For scratches, cuts, tears and
fighting injuries it is hard to beat a simple cleaning of the area and regular
applications of Neosporin, Triple Antibiotic or other common wound ointment.
Deep wounds can be a special problem, so clean them with hydrogen peroxide and
then use a good ointment. These ointments seem to promote healing from the
inside out.
Respiratory ills may appear after
sudden cold snaps, in very damp weather, following transport, and may even be
triggered by heat stress. They can be accompanied by nasal discharge, swelling
of the face and around the eyes, gaping of the mouth, and gurgling breath
sounds. In treating these symptoms an inexpensive product called VetRX has done
a good job for us. We open the bird’s beak and send a few drops down its
throat, apply a coat of it around the beak and eyes, and then drizzle a few
drops to form a reinforcing film atop the bird’s drinking water.
There should be results seen in
one to three days. We also apply Vicks or Mentholatum to the bird’s face and
around the eyes being careful not to clog the nostril openings.
Quickly launch support therapy
with sugar and vitamin/electrolyte in the drinking water. Use cage covers to
keep chilling drafts off of the birds. Old feed sacks can be stapled to cage
fronts for this purpose and then be pulled down and burned for sanitary
purposes when no longer needed.
There are a number of oral antibiotic
products that can be mixed with drinking water. Their drawback is that most are
created for large group treatment and must be used quickly after opening.
Placing them in a sealable plastic bag and storing them in a refrigerator may
prolong their shelf life a bit.
Most have done an off-label use
of a health product or even tried a human health product on a sick bird at one
time or another. This cannot be recommended and all health product labels
should be followed scrupulously. Especially note and follow all withdrawal
recommendations. Some health products must not be used with birds producing
table eggs.
Thoroughly clean and disinfect
the isolation pen with a strong chlorine bleach solution between uses.
In no way can all of the
ins-and-outs of detailed poultry health care be outlined here, but the
following are some measures and practices that have worked for us.
Basic
Poultry Health Care Tips
Have a pen or cage at least several hundred
feet away from other birds in which to quarantine ill appearing or injured
birds.
Care for them last each and every time you
tend your birds. Remove any birds from the group at the earliest sign of
problems. Others in the group may turn on them.
Applying supplemental heat will do much to
make birds feel better. I’ve seen chilled chicks bounce back from a near
flat state when their body heat is restored. Heat will help birds that
aren’t eating well to maintain some condition.
Give birds the full attention while working
around them. Listen for sounds arising from respiratory ills, watch for
unusual behavior like gaping, check for blood or injury, look for fecal
irregularities, and be alert for anything that just doesn’t seem right.
Oral antibiotics and their use and storage
were discussed earlier. There are also injectable products that can be
used with chickens and homeopathic remedies. Yes, you can give a chicken
an injection, generally in the breast muscle. Follow all instructions
fully, store properly, fill syringes through a separate needle than the
one used to give injections, and note that products in dark colored
bottles are light sensitive.
Don’t wear chore clothes and footwear off the
farm or around other birds and livestock or to areas where other producers
may be encountered.
The birds that survive stressful times in the best condition, that
grow well despite being a part of a late-hatch, that reach maturity with
the least amount of tweaking are the birds from which producers should be
breeding. Death is nature’s way of removing the poor performers from the
flock before they can draw down the overall health and well being of the
group.
Upon occasion, some birds appear to come undone for no real reason. They go light, fall behind the group or just fail to thrive. Some even seem to defy medical and health treatments. Those given a treatment with antibiotics may need to rebuild the good flora in the gut with a probiotic product. Still, it must be accepted that some losses will occur and in the long run, some of those may be for the best in the endeavor to improve hardiness and durability in an heirloom breed flock.
There are no magic bullet health
cures and part of your task as an heirloom breeder will be to become a
discerning user of the products that come available.
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