10 weeks old - repeat incident, bloody stool... help?

[affacat]

we bought three 8 week olds about 2 weeks ago.

when we first got them, we noticed one had bloody stool (red stool, the entirety was consistently bloody, not just little bits).

we immediately ran out and got 'Sulmet' which we administered to their water for the 3 days as listed on the bottle. All stool samples seemed to have cleared up completely.

We still don't know -which- of the three it was, despite sitting with them trying to figure it out, they have yet to learn how to poop on demand.

Anyway, this morning (so, about 2 weeks later) the bloody stool has returned (still appearing to be only one of them). We put more Sulmet into their water supply, but i'm wondering if there is anything else we should do/be doing.

Thanks for your help!

 

[chkn]

I'd repeat it. You could look at the ingredients in Corid. I don't know what the concensus is one which one is best. Usually blood in stools means cocci, worms or both. In fact somewhere I read where there's some relationship between worms and cocci. I'd get some Valbazen. Dose for a small bird would be 1/4 ml or 1/4 cc.

Here's a poop chart (note some blood in poop can be normal):

http://chat.allotment.org.uk/index.php?topic=17568.0

It's better to be safe than sorry so I'd go ahead with treating.

 

[affacat]

okay.. interesting.

thank you for the poop comparison chart.

interestingly, the blood in the stool of our chick most resembles the last 3 photos in the 1st 'normal' section -- where it says "These last three pictures have shed intestinal lining in them - quite normal, not a cause for concern."

Of them, it looks most like the second one -- the one in straw/hay. Though ours has more red content than that pic, to the point that it's almost all red.

however, it's not pure runny blood like the cocci picture later on the page.

So... is 'shedding intestinal lining' normal for a 8-10 week old hen? Maybe we're okay and just overreacting?

Any feedback would be great. Just lost a lap rooster that i loved and don't want to see any more things go wrong.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

PLEASE NOTE: I edited this post after considering it overnight.

Shed intestinal lining never will appear as liquid blood in the stool in any great quantity. It is more mushy, if that helps. And it is usually not the whole stool, just part of it.

I have had to treat coccidiosis twice. Actually four times, since both times I have had to retreat after a few days when the bloody poo came back. The blood should go away within about 24 hours of starting treatment.

Generally unless you are sure you have worms it is best not to worm them before around 18 weeks I have read on BYC. I will try to find the link if you are interested. Sulmet kills more strains of coccidiosis than Corid, but is a little harder on their systems I have read on BYC.

I do agree with chkn in that it is always good to consider worms.

Yes, I see shed intestinal lining in chickens of that age.

There are some vets who will do a fecal test for worms for a small fee. Also they can check for coccidiosis.

Do you have any other signs of illness? There doesn't have to be any other sign of illness for it to be coccidiosis, but I was wondering.

 

[affacat]

it is mushy red, but it's distributed throughout a lot of the poop which is why we always just assumed it was how blood looked in the stool until we saw that chart.

there seem to be no other symptoms, all 3 of them seem perfectly happy.

the only other possible symptom is that our columbian wyandotte has looked scrappy for the 2 weeks since we got her -- it just looks like she lost alot of her fuzz before her feathers grew in so she's looked a bit silly for weeks since the feather still haven't grown in (she's bare belly, bare rump, scrappy wings, and scrappy head).

i think we'll treat with the sulmet for this one last time, and then just assume they are okay (keeping an eye on them).

i'm really glad to know shed lining can appear so young; that takes a lot of stress off.

thank you all so much for your help, this forum is such a wonderful place.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=2350461'
see post #5 for probiotic support after all the sulmet.

 

[affacat]

I'm adding this to this thread because the previous info may (or may not be) applicable:


one of the 3 chicks may be ill? not sure. she's always closed her eyes when you pick her up -- it's really cute, we joke that she naps as soon as our warm hands touch her.


but... today she seems to be walking around with her eyes closed more than normal. i picked her up and got her to open them, and i don't see any goo or anything like that. we also think she had a big sneeze earlier, but not repeated so i'm not sure if it's anything.


ALSO -- one other possible 'symptom' -- we raised our other 3 chicks from about a week old... these 3 we got at 8 weeks. We've had them for about 2.5 weeks. These chicks smell bad compared to our other chicks. nothing absolutely terrible, but definitely noticeable - our other hens don't really smell much at all.

anyway, add all this in, plus the red poo (which seems to have abated on the sulmet once again) and we're worried. thoughts?

 

[affacat]

anyone?

 

[spiritdance]

Three days is the length of treatment for a normal load of the coccidiosis parasite, but heavy infestations can require 5 to 7 days of treatment. I NEVER treat for less than 5 days because stopping treatment before the parasite is eliminated contributes to producing drug-resistant parasites. If these were my birds, I would start treatment immediately with Corid and continue it for 5 days. Treat the one that is sleeping excessively with an eye dropper or syringe to make sure she gets the treatment. I would also put them on high doses (double) of electrolytes and vitamins for one day, then drop these back to normal levels. Finally, I would put them on sand instead of bedding and scoop it AT LEAST 3 times a day. The coccidiosis organism needs moisture to grow, and the sand dries their poop out so it can't spread. Bedding with young chicks WILL get wet no matter how dedicated you are to keeping it dry. It seems their favorite game is "splash the chick" at that age. This is the approach I used the last time I had a bout of cocci, and the results were much better than previous efforts. I credit the sand with this because I was able to prevent reinfestation from wet bedding. I also credit the increased treatment time. An old timer who has been raising chickens for over 40 years was horrified that I wasn't treating long enough and was using pine bedding. I have to say my results after taking her advise demonstrated she was right. At any rate, I hope you get to the bottom of your chicks' problems and all is well with them.

 

[affacat]

Is the sleepyness/closed eyes a symptom of cocci? Based on the poop chart, their poop looked most similar to the ones where intestinal lining was shed, rather than cocci. The other 2 chicks which came home the same day are fine and running around like goofballs. We're not even certain this one with the closed eyes was the source of the blood-in-the-poop to begin with. We weren't worried until we saw the sleepy eyes, but now we're not certain what to be worried about. Also, she sneezed again this evening. I held her up to my ear but didn't hear any gurgling or other ominous sounds. She's still eating & drinking...just seems narcoleptic. Thoughts?