I took a sick bird to the vet today and was told she has mega bac and canker, (she's not in a good way) I was given 2 types of meds to be given orally to all my birds and the vet treated the sick bird but when i gave it to one of the others he spat it all out is there a trick to it?

Tricky one Nadene, I've never had to do this. I presume a syringe would be the best option I've given chicks water and sugar mix to get them going but not meds. I just held end of syringe to side of beak and gently pushed a drop at a time into beak. Don't know if this helps. Hope your others don't come down with it.

Thanks Robyn. I'm using a syringe maybe I'll try smaller drops. It's my favorite hen too the one that had my mauve chicks. I don't think she will make it through the night

Hi Nadene how did your hen go o.night?

good luck with your hen - i hope she is still with you.

 

can you gather up a few of the birds and take to the vet for tips on how to give the meds?

Thanks Robyn and Nerwen.

 

She died in my hands this morning

 

 

The vet did show me and I did 2 birds earlier who were showing no signs of illness and ever since one of them has been throwing up and the other looks terrible and I thought he was going to die out of sheer stress. I'm going to ring her tomorrow and see if there is a different medication especially because they are non symptomatic yet. I do realize that they will be carriers and do need treatment but there must be a better way because she wants me to do this for 30 days and I don't want to kill anyone.

 

R.I.P

Hi Nadene,ive just realized we are in the same club .

Just have a few questions.

(1) How many birds do you have.

(2) Did you get them all from one source.

(3) Are you colony breeding or do you have breeding cabinets.

 

We are only a small club,but there are some good breeders in this club,all willing to help so keep your chin up.First thing you have to do is work out how the sickness occured in the first place & make changes ,whatever they may be so it doesn't happen again.Then we can work out how to get you some more birds.

Hi Phill,

I did notice we are from the same club but i only joined a few months ago and I've only been to one meeting (which was the last). The people i met were lovely, I was even picked up and taken to the meeting by Dave Butters because I don't drive

 

Unfortunately she went down hill on Friday and didn't think it would be appropriate to contact people because of Bob's funeral. She was in a breeding cage with her mate seeming fine one minute and sick the next so I'm trying to figure out what happened

 

I now only have 10 birds, 4 of them are show type which is the direction I want to go in and of course I need more hens because I only have one show hen. I will be breeding in cabinets ( I just have to buy some).

HI Nadene,

I met you at the Macathur branch meeting.. Im Cathy who was the mad book keeper!

So im sorry to here about your bird., this is fairly rare.

What size syringe have u got and have u a crop needle on it?

And yes we are sure to be able to get you some nice new birds from the group.

Cheers,

The birdygirl.

Hi Cathy (birdygirl),

I don't think you were given much choice about the book keeping once you were handed the pen and papers.It was a great meeting with beautiful birds...and nice people too

 

It's a 1ml syringe without a crop needle because the vet couldn't show me how to use it on her (she was the only bird I had there) because it was hard to get it into her crop due to she thought swelling. The birds crop was full of fluid. She was also having trouble breathing. The vet didn't think she would even make it through the test.

okay, so best you get on to L & b suppliers for a crop needle if you need to treat the others. Might make it easier. I don't know if pet barn or those sort of shops have them.

Hi Nadene sorry you lost your beautiful hen. Glad to see you have support from your club members. Maybe next meeting e.g. someone could show you how to use a crop needle. I've never used one either, saw a great video how to do it bit scary but would be a good skill to have.

Maybe vet could have a med you could put in their water? Good luck with rest of your birds, hope you can pick up some great birds from club members.

Thanks Robyn, It's nice to have support from people who know what they are doing and love birds as much as i do.It's a bit like the forum but you actually get to meet people face to face.... and their beautiful birds. I'm really looking forward to more meetings and getting to know all these lovely people.

 

I have watched a video too but it scares the life out of me. I think i would feel better to see it done in real life. I did ring the vet yesterday but she hasn't returned my call to see if there are different meds because i have read about water soluble products.The only down side to water treatments is you don't know who's drinking and how much, but I thought while the rest of the birds are not showing symptoms I might be able to get away with it.

Well so good news has come out of my sadness.Two days before she was sick she laid an egg which i removed and put under a foster hen and now;

 

at nearly 1 week old

That's great news Nadene maybe it will turn out like Mum. It seems to have small nostrils, is that male or female? Can't remember off hand.

That's great news looks like it has plum eyes so should be cinnamon.

Makes you wonder if she may have had egg peritonitis as generally sick birds won't start breeding.

It may have spread into a bigger infection.

Good luck with the little one hope all goes well.

Cheers Jenny

Thank you Robyn and Jenny.

It does have plum eyes, which made me excited hoping it will be cinnamon like mum.

I think small nostrils are male but I can't remember either Robyn

I don't think she died of mega Jenny (I'm not saying she wasn't carrying it) but her crop was so full of fluid it was parting the feathers on her chest and she was also having trouble breathing. I wouldn't have put her in the breeding cage if i thought she was not 100%. I think that's what upset me the most, wondering if i missed something but she had been int the cage with her mate for a couple of weeks and seemed fine and he still is.

Anyway I have a cute healthy chick. I would like it to be a dom pied like her but I have a feeling it will be like her older chicks which are in the pictures below.