WHY are my birds sick!!!? Important please help!!

[baunlee]

Hey everyone I have a few questions about the birds I just got from some BYC members. Recently one of my chicks died and it looked like as it died blood was gushing out of it's anus.

*update: since first post I have lost a total of 4 chicks- and all of the marans are in the good tank with only one americana left in the better tank. Nobody from worse tank made it*

I immediately separated the remaining birds (at midnight so great timing). I put the visibly ill birds separate from the "unsure" status birds. Those birds did not get moved until I saw them poop (if it was good looking they were moved into a container with other normal pooping birds). The birds who had blood in their stool were kept in that container. So altogether I had a few tubs ranking: Good (fine poops/alert etc)Better (blood in stool but more alert than 'worse' birds) Worse birds with a slim chance

I was wondering if this was a good way to handle a crisis situation in the future.

Anyways back to my current predicament-

I thought that the chicks had coccidiosis after doing some reading so today I went to the store and bought corid 20% and gave 1/2 tsp to a gallon of water. They seem to be doing a little better.

Questions:

-How is coccidiosis different than mareks?
-How hot should I be keeping ill chicks (it's pretty hot/humid weather so I don't want them to be too hot)
- How can I tell coccidiosis apart from another disease I have been reading about, called Necrotic enteritis
-I bought save a chick electrolytes and probiotic- should I administer at this time or hold off until course of coccidoisis treatment is complete?
- Is 5 days enough time to give them the medicine?


I'm kind of surprised my birds got sick. I keep their cage really clean and water with a little ACV as well. It would make sense that they got this illness from when I take them outside but they are still only a few weeks old.

Beginner mistake? Should I have been feeding them medicated feed? or is this just personal preference to what people feed chicks? Since they might already have this illness would there be any point to switching to medicated feed?


Sorry for all the questions but these are my first chicks. We all love them and it would be really upsetting if they didn't make improvements so I just want to make sure I handled things well but also if there is anything you think I should have done different. Thanks in advance for your help we are all really worried about the chicks

 

[baunlee]

can anyone give me advice on what illness is killing my birds?!

 

[baunlee]

UPDATE:

I ended up treating my birds using Corid and Nutri Drench. So far the rest of the birds are doing okay. The only symptoms Im really noticing at this point is that they have ruffled feathers and they seem to pick at themselves a little. I dont think it would be mites but maybe just a symptom of the coccidiosis. The poop no longer have any blood and they are looking normal.

I would really appreciate if anyone had any advice!!!!!
I'm still not sure that this is in fact what they have or if they are doing better for some other reason.

I'm still concerned something could be going on and I'll loose more birds because things take a turn for the worse fast and I want to make sure i'm doing everything I can to help them out!!

Please someone help me out!!!!!!!!! its very important

 

[Sammykins]

So sorry you are going through this...I'm not sure but it sounds like coccidiosis. You gave corid so that's a good start and segregated the birds....I hope someone comes along to help you out.

 

[CMV]

-How is coccidiosis different than mareks? Totally different illnesses caused by differing pathogens. One is acute, GI related, and easily resolved. The other is chronic, neurological, and deadly eventually.
-How hot should I be keeping ill chicks (it's pretty hot/humid weather so I don't want them to be too hot) Start at 95 degrees, and with each week of age take 5 degrees off your overall temp.
- How can I tell coccidiosis apart from another disease I have been reading about, called Necrotic enteritis You can't. The signs are so similar that you would need to grow out the pathogens and see them under a scope to identify the causative agents. You can assume from the symptoms and the age of the birds that a cocci overload is the likely culprit. You don't often hear about necrotic enteritis, but cocci is very common in young birds.
-I bought save a chick electrolytes and probiotic- should I administer at this time or hold off until course of coccidoisis treatment is complete? I don't use electrolytes on my birds ever. They get enough salt and sugar in their table scraps so I don't need to pay extra to add it to their water. Probiotics are fine to use whenever.
- Is 5 days enough time to give them the medicine? Yes.
Beginner mistake? Should I have been feeding them medicated feed? or is this just personal preference to what people feed chicks? Since they might already have this illness would there be any point to switching to medicated feed? Medicated feed helps to keep the cocci load under control until the birds develop an "immunity" to it. They can get cocci at any time, but it is more commonly seen in youngsters whose immune systems haven't been acclimated to the presence of the bacteria. Too much of the bacteria will make lesions in the mucosa of the intestinal tract preventing the absorption of nutrients from their food and causing the bleeding you saw in their stools. Sometimes I feed medicated starter, but if I can't keep my layers out of the chick feed then I switch over to plain starter. It's really a matter of personal preference, but there is a good reason to do it in the first place. Cocci is fast and deadly. Prevention is the better management practice.

I hope this helps. Sorry for the weird formatting. I wanted to make sure I answered all your questions.

 

[baunlee]

This was a terrific response thank you so much for your help i researched it enough to think it was cocci but since these are my first birds I wasn't exactly confident in the diagnosis. Although I should be just based on my track record of doing better than my primary at knowing what's wrong (like when he diagnosed me with hip bursitis when really my disc was so herniated there wAs no fluid left) sorry for the tangent but thanks so much this is def what I needed to feel more relaxed

 

[Michael Apple]

The problem with Amprolium medicated feed is that it loses potency over time. Mills producing medicated feed recommend feeding their product for the first 16-18 weeks, which is sensible to a degree since that is the most critical time. The problem with that is that is that chicks don't automatically have immunity to Coccidiosis within that time period. It is a threat within the first year of life since birds reach maturity within that time. The growth process is critical to achieve the end result of a a healthy adult. An oocyst can survive 18 months in soil or litter, they can be spread by wild birds, or brought on the premises from equipment and shoes. Of course dry, well ventilated environments, providing proper nutrition for building a strong immune system are good preventatives, so are periodic preventatives such as Corid (Amprolium) in waterers up to 9 months of age or more.