea/heartworm meds. That's great that you found someone you can trust like that! And great that she took your problem rooster. Does she keep a lot of them?

I've been dealing with a problem rooster situation since last fall myself (I ended up with 4 "accidents" from a hatchery and that led to all sorts of problems), plus that chicken I mentioned earlier, plus a drake who was being bullied and now lives on my porch, plus an issue with some Polish chickens my mom had wanted but she passed away before they were even two months old. That's why I am a big ball of anxiety over this poor duck's foot. I just need some harmony in my flock for a little while. I've never had this many problems within such a short period of time!

 

[Callender Girl]

Murray McMurray Hatchery is one country away from me, and two counties over from her. I got five of their chicks, and she got a straight-run special from the hatchery last year and added quite a few roosters.

I thought sending Pauly off to her farm would solve my rooster problems. He was attacking people and the other young rooster. Unfortunately, Billy Boy -- who is no longer being beaten up by Pauly -- has decided to attack me with far too much regularity. Still, he's good with his girls and as long as I don't let him sneak up on me, we do okay. When I do get assaulted, I pick him up and carry him around like a football for a while. If I'm short on time, I just pin him to the ground for a bit. Of course, it helps that Billy Boy's only a Cochin Bantam; if my full-sized Iowa Blue rooster was a jerk, it would be much harder to handle him.

It seems that critter problems always come in waves. Based on two of my chickens' butts and a lot of runny poop, I think I there is a problem with worms -- again.

 

[SeaSea47]

Murray McMurray Hatchery is one country away from me, and two counties over from her. I got five of their chicks, and she got a straight-run special from the hatchery last year and added quite a few roosters.

I thought sending Pauly off to her farm would solve my rooster problems. He was attacking people and the other young rooster. Unfortunately, Billy Boy -- who is no longer being beaten up by Pauly -- has decided to attack me with far too much regularity. Still, he's good with his girls and as long as I don't let him sneak up on me, we do okay. When I do get assaulted, I pick him up and carry him around like a football for a while. If I'm short on time, I just pin him to the ground for a bit. Of course, it helps that Billy Boy's only a Cochin Bantam; if my full-sized Iowa Blue rooster was a jerk, it would be much harder to handle him.

It seems that critter problems always come in waves. Based on two of my chickens' butts and a lot of runny poop, I think I there is a problem with worms -- again.

McMurray is actually where I got my chicks last year (but I'm in Georgia - not so close). I was supposed to have 20 hens, plus a bonus which I knew would most likely be a rooster, but I ended up with 22 chicks, four of which were roosters - two barred rocks, a Cochin, and a Hamburg. The barred rocks were aggressive from day one. They'd attack my hands when I went into the brooder to change their food and water. When they got to be a few months old, one of them attacked my older dog who would never hurt a fly (she didn't fight back). Luckily, I found out a friend of a friend had a farm and was looking for two aggressive roosters to raise with her new flock of hens for protection. So, they were re-homed and are still living happily there.

The Cochin ended up being a jerk, but I managed to train him by chasing him and squirting him with the hose when he'd so much as crow at me. We got to the point where I could just say his name and he'd stop whatever behavior he was doing that I didn't approve of. I tried to get rid of him for a while, but I just felt so guilty and decided to keep him. Unfortunately, a raccoon killed him last week, and I was absolutely heartbroken. Even though he was a jerk, I'd become so attached to him. Plus, it was totally my fault because I'd just moved him into a new pen and didn't realize how easy it was to pry the roof off, so I felt even worse about that.

The Hamburg is the only one left, and he is really human-friendly (and hopefully stays that way) but he's so rough on the girls that I have to keep him separate most of the time. He free-ranges with them for a few hours a week, but otherwise, he lives in his own little bachelor pad coop and has for several months. I'm hoping he'll calm down as he gets a little older and now that he's the only boy, but your story makes me nervous!

Sorry for writing a book - I never have anyone to talk animals with. Ha! What breed was Pauly? I've never had issues with worms, thank goodness. I hope that is not the case for you!

 

[Callender Girl]

Don't apologize. I suspect many people stop reading my long-winded posts well before they are midway through. I'll read as much as you want to type!

