17, 15, 14.5wks - One Dead - Cocci At These Ages?

[Reyvaughn]

The other day (Monday) when I let the girls out I saw a poo that looked orange, but I didn't see any actual blood. I noticed on Monday night that one of my 17wk old Tetra Tints was pale in the comb and she let me pick her up. Yeah, I knew she wasn't feeling well. Now, my girls range from 7wks to 18wks in this shed. Yesterday I went to let everyone out and there is bloody poo all over and the Tetra Tint was dead. Some of my girls had poo on them, all over the walls, on the floor, the food... A serious mess. I started them on Corrid right away yesterday morning. Last night when I went to do head counts one of my 14.5wks old Australorps wasn't up on the roost and she had just pooped a watery green and white poo. This morning said Australorp went out with everyone else, but was very slow moving and tail was down. I seen her poop and when I inspected it, of course, it was bloody. I walk in, and Peaches, a 15wk old Easter Egger has pooped blood and is lethargic. I went around the barn to change the water and put fresh Corrid in the waterers and there's fresh bloody poop in the feed area of the hen shed - and that came from one of my two 18wk old Amberlinks.

Now, I know that they can get Cocci whenever, but it's not overly common after the 10wk mark. These girls were just taken off of medicated food 2wks ago and my Ambers and Tints are laying. Why these guys and not the 7wk olds that should be more susceptible? Could it be something other than cocci? I haven't heard of anything else on the forums that cause bloody poo, though... Could worms?

Also, Is there an egg withdrawal with Corrid? I thought I read there isn't with Corrid, but is with Sulmet.

I'm just a little upset over all of this. This will be my 3rd round of Cocci this year - and I just started with chickens this year. I lost a brown Leghorn to the first round, a blue Orpington to the 2nd round and a Tetra Tint this round. Not including the the two 2wk from SQ stock bantam Cochins I lost on Monday to unknown causes.

It has not been a good week for this chicken lover.

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Edited to add a few details I missed.

 

[TwoCrows]

Yes, they can get cocci at that age and even if they were on medicated feed they can get reinfected untill they build up proper immunity to it. Keep up with the Corid for 5 days. It takes time to build up immunity and even adults can contract it from new birds introduced into the flock.

I always think it is a good idea to bring in dirt from the outside into the brooder when they are still babies so that when they are introduced to the outside, they are less likely to get cocci.

Good luck with your babies. Don't give up.

 

[Reyvaughn]

Quote:
I just got new chick/ens 1.5wks ago and they did come home with cocci (the 2nd round that I lost the blue Orpington to). I have all of those chicks in quarantine yet. Some of my more curious girls have gone in near them, but 95% of the time they are kept separated. The weird thing is that the 17/18wk olds lived through the first round of cocci that I lost my Leghorn in. They've been outside on the ground since they were 5wks old. The Australorp and EEs were also 5/5.5wks when they went out. They all originally started on unmedicated feed, but I put everyone on after my first cocci episode.

-sigh-
I'm sure I'll be burying a few more chickens this week.

 

[TwoCrows]

Sounds like your chicken yard is full of cocci. It naturally occurs in the ground, however the chickens are making it worse. It wouldn't hurt to make a 10% solution of ammonia and water, which is the only thing that will kill cocci, and rinse down the entire yard. Do it after the chickens have all gone to bed at night.

Using medicated feed is never a good idea really, unless a person is a real novice. And in your case, I would have done the same thing if mine got sick and got them on it. The chickens need to get immunity to cocci and medicated feed only helps prevent it, not allowing for an immunity build up.

I am so sorry you are going thru all these issues. Just hang in there and eventually it will all clear up

 

[Reyvaughn]

My EE is looking better and the Ambers are back to normal. I'm concerned about the Australorp, though. This is day 3 of the Corrid and I gave it to everyone as a preventative.
I am going to do the ammonia treatment once I find the sprayer. I've been thinking about the whole cocci in the yard thing... There hasn't been chickens here in over a decade, so you'd think there'd be normal levels, right? We do have the horses, cats and rabbit's feces, but cocci is species specific, right? Their poop wouldn't cause issues for the chickens, right?

I can't find the post, so I really need to know about the egg withdrawal on Corrid. Eat or not to eat?

 

[TwoCrows]

Actually with corid, there is no egg withdrawal from what I understand. I am glad to hear that some of your birds are feeling better. It may take the Australorp a few more days, depending on how badly she was infected. I had a female quail once that took a very long time to heal from cocci. Months. It really wears the system down.

Cocci just naturally occurs in all dirt, even if there were never chickens in the yard. And wild birds also carry it. Cocci thrives in wet warm dirt. So if it has been doing a lot of raining, and especially being young birds, the ground becomes over whelmed with cocci spores. They can lay dormant in the ground for months.

I hope it all works out for you. I would spray everything down just for precautions. It can't hurt. With all the cocci that your birds may have, you want to kill off as much as possible of it.

Good luck!

 

[Reyvaughn]

Thanks, TwoCrows!