Sick chick - weak, not eating, tarry poop -HELP!

[themoldypeach]

Found my 4 week old orpington chick lying down yesterday while everyone else was up & happy. It is so hot I immediately brought her inside & started giving her Sav-a-Chick electrolytes. She stayed in last night. She will drink when I put the bowl to her beak. She has not eat. She has pooped a few times but it is very dark & tarry looking. I felt her throat & didn't feel anything. Her vent looks fine. She layed in the hay with her face tucked in her wing last night & I thought she was resting comfortably but this morning she is standing kind of puffed up with her head & neck drawn in. Looks miserable. She is alert.
I have been rotating medicated & non-medicated starter feed & am a few of days into a non-med bag. Is this the dreaded cocci or over-heating? I don't know what to do for either. OMG, this is so stressful. I thought, let's get chickens - it will be fun....

 

[aquagolda]

ok no need to panic I don't think its as serious as you think it is because the chickens alert and drinking which is very good

stay on medicated feed keep putting the electrolytes in the water but let her drink water and elec water
make her eat any way you can try feeding worms to her but in pieces

 

[themoldypeach]

Thanks, Aquagolda! Glad someone replied! How do some threads get 50 responses and some get um, 1?
The chick is walking around a little. She hasn't eat much. I am heading to Tractor Supply shortly to see what they suggest because her poop is the same. Some landed in her water & it made the water red/bloody. I'm wondering if I should treat all the chicks that she was in the brooder with even if they are not showing symptoms?
Today has been such a crap day. A hawk got 5 of my chickens today. If this chick dies too, I will be the worst chicken mama ever.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Sounds just like coccidiosis.

I give my chicks with coccidiosis Corid (in the cattle section of the feed store) 9.6% solution. I give 9.5 ml per gallon of water, new solution mixed daily. Don't administer vitamins with Corid I have read.

I give Corid for 5 days. Improvement should be seen within 24 hours from my experience, and I always treat all the chicks who have been exposed to the poo of the "sick" one.

If your little one isn't drinking a lot, I'd take a syringe and dribble the medicated water alongside the beak (not poured into the beak) so she can drink it herself and not aspirate.

If the bloody poos come back after the Corid stops, I go another round.

 

[AZBootsie]

I sounds like cocci, but with the medicated starter it shouldn't be. I would pick up some sulmet since you are going to the feed store anyway, just to be safe. It is easy to mix in the water.

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[mithious]

Thanks, Aquagolda! Glad someone replied! How do some threads get 50 responses and some get um, 1?
The chick is walking around a little. She hasn't eat much. I am heading to Tractor Supply shortly to see what they suggest because her poop is the same. Some landed in her water & it made the water red/bloody. I'm wondering if I should treat all the chicks that she was in the brooder with even if they are not showing symptoms?
Today has been such a crap day. A hawk got 5 of my chickens today. If this chick dies too, I will be the worst chicken mama ever.

What you just described above are almost all the classic symptoms of a cocci overload. The medicated feed does not have enough amprolium, which is the brand name for corid, in it. They can still get an overload of cocci on the medicated feed. If I were you, I would treat, with corid, for cocci...

To answer your other question, sometimes people miss a thread, or think, this is the same as the past 4 threads, so assume the poster is reading the others, and sometimes, there are just not enough knowledgeable people online at the time a post is written. Sorry you got missed, somehow???

If you decide to treat the cocci overload,I can give you what I did and the dosages ect. If you decide not to treat for cocci, just remember, it is a killer parasite and takes them down fast, once they reach that tipping point, There has been a ton of cocci outbreaks this year and many dead birds from it. So sad!!!

 

[AZBootsie]

Not a bad chicken Mama!!!!

A Good Chicken Mama

Just having
a
bad day!!!​

 

[themoldypeach]

Please! What dosage of the Corid do I use for a 4 wk old chick? Please don't ask me to weigh her! And I treat everyone else that she was in the brooder with too? Do I keep her separated or they are all in the same boat now?
I think my post got missed b/c I started the tread at 6:30 EST .....and I guess not everyone is online then. As soon as I gave it a little bump, I got some responses.

 

[mithious]

Ok, the liquid dose is 2 tsp per gallon of water and the powder is 1/2 to 3/4ths tsp per gallon, if you are seeing bloody poo, sounds like you are, I would treat for 7 days. The recommendation is 5-7 days treatment. What I did, was start at 1 tsp of corid, per gallon, to start with. The 1/2 tsp is for moderate infestation...I couldn't get them to drink enough and Fred's Hen's suggested mixing the corid water and tipping some into some feed, enough for them to eat in about 2 hours, then remove that feed. It kinda jump starts them and gets them eating also, Some of mine were not eating at all...I dipped beaks for almost two days, round the clock, trying to get the meds in. With the mushy feed, I saw a difference in a matter of hours and that was the tipping point for us. I also slowly reduced the dose, over the 7 days, down to the 1/2 tsp. Treat all chicks and chickens with only the medicated water, so they have no other option but to drink the med water. Do not give any vitamins, as Corid is a thiamine blocker, vitamins would just feed the parasites and could hamper their recovery, Also do not use the medicated feed. Just give them the corid water and unmedicated feed, no treats either. You can give plain electolytes, but I didn't. I still saw runny poos on day 5-6, so they needed the whole 7 days. It is also recommended to wait 2 weeks and retreat. Also, clean out all bedding and deep clean with ammonia, seems ammonia will kill the cocci, as bleach, not so much. Put in fresh bedding! If mine had been in their run? I would've cleaned and lymed that too...with hydrated lyme. It needs to be rototilled into the soil before they are let back out, if you have chickens in a run...???

Best of luck with your flock and hopes for a fast and full recovery. Oh, I did not lose one chicken, mine did not have the classic symptoms at first, and they got sick in a matter of hours, after being stressed!

 

[themoldypeach]

Tractor Supply was sold out of corid & won't have more until Sunday. So. I have that chick separated & giving her electrolytes. I cleaned out the brooder she was in & gave those chicks medicated starter. Am I being paranoid or do they have like a fluid sack on their chest? I have had a most stressful chicken day with the sick chick and the hawk and the blah, blah, blah...BUT I am happy to say my pullets came home at dark! I only lost the 1 that was beheaded through the cage - everyone else ran & hide. Guess chickens are smarter than I thought

If I can get these babies raised up, I will be a happy chicken mama again.

Oh, I am traveling to another feed supply store first thing in the a.m. for the corid but it was too late today. All other chicks are happy and active with normal poop.

I would appreciate all thoughts on that fluid sack. My husband said it was there yesterday & I totally blew him off. So I'm hoping that everyone replies that it is totally normal & has been there all along OR that is impossible and he is imagining 9 chicks have a fluid bubble on their chest.

Cats are so much easier.