Pauly was supposed to be a Cochin Bantam, like two of the other chicks. And Bantams are always sold straight run, of course. But, the friend who worked there and got them for me accidentally grabbed a Booted Bantam instead. She said they're all in bins close together, and it was an easy mistake. Since I intended to buy four and she gifted me with five, I was okay with the "error." Until Pauly got aggressive; he was, however, absolutely gorgeous with big, feathered vulture hocks. I wanted to keep him, but he threatened EVERYBODY.

I still have hope that Billy Boy, a Cochin Bantam, and I will be able to work out something. I understand what you mean about missing your jerky boy. A couple of weeks ago, everybody was in their coops except Billy Boy. A tiny part of me thought, oh well, problem solved. But I couldn't NOT look for him. He had managed to scoot into a fenced flower bed and couldn't figure out how to escape. For once, he actually seemed happy to see me, and he was certainly happy to be carried to his coop.

I've always thought Hamburgs are handsome birds; hope yours stays nice. I came close to getting a Hamburg when I got my original hens from a 4-H kid, but I got a Sicilian Buttercup instead; sadly Mia and two of her coop mates were killed by a mink. It was entirely my fault because I forgot to close the coop that night.

See? My posts get Very Long, too, because I love to talk about critters! And, I'm sure I've seen people's eyes roll back into their heads when I start chatting about my poultry in person .

 

[Quatie]

For the baytril, it is possible you are using a different dosage. Different dosages can have different time frames. I am not a vet, so there can always be reasons to provide a longer dose. I have had good success with that timeframe and dosage.

A lot of us come to BYC because we all love our ducks, chickens or whatever kind of animal we have and especially love to talk about them. Most of the people I know are tired hearing about my ducks. I even thought my loud ducks might be annoy my neighbors. We had a hawk get one of our girls a few months ago had to coop up my ducks for a while. Found out my neighbors were wondering where our ducks were and were missing them.

 

[SeaSea47]

Don't apologize. I suspect many people stop reading my long-winded posts well before they are midway through. I'll read as much as you want to type!

Pauly was supposed to be a Cochin Bantam, like two of the other chicks. And Bantams are always sold straight run, of course. But, the friend who worked there and got them for me accidentally grabbed a Booted Bantam instead. She said they're all in bins close together, and it was an easy mistake. Since I intended to buy four and she gifted me with five, I was okay with the "error." Until Pauly got aggressive; he was, however, absolutely gorgeous with big, feathered vulture hocks. I wanted to keep him, but he threatened EVERYBODY.

I still have hope that Billy Boy, a Cochin Bantam, and I will be able to work out something. I understand what you mean about missing your jerky boy. A couple of weeks ago, everybody was in their coops except Billy Boy. A tiny part of me thought, oh well, problem solved. But I couldn't NOT look for him. He had managed to scoot into a fenced flower bed and couldn't figure out how to escape. For once, he actually seemed happy to see me, and he was certainly happy to be carried to his coop.

I've always thought Hamburgs are handsome birds; hope yours stays nice. I came close to getting a Hamburg when I got my original hens from a 4-H kid, but I got a Sicilian Buttercup instead; sadly Mia and two of her coop mates were killed by a mink. It was entirely my fault because I forgot to close the coop that night.

See? My posts get Very Long, too, because I love to talk about critters! And, I'm sure I've seen people's eyes roll back into their heads when I start chatting about my poultry in person .

Well, I am absolutely devastated this morning. After something got my Cochin last week (we presume a raccoon because one has been terrorizing my neighbor's cats), my dad and I went to great lengths to make sure my Hamburg's little coop was predator-proof. I drilled in the doors except one, and that one had cement blocks stacked in front of it at night, which were unmoved. I had many obstacles around it to prevent it from digging under, and it was covered in 1/2-inch hardware cloth. There is absolutely no sign of entry at all, but we found him decapitated this morning. I have a camera I keep meaning to set up, and I hate that I didn't have it because we are totally puzzled.

So, now I am rooster-less, and I loved that little guy. I feel so awful. I know the Cochin was 100% my fault because I missed a potential point of entry, but I am so stumped as to how anything got into this one. I'm just not having the best month with my birds.

Anyway, @Callender Girl, I love hearing about your birds! I've heard Cochin Bantams can have a bit of an attitude? I love my three Cochin hens - it's my first time having them - but I am worried about them in the heat.