2 young chickens have cecal coccidiosis......killing time?

[SillyChick]

Hello

We have a pair of young New Hampshire Reds that have just moved from the brooder to the coop with the older chickens. Everything was going fine until, both of them pooped with blood. I was worried and ran straight to BYC.com for help, and I think it's cecal coccidiosis, where chickens seldom survive, often followed by death.

The symptoms I read from the web match - bloody droppings, pale, droopy, tend to huddle, eat and drink less often, etc. I'm quite sad that they have very little chance of surviving at a young age. I moved them in a separate cage to prevent the older chickens from getting infected. I was thinking......euthanasia? I heard the common way of killing chickens is to just throw them in the trash can or twist their heads quick. But, do you think I will still have to try to help them, or just let them die?

Thanks in advance!

 

[SillyChick]

Bad news: One of the 2 chickens have died. We found his lifeless body on the corner of the pen, with ants feasting on his eyes....while the other young chick was silent and seemed sad of her partner's death. I'm quite sad, and now the second chick is next to die...... Once they're both dead, I'll need to buy another pair of chicks(hopefully pullets) because I have a pullet and a cockerel and the pullet will get stressed to death once the cockerel gets interested in mating.

 

[Josie]

I am sorry you lost your chicks.

 

[silkiechicken]

Sorry for your loss.

Cocci is VERY treatable. Get some liquid sulmet or amprol ASAP and administer via bottle instructions. In three days they should be back on their feet like nothing happened. I had some birds with blood filled droppings, and one day after treatment, no blood, three days the birds were gaining weight again.

A brooder is a very sterile environment for chicks. For your next batch, introduce a bit of dirt from the run, and let them range with supervision for a few minutes a day. They need to get exposed to your local bacteria and other bugs so they can build up strong immunities when they are young. My guess is their system got over loaded with the cocci and stress of being moved weakened their systems even further.

Edit: Since now you know you have cocci for sure, medicated feeds would be a good idea in addition to slow exposure to the elements.

 

[dlhunicorn]

your older birds have already developed an immunity (balance) with the cocci present ... no need to fear they will become infected ... your young chickies were just overwhelmed as explained above.