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[LameyInn7423]

Ok, character break, and this will be kind of a long post but I need advice. Anyone feel free to chime in, then after lunch Ravyn can tell what I should ABSOLUTELY do

So, last night I got a text from a customer that bought chicks 3 months ago. She bought 9 straight run, and texted and asked if I have ever had problems with coccidosis. She said that they started experiencing symptoms the day after she got them home, lethargic, bloody stool, etc... She has since lost 6 of 9, and is worried about the last 3.
Now, I have never had any outbreak of any disease since I have been keeping chickens. I purposely don't vaccinate, and I asked her if she put them with vaccinated chickens. She said no. I'm not trying to dodge blame, I want to help her, and she's not blaming me. She knows that chicks can't be guaranteed, and I told her I would sell her more at half price, but I also told her that I suspected it was something in the environment causing the issues and that if she takes more chicks the same would probably happen again. I even offered to brood them for 8 weeks to make sure that they got off to a good start, and she said she would rather have chicks so that she can raise them. I really don't think this is someone trying to get cheap chicks, it's just a sad and curious situation all the way around. I just have a few concerns. First, does that sound like coccidosis to you guys? I've never had it, so I've never had to google it. If it wasn't, if it was just weird looking poop and she started treating for coccidosis, could that hurt them? Can you guys think of anything else it could be? She says she quarantined for 2 weeks, and put them in a clean brooder, but she sent me a link to a video the day after she got them that showed her brooding them under a lamp in the house. I saw in the video that the lamp was too close and the chicks were too hot, so I texted her and told her to raise it and give them a place to cool off if they needed to. I don't know if there were any other animals in the house, but this really sounds like an environmental issue to me. I've hatched, sold, and kept almost 200 AMs this year, and this is the first I have heard of this happening. I want to help her, but I'm afraid that more chicks will just lead to the same issues, especially if she puts them with birds from the first group. I want to help her, but I'm not real keen on sending another group of chicks to a certain death. What would you guys do?

 

[WVduckchick]

None of her own chicks have died? Just the chicks she got from you?


ETA - 3 months sounds like a long time for it to have just crept up from your end. Sounds like something they caught there.

ETA - I re-read again, experienced symptoms the day after she got them home, but are just dying?

 

[LameyInn7423]

None of her own chicks have died? Just the chicks she got from you?


ETA - 3 months sounds like a long time for it to have just crept up from your end. Sounds like something they caught there.

That's what she says, and I have no idea how many, how old, or what other kind of chickens she has. That's why I thought maybe she mixed them with vaccinated birds, but she says that's not the case. The 3 month thing throws me, too. She says they experienced symptoms the first day, but it has taken 3 months to lose six. Does that sound like coccidosis? I assumed that would be a rapid mass-kill

 

[Tumbling K]

she may not be cleaning the brooder or have sterilized the brooder prior to putting them in there.

quoted from a website:
"Coccidia are almost universally present in poultry-raising operations, but clinical disease occurs only after ingestion of relatively large numbers of sporulated oocysts by susceptible birds. Both clinically infected and recovered birds shed oocysts in their droppings, which contaminate feed, dust, water, litter, and soil. "

so it sounds to me, she doesn't have a proper feeder/waterer set up, and isn't keeping the brooder clean as she should...

 

[LameyInn7423]

she may not be cleaning the brooder or have sterilized the brooder prior to putting them in there.

quoted from a website:
"Coccidia are almost universally present in poultry-raising operations, but clinical disease occurs only after ingestion of relatively large numbers of sporulated oocysts by susceptible birds. Both clinically infected and recovered birds shed oocysts in their droppings, which contaminate feed, dust, water, litter, and soil. "

so it sounds to me, she doesn't have a proper feeder/waterer set up, and isn't keeping the brooder clean as she should...

I actually asked her that, and she said it was cleaned and sterilized before she put new chicks in. I'll tell you what I do, and you may disagree, but I only clean about 90% of the litter from a previous batch. I leave a little soiled litter just to "seed" the next group, and I have never had an outbreak.
The only difference at all between this customer and my others is that she took them the day after hatch. I usually hatch on Mondays and sell on the weekends, just so that I can make sure all are healthy, eating, and drinking, but she picked these up on a Tuesday

 

[Tumbling K]

Lamey, if she is claiming coccidia, it sounds like it only gets bad, from repeated ingestion.......sounds like all birds have it, or at least a little of it. Probably one of the poultry smart folks will chime in soon. I think either Ravyn or Walnut will be the go to for this answer. Maybe the brooder area is too small? there could be lots of reasons for repeat ingestion.

 

[WVduckchick]

Hers could be carriers of something that doesn't affect them, but your chicks are not immune to it. I think there are other reasons for bloody stools too.

 

[Tumbling K]

http://www.chickenvet.co.uk/health-and-common-diseases/coccidiosis/index.aspx

good link with pretty good, and practical information for prevention and treatment.

 

[LameyInn7423]

Lamey, if she is claiming coccidia, it sounds like it only gets bad, from repeated ingestion.......sounds like all birds have it, or at least a little of it. Probably one of the poultry smart folks will chime in soon. I think either Ravyn or Walnut will be the go to for this answer. Maybe the brooder area is too small? there could be lots of reasons for repeat ingestion.

I know Ravyn or Walnut would have a better idea. I just want to find out if it could be something other than coccidosis. I know that all birds have it, and that's why I leave my litter seeded and feed unmedicated feed. In my experience, my chickens have been strong by gradually building up their own resistance. I want to try and help her figure out what the problem is before she takes more chicks. If there's something I can do on my end, I want to do it. Hatches before and after hers have not had this problem, and I have 6 that I kept from that same hatch that are perfectly healthy

 

[LameyInn7423]

Hers could be carriers of something that doesn't affect them, but your chicks are not immune to it. I think there are other reasons for bloody stools too.

That's exactly what I'm thinking