The Poultry Keeper

sasha.p · Joined: 04 Sep 2005 Posts: 502 Location: gwent

I know all vets have a different idea of what things should cost but i have some ex batts that have come down with a respiartory virus they are in moult but are showing symptoms of rattling breathing a small cough watery but turning frothy eyes and now this afternoon i have noticed one has a swollen side of the face under the eye.

i am going to ring the vets in the morning but wondered if anyone could tell me how much they charge for a-biotics for chooks i have 60 birds running together so they are probabley all going to get it as they have been in contact with each other as i have only had them a few weeks isolated from my pure breeds.

I have never needed to use a vet before now for a chook but i guess i will have to take one of the girls there?any advice greatley appreciated on this one also the lady i had them off told me they were all vacinated so what do they usually vaccinate against in large units?

i had one who was laying a few days back and the egg was all rippled like infectious bronchitus so i am wondering is this is what they have but then the one now has a swollen face on the one side and the eyes are turning frothy so now i am not sure Crying or Very sad

poor girls

Magpie · Joined: 28 Aug 2007 Posts: 667 Location: Norfolk

My poultry vet charged about £18 for a 100g of tylan soluble, after a consultation, physical examination, blood tests and droppings checks that cost about £15 Smile

It really does depend where you go though.

Tim

sasha.p · Joined: 04 Sep 2005 Posts: 502 Location: gwent

Hiya magpie was that for one birds treatment or 60?
The vets i am going to are pretty expensive but they do deal with livestock so really are the best place to take them to am going to ring at 9 to get an appointment i guess there goes the money i was saving the birds have to come first but i had a feeling when i took extra on that somthing will probabley go wrong and end up being costly Crying or Very sad

just hope the vets can treat what ever it is and the girls get better

sasha.p · Joined: 04 Sep 2005 Posts: 502 Location: gwent

well i just phoned the vets and am now waiting to hear back from them as there were no vets at the surgery yet so i asked what sort of cost am i looking at and could not get and answer other than it will cost 15 pound to see them in the first place withought treatment i hate it when they can not give you a straight price i am trying to get the one vet who deals with poultry as would like to know what the cause is and get the right treatment but if anyone here can advise me of what sort of price i should be looking at for a flock of 60 birds that would be great so i can compare as there is the option of three other vets in my area

Chris Kurzfeld · Joined: 29 Oct 2007 Posts: 1712 Location: Carmarthenshire

I have 45 chooks and recently had an outbreak the same as yours. I separated the worst ones, put Tylan soluable in the water of the one that weren't too bad, and managed to get some Tylan 200 (injectable into breast muscle) from my vet. The dosage is 0.5 ml per large fowl (0.3 for small fowl) with a second injection 48 hours later. I was lucky in that my vet didn't ask to see the chooks (he knows i know more than he does about chooks, so no consultaion fee) and was prepared to give me the exact amount i needed - I also only had 5 that needed injections. I do have to say that the injections did have a remarkable affect on the birds - I was amazed at how quickly they recovered. Out of all of them i only lost one youngster and had one that needed a repeat of 2 injections a month later. I think the whole lot (I already had Tylan soluable) about £5.

sasha.p · Joined: 04 Sep 2005 Posts: 502 Location: gwent

thanks chris that a releif i have an appointment for this evening so am going to take the worst bird down but dh has been with them all day so i popped in to see how they are before i went shopping and the one who was swollen is now unswollen but her eye has gammed shut and she is still rattling but i checked her crop and she has eaten food today which she was not yesterday so maybe their own immunity is kicking in but obviousley will still need a -biotics due to the chest

it was quite frightening to see the side of her head swelling it looked so uncomfotable but the frothy eye has gone now due to it being gunked over but i want the vet to see the one who is at her worst so he can identify what type of respiratory virus it is.will let you all know how we get on and what damage its done to my pocket lol Smile

Itsybitsy · Joined: 11 Feb 2006 Posts: 1452 Location: Leicestershire

It sounds like Mycoplasma to me and the Tylan treatment is best, can't give you a vet price though. I use the Tylan 200 (at the dosage Chris was given) it does work quickly, it isn't licensed for poultry though because the carrier in the injectable can damage muscle tissue so can't be used in meat birds, but in a layer it's no problem. Chickens are injected into the breast tissue because there is the potential to hit a nerve in the leg and cause permanent lameness. Birds which fly are injected in the leg, birds which walk are injected in the breast.

Itsybitsy

Magpie · Joined: 28 Aug 2007 Posts: 667 Location: Norfolk

I had to take one bird in as it was the first time I had been to them so the exam and tests relate to one bird. The tylan would be more than enough to treat 60 birds! It is a quarter of a teaspoon in 2l of drinking water (withhold all other drinking water) for 5 days so the 100g bottle would dose about 70l of water if my maths is correct Wink

You do have to make up fresh water daily though, I add poultry multivits at the same time as the tylan can suppress appetite sometimes, the vits balance it out.

www.crowshall.co.uk are my vets, really good and happy to help a non-specialist vet over the phone or do tests via the post.

