12 week old chick, possibly sick, need help please.

[TroyBlackburn]

I've got 88 12 week old chicks, yes I said 88, and today when I went out to the coop/run I noticed that one of them wasn't moving around the way the others were. When I picked it up it appeared to me that she had probably been in that same spot for at least a day or more. Her crop was empty and she seems weak. She's capable of walking and does not appear to have any injuries impairing her from walking, however she will only walk a short distance before sitting down and again seems very weak. I've only had the opportunity to observe her droppings once and it was very wet with a light fairly bright green color. I was able to get some food in her by mixing some with water into a mash putting it in her mouth. I've isolated her from the others. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thank You
Troy

 

[Eggcessive]

Mix vitamins and electrolytes in her water, and make sure that she is taking liquids well. Offer some chopped egg, tuna, or liver to entice her to eat. Hopefully she is just weak from not taking food and water, but if she won't eat for you, she could be suffering from coccidiosis or she could have some unknown internal problem. You are doing well if only 1 has become sick with that many chicks. Coccidiosis can cause diarrhea or blood in droppings, weakness and lethargy, hunching or puffing up, and ruffled feathers. Corid (amorollium) is the usual treatment if you think that is a problem. Cocci is a protozoan found in the soil. Chickens build up a resistance to it over time between 11 and 20 weeks old normally.

 

[TroyBlackburn]

Thank you very much for the reply and the suggestions. I don't think it's cocci, I've lost chicks in the past to cocci and the symptoms were different. I think more than likely she has just become weak from not eating/drinking enough, she's drinking on her own and although I haven't seen her eat on her own, the feed has be disturbed; additionally I've given her food as previously mentioned. We'll see how it goes. She seems alert.

As for the 88 chicks, I started with about 96 and lost a few along the way. A couple didn't make it past the first couple of days, then lost a couple more to pasty butt (it's hard to always catch that in time with so many), a couple more for unknown reasons and then finally I lost a couple after I had moved them outside. A error on my part created a situation where at night a bunch of them were literally pilling into a confined area (one which I thought had ample room for the to move and get out) and a couple of them got crushed at the bottom of the pile up over night. Very sad, and avoidable, however I didn't see it coming.

I'll post updates. Thanks again.

 

[TroyBlackburn]

Well, she's not dead yet, but not showing any signs of recovery. I haven't treated her for cocci because of the lack of blood in her droppings. When I compare her droppings to pictures I can find online, most of them describe the droppings as being from a bird that has stopped eating and lost a lot of weight, which is true. Has anyone had any experiences with cocci without the presence of blood in the droppings?

Thank You
Troy

 

[casportpony]

First things that come to mind when I have a sick one are coccidiosis, bacterial infection or worms. Green poop can mean E. coli infection or starvation.

-Kathy

 

[TroyBlackburn]

Update - Still a bit tough to say how this is going. Her droppings seem to be returning to more normal, no diarrhea the last two to three times. In the absence of any blood in her droppings and discovering that I'm out of Corid, I started her on some antibiotics in case it's something else. She's still alive, so that's a plus, though she's also still very weak. I'm feeding her by mixing feed with water, turning it into a mash and then using a turkey marinade injector (without the needle and with the opening enlarged of course) to get food in her mouth. I'm still putting electrolytes in her water.

Any other suggestions?

Thank You
Troy

 

[Eggcessive]

Coccidia doesn't always cause blood in the droppings. There are 9 or more strains, and only 2 or 3 cause bloody droppings. Some strains are less lethal, but can be chronic where the chicken never grows or lays well, or has anemia and intestinal wall damage. In some links, a couple of antibiotics may be effective in treating coccidiosis. Here is a good link to read about cocci:
http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/poultry/coccidiosis/overview_of_coccidiosis_in_poultry.html

 

[TroyBlackburn]

Coccidia doesn't always cause blood in the droppings. There are 9 or more strains, and only 2 or 3 cause bloody droppings. Some strains are less lethal, but can be chronic where the chicken never grows or lays well, or has anemia and intestinal wall damage. In some links, a couple of antibiotics may be effective in treating coccidiosis. Here is a good link to read about cocci:
http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/poultry/coccidiosis/overview_of_coccidiosis_in_poultry.html

Thanks for the post and the link to the web site. I have some Oxytetracycline, so I started her on that a couple of days ago.

 

[TroyBlackburn]

For those that like to see updates on these kinds of things... She's still with us; still not back on her feet, however actually seems as if she might be starting to feel a bit better. I just got home after having to go out of town for a couple of days. I had someone else taking care of her; i.e. feeding her because she's still not eating much on her own. I've got a lot more experience with hand feeding sick chicks than the other person has, so I'm pretty sure she didn't get as much to each as she should have, but she still seems to feel a bit better and be a bit more alert than she was a few days ago; so I'll just continue and hopefully she'll recover and start getting some strength back. We''ll see, but for now at least she's still with us.

 

[Eggcessive]

Thanks for the update, and I hope she makes it.