serial diarrhea running through flock

Over the past 2 months I've lost half of my flock, 5 birds. It starts out with loose stools and progresses to liquidy, whitish diarrhea and lethargy. I have not seen any blood in the stools. It has hit one bird at a time and I've isolated the effected bird as soon as I see the symptoms. The birds continue to eat and drink fine, but continue to lose weight and eventually die. I give the sick ones ACV in their water and yogurt along with their normal feed. It seems to hit a new bird about every 2 weeks, and it's only been one at a time. They are 3 years old, and usually confined to a 25x25 pen with a 10x10 coop. The pen is dirt, and we've had periods of heavy rain making it quite damp. I have not seen any evidence of mites, but there are mosquitoes in the nesting boxes that I've tried repelling with granulated garlic under the shavings. Ideas? Could it be that the pen soil is contaminated since they've been in the one area so long? If so, how can I address it?
Thanks for any help.

Do you have a vet that will do a fecal float test for you?
When were they last wormed?

It's been over a month since they've been wormed. I'll contact my vet in the morning to see if he'll do a fecal. I haven't been able to bring myself to do any type of post-mortem on the previous chickens but I may have to suck it up if this one doesn't make it.

What do you worm with?
A necropsy may be your best option to find out what it is. If they were younger I'd absolutely suspect coccidiosis, it does not always present with blood in the droppings. Older birds have usually developed some resistance, but it's still possible. It's something that I always watch for, especially after rainy periods since I know I have it in my soil.
There are so many things it could be, the fact that it's moving through your flock suggests a pathogen of some kind, viral, bacterial or parasites. If you can get the float test it will rule out, or in, the parasite and cocci part.
In absence of any other symptoms, perhaps post a pic of the droppings, and maybe one of the more experienced posters on here will have an idea.

Well, I proceeded a bit in parallel. I wormed them with Wazine 17 and took a sample in to the vet. They said it tested positive for coccidea but I didn't get a relative level. They were jammed right before closing so I need to follow up on that today but I did start Covid. The good news is that the diarrhea seems to have abated but I still need to figure out how to disinfect the run - I've seen suggestions for ammonia or Oxine AH. I have chicks growing out that I would eventually like to put into the same area so I don't want to run the risk of them being exposed to a concentrated pathogen that may still be there. Any luck with either of these approaches or do you have another recommendation?

txbiff said:

Well, I proceeded a bit in parallel. I wormed them with Wazine 17 and took a sample in to the vet. They said it tested positive for coccidea but I didn't get a relative level. They were jammed right before closing so I need to follow up on that today but I did start Covid. The good news is that the diarrhea seems to have abated but I still need to figure out how to disinfect the run - I've seen suggestions for ammonia or Oxine AH. I have chicks growing out that I would eventually like to put into the same area so I don't want to run the risk of them being exposed to a concentrated pathogen that may still be there. Any luck with either of these approaches or do you have another recommendation?

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Can't comment on treating the run, but I can tell you what the Corid dose is.

• 20% powder is 1.5 teaspoons per gallon for 5 days, then 1/3 teaspoon per gallon for 7-14 days.
• 9.6% liquid is 2 teaspoons per gallon for 5 days, then 1/2 teaspoon per gallon for 7-14 days.

I'm lazy, so I do 5 days then 7 days, not 14.

-Kathy

I would do a search on here for "disinfecting coops" and disinfecting for cocci" and look at those opinions and see what you find.
I personally would not use ammonia in my coop as I'd worry about the fumes, but some people say they do. I pretty much clean with vinegar. And my understanding is that there is really nothing that can be done about the cocci in the soil. Some people rarely or never have it, some have chronic issues.
It's just something I watch for, and I keep Corid on hand always. It's very safe, and I don't hesitate to use it if I think there is a bird with coccidiosis. For my chicks raised in a brooder I provide outside dirt, not from the coop, for them to dust bathe in. I just use a big heavy plastic saucer for putting under potted plants. As they get closer to going outside (older), I mix in a bit of dry dirt from the outside chicken run, to try to expose them gradually. And I watch for illness. If they are raised by a broody hen, the same thing will happen naturally. And still you watch for illness. When I'm moving chicks outside at first I don't put them out if the ground is wet.
I don't know how your coop is set up, but when I built mine I put in a poop board under the roosts. It gets cleaned off every morning and taken to the compost pile, and it's a very good way to observe and catch things early, often before you see any other obvious symptoms.
Also, if you have a place or places in the run that seem to stay wet or damp a lot, I'd try to address that.
If you have cocci, it's just something to be aware of and watch for.