3 week old chicks, sick and dying one by one

[Awaytome]

I'm getting my first chicks this May so I'm following threads like this to get a bit of an education. Can anyone tell me why you suggest dosing Corid in water rather than offering medicated chick feed?

 

[FunClucks]

I'm getting my first chicks this May so I'm following threads like this to get a bit of an education. Can anyone tell me why you suggest dosing Corid in water rather than offering medicated chick feed?

It works better that way. Been a while since I looked it up, but there are different dosages of amprolium you give your chicks depending on what you're trying to accomplish. The level in feed is the lowest, just enough to kill some amount of cocci in their system and keep the level low enough while they develop an immunity. Corid in water is a significantly higher dosage designed to save a chick's life that is having trouble with the amount of coccidiosis already in their system and their system is overwhelmed. The medicated feed didn't kill enough of the cocci to allow the chick time to develop the immunity without being overwhelmed. So you switch to non-medicated feed and administer amprolium in the water. You would use the higher dosage of amprolium in the water to eliminate all or most (I forget which) of the cocci in the chick at the time of administration. The chick would recover, and have time to develop the immunity without their system being overloaded by cocci, and therefore as they get more exposure to cocci in the future, they can withstand it without getting sick again.

Do a forum search on "Corid dosage" or "correct Corid dosage" and hunt a bit, and you should come up with exact dosage amounts and rationale.

 

[Awaytome]

It works better that way. Been a while since I looked it up, but there are different dosages of amprolium you give your chicks depending on what you're trying to accomplish. The level in feed is the lowest, just enough to kill some amount of cocci in their system and keep the level low enough while they develop an immunity.....

....Do a forum search on "Corid dosage" or "correct Corid dosage" and hunt a bit, and you should come up with exact dosage amounts and rationale.

Thanks. I will do that.

 

[NatJ]

there are different dosages of amprolium you give your chicks depending on what you're trying to accomplish....Corid in water is a significantly higher dosage designed to save a chick's life that is having trouble with the amount of coccidiosis already in their system and their system is overwhelmed.

An additional detail: Corid can also be used at a lower dosage in the water as a preventative: same idea as the medicated feed, but in the water instead. I believe both kinds of dosage should be on the package.

This makes Corid more versatile, because it can be used either way. The medicated feed only has one dose available.

 

[FunClucks]

An additional detail: Corid can also be used at a lower dosage in the water as a preventative: same idea as the medicated feed, but in the water instead. I believe both kinds of dosage should be on the package.

This makes Corid more versatile, because it can be used either way. The medicated feed only has one dose available.

Now that you say that, I remember! I would just caution folks to be sure to calculate dosage based on your chickens' weight (the bottle talks about calves, but yes we use it off-label for chickens).

 

[NatJ]

Now that you say that, I remember! I would just caution folks to be sure to calculate dosage based on your chickens' weight (the bottle talks about calves, but yes we use it off-label for chickens).

In the water, the dose is figured as a medicine/water ratio, and it is assumed that bigger chickens will drink more water (same as the feed: bigger chicks eat more feed per day, so they get more medication per day too.)

Here is an article that gives what should be the correct ratios:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...ol-ampromed-the-correct-amprolium-dose.73341/

If someone needs to give a concentrated dose directly into the chick's beak, then yes they would need to figure the correct dose based on the chick's weight. I think I've read that information too, but I've lost track of where it was.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

someone needs to give a concentrated dose directly into the chick's beak, then yes they would need to figure the correct dose based on the chick's weight. I think I've read that information too, but I've lost track of where it was.

I think @Wyorp Rock can give these dosages, or maybe @azygous.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm getting my first chicks this May so I'm following threads like this to get a bit of an education. Can anyone tell me why you suggest dosing Corid in water rather than offering medicated chick feed?

You can offer medicated feed, that's your preference, but it's always best to have some Corid on hand.

In the US, most medicated chick feed contains a very small amount of Amprolium (Corid) which helps to inhibit the growth of Coccidia (not Cocci), allowing the chicks to build resistance.

You would really only want to dose or add Corid to the water when there is an overload of Coccidia (Coccidiosis), but some do put it in the water as prevention.
I don't use it unless I notice an issue which is rare.
If raising your chicks in a brooder, keep the brooder relatively dry and keep food/water stations cleaned. Don't keep your brooder "sterile", chickens are sterile at all. Offer your chicks a plug of sod in their brooder, this can help introduce them to a myriad of pathogens that they may encounter outside.

I raise my chicks either by broody and they are on the ground at hatch being exposed to all sorts of things or if I brood them myself, they are in an outside pen that I have "cleaned" a little but it still has dirt, some dander/feathers and dried poop etc. still in it so they get instant "exposure" to the flocks they will be near or integrated in to.

That's my take, everyone does things differently.

Corid liquid dose is 2tsp or Corid Powder is 1 1/2tsp per gallon of water given as the sole source of drinking water for 5-7 days. Don't add any extra vitamins or supplements that contain B1(Thiamine) to their food or water during the course of treatment.

 

[onewithin]

I started with 11 chicks who appeared very sick when we got them. I made a post about the 2 worst ones which sadly passed. One passed an hour after getting them home and one the next day. Then another 2 days later and at this point, I have 6 left. I've had them for 2 weeks. I immediately started them on Corid(a recommendation I received from my 1st post), poly vi sol (vitamins), and a drop of nutridrench in their water. They had that for approximately 2 days and then there was a missed communication and when their water was changed, corid was not added. I dont know when the corid was discontinued but when I found out, I started them back on it. So they received corid for at least 2 days and then didn't receive it for 10 or less days and have been receiving it going on 5 days. Another bird passed last night. When we received them, they had little bugs on them bad enough you could see them crawling across their backs. We dusted them and then dusted again 9 days later although there were no visible bugs any longer. What else can I do? Their feathers are sticking out but they arent frizzles: is this a symptom of something? People describe chicks as "puffed out" for coccidiosis but I don't know what exactly that looks like. Im attaching pictures. I want to give them all a fair chance. I also have tylan, should I give that with the corid? I plan on discontinuing the corid after today which will be 5 full days of corid and then restart in 2 weeks for 3 days; is this right? I am still putting the poly vi sol and drop of nutridrench in the water and now adding probiotics, vitamin E, and vetrx. I feel like I'm trying everything and they seem to be getting better and then another one dies. One has had pasty butt twice which we cleaned both times, the 2nd time I put coconut oil on and around her vent to try to prevent the caking of the poop and some of her feathers were gone around her vent so I thought it would protect the skin. Another one had pasty butt and was washed and was fine and then she died the next day. Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. They are in a brooder inside with a heat lamp. They have been so sick so I haven't even tried acclimating them to cooler temps but they seem comfortable are scattered throughout the brooder. They are the most skittish chicks I've ever seen, they scream and scatter just from walking by the brooder. They're eating chick crumbles from atwoods. I'm happy to add more pictures and can buy whatever medicine or supplies necessary.

I'm so sorry to hear about your chicks. Do you, by any chance, buy feed from Tractor Supply??

 

[NatJ]

I'm so sorry to hear about your chicks. Do you, by any chance, buy feed from Tractor Supply??

There's a photo of the feed tag in a post some pages back:

I'm attaching a picture of the tag from the bag. And a code on the side. Im wondering if the date on the tag is the date it was made or the expiration? I never looked until now... The were eating this feed when we received them so I didn't want to change it.

(Click on the quote to go to the post it is quoting, that has the photo as an attachment.)

The tag in the photo says "Ranch Pro" and "Manufactured for Atwood Distributing."

Given that information, I would guess it did not come from TSC.