First death in my flock and another looking sick help!

Well I took a relaxing Mother's Day weekend with my bff and all my 22 weeks olds began laying while I was gone. My husband and my 14 year old were so eggcited to send me picture of everyone getting in the nesting boxes (free-rangers) like they should. Yesterday two girls were sharing a nest, one laid and egg and the other stayed. My husband said later in the day he went out to get her egg (thinking she was giving us her first egg) and she was still in the nest looking sleepy. He said her wattles and comb looked brown but he though it was because she was straining to make that egg. A little later he said she looked almost dead and when he pet her she startled awake so he left her and a couple of hours later she was dead in the nest (he did say once she died she pooped white cottage cheesy looking stuff, no red). I was heart broken to have my first death when I was away from home.....on mothers day

I have 42 chickens and she was one of my 13 oldest chickens (22 weeks), I have 15 chickens that are (16 weeks), then 12 that were hatched at home that are 12 weeks, and I rescued 2 chicks that look 8-9 weeks old. The rescues were quarantined properly and were introduced to the flock 2 weeks ago, everything went well. since then I have integrated everyone to flock grower feed. My girls have a nipple watering system (fresh water) and sand floor coop that gets scooped every other day along with a poop board. They free range during the day. No strange poop noticed on poop board.

So now that you have a little background...I arrived home yesterday and when I closed the coup up a silkie was missing. We looked around and she was laying in the neighbors yard, not interested in walking or anything. I picked here up sat her on the ground and patted her but to get her walking towards the coup and she looked like she couldnt and just sat back down. I immediatley brought her inside and offered her water (not interested but would drink from a syringe)....put her in a kennel and woke up through the night to get her to take water (also made a soft egg and yogurt mixture and mixed small amount in syringe) she made it through the night . She's perkier this morning but still doesnt want to walk and seems sleepy. She did eat the eggs and yogurt on her own not drinking on her own yet because she would have to move her own body to do that. when I hold her she will flap her wings and she talks to me..... help...

From reading this forum ....sleepy chickens, lethargy, death = coccdiosis. So I will treat with corid for 5 days. The silkies poo seems normal though so I hope I'm not missing something.
The dark area is green not black or red in the poo.

you don't have to have bloody poo to have coccidosis. I would say yes defiantly treat with corid asap. corid kills all 9 strains of cocci while other meds only kill some strains. and yes adult chickens can and do get cocci
I agree it does sound like cocci. the corid should take care of it. I hope she feels better really soon! I wish you the best. I'm so sorry for your loss!

day 3 of corid and my silkie seemed better yesterday and now today she's bad again....not eating, or drinking, or moving for that matter....made sure she was drinking yesterday and she ate 2x that i saw on her own and now I am having to give her water and food through a syringe ugggg. Hope it's not something else. The rest of the flock is looking fine though, no more deaths.

yeasterday her poop was bright orange for several poops and then a grey. today she is pooping neon green?!

here she is just sitting...all she does it sit. seems wobbly.

dosed her with Tylan 50 tonight, we will see if she makes it through the night. I placed her on a blanket, on my couch in the living room and that's where's she's stayed all day, not a move. She does look up at us occasional and chirp. Can barely get her to take water and no food today at all. Did make her take polyvisol 2x today. Her poop has been green since she stopped eating so her poop color is in line with "not eating". Seems like there been a lot of posts with lethargic chickens dying and no disease specific symptoms?! wondering what the heck is floating around!

realsis said:

you don't have to have bloody poo to have coccidosis. I would say yes defiantly treat with corid asap. corid kills all 9 strains of cocci while other meds only kill some strains. and yes adult chickens can and do get cocci
I agree it does sound like cocci. the corid should take care of it. I hope she feels better really soon! I wish you the best. I'm so sorry for your loss!

Click to expand...

Corid (Amprolium) does not kill all 9 strains of Coccidiosis. Sulfadimethoxine is the preferred choice in eliminating the strains which do not respond to Amprolium treatment. It also is used to combat Enteritis, Fowl cholera, and Coryza.

christybmom9802 said:

dosed her with Tylan 50 tonight, we will see if she makes it through the night. I placed her on a blanket, on my couch in the living room and that's where's she's stayed all day, not a move. She does look up at us occasional and chirp. Can barely get her to take water and no food today at all. Did make her take polyvisol 2x today. Her poop has been green since she stopped eating so her poop color is in line with "not eating". Seems like there been a lot of posts with lethargic chickens dying and no disease specific symptoms?! wondering what the heck is floating around!

Click to expand...

Why did you dose the bird with Tylan 50? You are currently treating the hen with Corid too?

She passed away today. I dosed her as a ditch attempt that it wasn't coccidiosis. She was getting worse and doing the death breathing. I found tylan 50 reading through these forums and thought it might work. especially after 4 days of corid and a worsening condition. Still not sure what plagued my flock, hoping it was something they got into. Managed to feed her some pureed food this morning with a syringe and by lunch she was so bad...body already stiffening and faint labored breathing. At that point I choose to euthanize her.

Sorry about your two hens. If it were me with 5-6 month old chickens, I'd run 1 tsp Corid 9.6%, or the powder at .5 tsp, per gallon of water for 5 days, then follow up with vitamin-mineral-electrolyte powder (different dosages for different brands) and 1 tsp Probios soluble powder per gallon of water for 3 days. If within a three week period after that Corid treatment, you see any symptoms of coccidiosis, use Sulfadimethoxine powder (Durvet brand is .5 tsp) per gallon of water for 3 days only. Always follow up with vitamins & probiotics after medicating for a few days. If the Corid use prevents the possible strains of coccidiosis in your environment, you'll know this by seeing no symptoms, just repeat dosage every three weeks for 5 days until they are about 7-9 months of age.

Ok, 2 have passed and I have another silkie that is not acting normal. The first chicken died in a matter of hours. the second I was able to keep alive for a couple days. I have finished the 5 days of corid today. I need to know what everyone thinks I should do next. The only symptoms I am noticing are the chickens sort of hang around the coup alot, stop roosting (too weak to get up maybe)....This silkie is still drinking and eating on her own which the others didn't but she seems to be weak/tired/lethargic. Not sure if she if fighting off what the other wern't able to? No mites, fleas, or anything noticed (I know some say I should use Seven anyways), someone suggested Sulfadimethoxine powder (should I dose the whole flock or just the sick silkie? Is this a one time dose or over 5 days again? do they carry this at TSC?)

No reason to dust with Sevin. Run Probios soluble powder at 1 tsp per gallon of water for 2 days. Get some Poultry Nutri-Drench and give the bird a dose both days according to label directions. The reason I recomended Sulfadimethoxine is because it not only combats certain strains of coccidiosis, it also combats Cholera and bacterial Enteritis. After two days use 1/2 tsp of Sulfadimethoxine powder in the water for 3 days. Follow up with Probios in the water after the 3rd day for a few days. Your local feed store should carry all of those products. Call to find out. If you lose another chicken, you should have a necropsy done on the bird. That is what I would do.