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LOOKING FOR COLOR By: Peter J. Brown, First State Veterinary Supply, Inc. You know the routine, prepping your birds for an upcoming show is a lot of work. Especially if you are going to be showing a lot of birds. The big show is right around the corner and most of your birds are looking good but there is a small group in your flock that just doesn’t look right. You have tried everything that you know of and still these few don’t look quite right. Is there anything that you can do to regain the color and overall appearance of your birds? Well there are several things that you can do to bring the birds back into top form. Usually you have done the obvious things such as spraying the bird for mites and lice and the like but there are a lot of other factors that come into play. Begin by worming your birds with a good quality wormer one that gets all the worms.Most people use piperazine but it only gets the round worms leaving a whole host of other worms to just sap the color out of your birds. I would suggest Valbazen it is a very broad spectrum wormer and will do a good job without upsetting the birds. It also will rid the birds of tape worms as well. Suggested dosage would be 1 cc Valbazen liquid wormer to 8 cc of water and then give 2 cc of this solution down the throat. May be repeated in 10 days and should be done every 6 to 8 weeks . Secondly I would treat for Coccidiosis using Amprol Powder and 3-Nitro-W, in the drinking water for 5 to 7 days. Dosage would be 1 teaspoon of Amprol and 1/8 of a teaspoon of the 3-Nitro-W, in a gallon of water. If after completing the above two treatments the birds droppings look normal ( solid with a nice white cap ) some of the missing color should start returning to the birds face and legs,etc. If the droppings are watery and loose mix 1 teaspoon of Neomycin powder and 1 teaspoon of BMD Bacitracin and 2 teaspoons of Terramycin in a gallon of water and give for 7 days. Immediately follow up this treatment with a good quality Probiotic in the drinking water for 3 to 5 days. If feathering out is not moving along as fast as you would like it to add 1/8 of a teaspoon of 3-Nitro-W to the water for 5 to 7 days and it will help with the feathering as well as the leg and facial color. About a week before the big show put some Replamin Liquid with Iron in the birds drinking water and keep it there all during the show. Replamin contains a group of Chelated trace minerals that have been found to be deficient in most animals including chickens. Chelation is the chemical process of attaching the trace minerals to a readily absorbed amino acid compound so that utilization and absorption is immediate. This product is one of the best that I have ever seen. Dosage is 2 teaspoons per gallon of drinking water made fresh daily. You may also want to put some 3-Nitro-W,in the drinking water as well, as it will help with the birds color. It may be used on a daily basis during the show but should not be used long term. If putting on weight is a problem and the bird has been checked for some of the above mentioned problems and is in your opinion in good health but just a bit behind on weight,then try 1/4 cc of Injectable Vitamin B-12 mixed with 2/10 of a cc Injectable Iron and give twice a week. You may also want to add 1/8 teaspoon of 3-Nitro-W to a gallon of water and give for 7 to 10 days. The addition of Protein tablets crushed and sprinkled on top of the birds feed on a daily basis for 7 to 10 days may also be of value. Usually 4 to 6 tablets per bird per day will do the job. This combination usually helps with weight gain. Respiratory problems will sap a birds color in a heartbeat as well as give you other problems. When a respiratory infection takes place it will change the Ph of the birds blood and when this happens,the hemoglobin of the blood will no longer be able to become saturated with oxygen. This will cause difficulty in breathing and hence a loss of color especially in the facial region of the bird. Cyanosis will occur which is the dark color that the face turns which is almost in some cases black. Respiratory pathogens can be treated with a variety of medications. If you are having difficulty with a viral pathogen that you have not vaccinated for you may have some success by administering a product called Sambucol at the rate of 2 cc per bird orally twice per day until symptoms subside. Bacterial pathogens can be treated with a variety of medications such as Spectinomycin, LS-50, Gallimycin, Bactocide and Baytril just to mention a few. If you have any question about this article or any other health issue, please feel free to contact Peter Brown