Coccidia in Fecal Analysis after Corid Treatment - Did it not work?

[Rea17]

Hello everyone,

I'm new here to BYC, but have been lurking and reading ever since we decided to get chickens. A little background, we've owned them for about 6 weeks and they range in age from 7 weeks-13 weeks old. All 8 pullets were purchased from my feed store. I did NOT have them on medicated starter feed at first, mainly because the feed store I was at didn't offer it and from my research, Cocci was mostly a concern in unhygienic situations and medicated feed wasn't necessary for smaller operations.

A couple weeks ago I noticed one of my barred rock chicks (that had just made the transition to the coop a week prior) was acting droopy and puffed up, laying by herself in the corner of the run. A quick google search and I had the Coccidia diagnosis. After checking the droppings in the coop carefully I found a couple that contained blood. I did some more research and immediately picked up liquid Corid 9.6% solution and dosed per instructions on this forum - 9.5cc to a gallon of water. I dosed their water from July 10th to July 16th, mixing up a new batch daily. It was their only water source for the duration of the treatment. On the first day I was needing to manually water the barred rock who appeared sick with a dropper, but by the end of the day she was eating again and drinking on her own. She perked up after the treatment period and the other chickens never showed any concerning symptoms, so I figured all was good.

I began noticing more diarrhea in the run and some of the older chickens acting a little more sleepy than normal. I continued to find blood in the droppings in the coop, but definitely less than before the Corid treatment. I started to research other possibilities and decided that they might have worms as well, but wanted a definite diagnosis before dropping possible unnecessary treatment on them. I took one from my flock to the vet yesterday with a mixed fecal sample from all of my chickens, and got the results back today. The exam of the 11 week old BCM went great, but the fecal results came back with elevated Coccidia levels, "50 count" sounded pretty high by the way they said it. My vet recommended getting them on medicated starter feed for two weeks, which I found today and have given them.

My questions:

Did the Corid treatment not work? I read that a follow up in 2-3 weeks for 3 days may be necessary and was planning to do it, but I didn't expect sickness in the meantime.

Are they already on the road to recovery having lived with it for a few weeks at this point? How long will I find blood in the droppings after they've been treated?

I know the medicated feed is designed to build up immunity slowly, and isn't meant to be a treatment. Did my vet give me good advice? Should I just keep them on the medicated feed until they switch to layer pellets?

When should I look at giving them probiotics and possible vitamin supplements post treatment? I don't want to encourage Cocci growth by giving them too much protein before the treatment is successful.

Any input is much appreciated! I just want to do what is going to be best for my chickens. If there is any information needed that I left out let me know, but I think I covered everything.

 

[dawg53]

Since the corid didn't appear to work, switch to sulmet. Follow the directions on the bottle.

 

[Rea17]

Thanks for the reply. I was under the impression that Sulmet was much harder on the birds and only treated 2/9 strains of Coccidia, while Corid treated them all. Can I ask why this would work better? Any insight to my other questions? Tyvm

 

[dawg53]

Thanks for the reply. I was under the impression that Sulmet was much harder on the birds and only treated 2/9 strains of Coccidia, while Corid treated them all. Can I ask why this would work better? Any insight to my other questions? Tyvm

It's true that sulmet can be more harsh, sulfadimethoxine might be a better choice. The cocci probably have built resistance to the corid, a sulfa med would be required to kill either one of the two types that are infecting your birds. You can feed the medicated feed as your vet stated, but use a sulfa med for treatment. Switch to regular layer feed at 18-19 weeks old. Once sulmet or sulfadimethoxine treatment are completed, provide your birds buttermilk and chopped boiled eggs in their feed to make a mash to eat for about 3 days. The buttermilk is a better probiotic than yogurt and will rebuild their immune system. It coats the intestinal lining and is absorbed quicker. Chopped boiled egg will rebuild their strength.

 

[Rea17]

Thanks for the info! I will look into finding some sulfadimethoxine locally before ordering it online. After looking it up, I do have a few concerns regarding it's "safeness" on birds meant for laying. There is a warning on the label that it is "Not FDA approved for use in laying hens" and only to use on broiler and replacement(?) chickens, and those under 16 weeks of age. Mine are under the 16 week mark, but I just want to make sure eating future eggs is safe.

I'm also not sure how urgent this issue is at the moment, they are eating and drinking eagerly and not really acting lethargic. Everything I've read regarding coccidiosis states that it is a quick killer and needs to be taken care of asap, but since the Corid treatment things *seem* stable, besides the diarrhea. If I can't find it at one of my nearby feed stores and have to wait for it to ship, is that going to be a problem? TIA

 

[dawg53]

Thanks for the info! I will look into finding some sulfadimethoxine locally before ordering it online. After looking it up, I do have a few concerns regarding it's "safeness" on birds meant for laying. There is a warning on the label that it is "Not FDA approved for use in laying hens" and only to use on broiler and replacement(?) chickens, and those under 16 weeks of age. Mine are under the 16 week mark, but I just want to make sure eating future eggs is safe.

I'm also not sure how urgent this issue is at the moment, they are eating and drinking eagerly and not really acting lethargic. Everything I've read regarding coccidiosis states that it is a quick killer and needs to be taken care of asap, but since the Corid treatment things *seem* stable, besides the diarrhea. If I can't find it at one of my nearby feed stores and have to wait for it to ship, is that going to be a problem? TIA

If you decide to use sulmet, it has a 10 day withdrawal period.
Sulfadimethoxine has a 5 day withdrawal period.

http://www.sheepandgoat.com/articles/CoccidostatsTable.pdf