13 week olds, slow, wings dropped, drink a lot of water, watery poop

[coach723]

I have never used it and have no idea how much to use, but I did find an Australian site that says it can be used for diarrhea: https://www.thechickentractor.com.au/common-chicken-diseases-remedies/
Do some searching and see if you can come up with an amount for solution.

 

[Cloverr39]

I got them the medicine. I gave it to each one individually. I also got something to put in their water for 5-7 days that the vet said would also help. I realized I messed up and they're not 13 weeks old, they're 9 weeks old. I saw blood in their poop, which probably means it is coccidiosis.
How long would it take to see if it's helping or not? It's been a couple hours since I gave it to them. One of the 3 that were the most sick is showing slight interest in food. He ate a few pieces of fresh grass. I placed a feeder with their crumble right in front of where he lays and he pecked at it a little bit. Is that a good sign or is there still a very small chance he'll recover? Because the vet said that some of the sicker ones might not make it.

 

[coach723]

It's very hard to predict, it depends on the strain, the individual immune systems, how much damage to their digestive tracts. If any are not drinking well on their own, give them some of the medicated water orally several times a day until they start drinking well on their own. Sometimes they will perk up within 24 hours, sometimes it may take longer than that. I'm glad you were able to get the medication to treat them, hopefully they all recover. Coccidiosis is very common in chicks. If it's possible to do so in the future, it's a good idea to have medication on hand when you are raising chicks, so that you can start treatment right away. Most treatments are very safe.
This link has a good video on coccidiosis that is worth watching:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/coccidiosis-video-worth-watching.1262022/#post-20259051

 

[Cloverr39]

What are the signs that they're getting better or worse? I suppose eating and being interested in food (in the ones that refused to do anything but drink and sleep) would be a good sign?
Everyone seems to be drinking well. I thought one was dead this morning, but turns out she wasn't. The one I said was the sickest ate a little bit today. The sicker ones seem to be interested in things that they don't usually eat. For example fresh grass or oats soaked in a bit of the medicated water.
I really hope that they recover. This has been a really good year in terms of getting chicks to improve my breeding flock. I've gotten nice chicks both from my own flock and from a breeder I've been wanting eggs from for a while. And I've gotten so attached to all of them. Now I feel like I spend even more time with them, keeping an eye on everyone.

 

[coach723]

Eating and drinking, and starting to resume normal activities are all good signs. Sometimes the first sign of improvement is just that they aren't getting worse, no more die. Make sure you complete the entire treatment time, no matter how good they may look. Once treatment is complete some probiotics can help get their guts back in balance. If you can't find a livestock one, then human ones, or fermented feed can still help. That you haven't lost any more I would consider a good sign. Fingers crossed!!

 

[Cloverr39]

I lost one this morning. He was doing really bad yesterday. I found him laying on the floor, looking dead yesterday morning, but upon closer inspection he was still breathing. Refused to eat or drink anything and just sat still the whole day. Found him dead this morning. The second one isn't really getting better, bur also isn't getting much worse. And the 3rd out of the 3 that have been really sick is returning to normal more and more with every day. I'm used to seeing him lay in a corner somewhere near a wall usually, so I started panicking when I didn't see him anywhere this morning. Turns out he had come up to me with everybody else seeing if I've brought any treats. I'm so happy he's doing better, because he's one of my keepers this year and he's overall one of the best chicks in his batch. We'll, best cockerel at least (although I'm not 100% sure he's a cockerel).

2 more have gotten a bit more sick, but they're still eating and I also saw that they went outside in the run at some point, so I'm hoping it won't get much worse.

 

[coach723]

I hope so too. Are you treating with amprolium, or something else?

 

[Cloverr39]

I hope so too. Are you treating with amprolium, or something else?

The vet gave us Cevazuril. She said you only had to give it to them once and then the other thing in the water for 7 days. I think Cevazuril is meant for cows and pigs, but it's literally the only thing we could get our hands on.

 

[coach723]

I think Cevazuril is the same thing as toltrazuril, which works well. Not as easy to find in the US, we can get it for rabbits and pigeons. Lots of medications are good for species they aren't labeled for. Depending on the strain you are dealing with, the intestinal damage can be too much sometimes for them to recover from, that's why it's important to treat as soon as possible once symptoms are seen. I hope you don't lose any more.