Tim

sasha.p · Joined: 04 Sep 2005 Posts: 502 Location: gwent

well i saw the vet not the one i wanted to see as he was off but the lady i did see injected the hen i took in who was the one with the eye with some baytril and said she is going to contact the poultry vet to ask what he recommends for the treatment and prescribe somthing for the rest of the flock in the morning not sure at what cost yet but tonights consultation cost me 21.52 6.36 of that was for the injection and that was with discount.

none of the other girls have anything going on with the eyes i took a thorough look over again this evening whilst they were all roosting its just on their chest.
the vet cleared the eye and said it appeared to be sunken slightly so seems to think it may of had a trauma or bump to the eye i cant imagine what could of caused that.

i guess that would explain the swelling and why the swelling has gone down quickly she did say the outlook does not look good for the girl who was the one i was most concerned over, but i still have my fingers crossed as yesterday evening i checked her crop and it was empty tonight before the visit to the vets she had it packed tightly with food so has her appetite back.

well i hope the baytril helps her in time i have her snuggled up in my hallway in the warm on some straw at the moment as its bitter out there and she is just going into moult so is half bare but will return her to the rest tomorrow and will be separting the rattly cheast birds from the ones who are showing no symptoms yet more work again.

then i am off in the morning to pick up what ever they decide to give the others so i can get them all treated.thanks for the advice and info on the vets i thought it may be of use to compare prices too just so people who are new to keeping poultry can expect fees wise when things go wrong or where the best places are to get treatment at reasonable prices

sasha.p · Joined: 04 Sep 2005 Posts: 502 Location: gwent

just an update well admittidley the hen i took to the vets seems a lot better today she is only left with a rattley chest so fingers crossed but my pocket is a bit damaged after all this the vet calculated how much more baytril i would need and it worked out at a cost of 48.50 for only 30 of the chickens i have to give two ml to every litre of water.so adding the cost of yesterdays and todays fees it has so far been a pretty costly venture .

i isolated any bird that so much as sneezed or looked off colour lol and they are all now receiving a-biotics so fingers crossed will get over it quickly .i asked about tylan and they said it is the second choice and it is just as expensive the vet mentioned somthing about the strength of the baytril being 10% and they normally prescribe it at 5.5%for a dog or somthing so its a really strong one but i will try another vets if i get any further hassle just to compare the going rate in this area and failing that will try crowshell as it looks like a good poultry practice. Very Happy

Henwife · Joined: 31 Jan 2006 Posts: 3540 Location: Monmouthshire

Your vet is correct about the strength for poultry - all too often they dole out the lower strength one because that's what they have in stock. Why chicken always chose the worst possible moment to run up horrendous vet's bills is beyond me, but they do.

sasha.p · Joined: 04 Sep 2005 Posts: 502 Location: gwent

well they gave the right type of a-biotic the girl who was really bad has improved so much although the vet said she probabley would not make it she seems to be proving quite the opposite, the girls are happily isolated in one of our sheds from the rest who so far appear to be showing no sypmtoms but i am keeping a close check and anything that so much as shakes it head is heading for isolation lol.

I am just glad now i have isolated them from each other i can see the difference and they quite clearly do not look good wattles and combs off colour almost all are moulting and every one in isolation is sneezing every two seconds fingers crossed they will get over it quickly just popped on to order another load of virkon s to througoughly wash the house out and kill all the germs that are sneezed all over lol.

glad to hear the vets have given the right strength henwife at least they are doing their job right even if it is costley Very Happy

Pekinout · Joined: 29 Apr 2008 Posts: 1219 Location: Cornwall

Have you got enough to treat ALL your flock? As it is contagious so the others may well develop symptoms

Wilt · Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2008 7:34 am Post subject:

sasha.p · Joined: 04 Sep 2005 Posts: 502 Location: gwent

Hiya the vet calculated the dose for me as two ml to every litre as i worked out roughly 25 litres per day drinking water for the whole 60 birds(but that was with me tipping away remains and cleaning out and refilling the next day) so we halfed it and she gave me enough to cover half which is more than i needed as only 5 birds were getting rattley the rest were just sneezing or coughing so they are being treated .

i worked out i have enough as they have not consumed as much water as i first suspected there is enough for the whole flock so have given it to them all just to be on the safe side but have still isolated the ones which are obviously showing symptoms and am keeping them separate for another week although i am treating the other half the vet said any more problems to just go back fingerscrossed they should all be recovered by this weekend.

i think a few of the sneezing ones have now got it on the chest but are still on anti biotics so will treat them for the rest of this week and if i run out will go back to the vets i would rather treat them all than lose any as they have wonderful little tempraments and are so friendly and not so spooked like they were when we first had them they are all starting to come back into lay too so lots of eggs appearing in various houses around our run only thing is i forgot to ask the vet how long is the withdrawal period for baytril?will ask on the various topics forum now Rolling Eyes