3rd case of coccidosis? Will she get better?

[chevybelle]

She is hanging in there. I started corrid at 1 tsp per gal yesterday since co-op was closed for the 4th. Switched to Di-Methox this afternoon. I took her outside this evening but she isn't feeling up to scratching around yet so we just snuggled. I didn't realize how skinny she is. Should I go ahead and give her the valbazen now too or would that be too much for her? I knew she wasn't getting bigger but worms didn't occur to me until this post. I cleaned off the poop board this afternoon and noticed 2 things. For one, there were live worms of some type in all the poops - which I assume are fly larvae of some type not intestinal worms, right? Second, where it looks like the live worms have broken the poops down it still looks stringy - almost course hairyish. I think if they had worms that bad I would see it in fresh poop, so I'm not sure why it looks that way. Any thoughts? What else can I do for the little one to help her gain weight? She's so small to be 4 mo and she is such a sweetheart, I don't want to lose her.

On a brighter note, got our first egg today from one of the older ones. She layed it in a corner and it was cracked. It is smaller than I thought it would be and has a pretty thin shell. We hadn't switched to layer feed yet but will start it tomorrow and get them some oyster shell too. Anything else I need to do? How do I encourage her to use the nest box? Will she do it on her own eventually?

Thank you for your help. I didn't realize keeping these gals would be so tricky!

 

[Haunted55]

She is hanging in there. I started corrid at 1 tsp per gal yesterday since co-op was closed for the 4th. Switched to Di-Methox this afternoon. I took her outside this evening but she isn't feeling up to scratching around yet so we just snuggled. I didn't realize how skinny she is. Should I go ahead and give her the valbazen now too or would that be too much for her? I think it would be, so no, wait on that. The treatment with Di-Methox is only 3 days. Time enough afterwards to give some probiotics and TLC before worming.

I knew she wasn't getting bigger but worms didn't occur to me until this post. I cleaned off the poop board this afternoon and noticed 2 things. For one, there were live worms of some type in all the poops - which I assume are fly larvae of some type not intestinal worms, right? Second, where it looks like the live worms have broken the poops down it still looks stringy - almost course hairyish. I think if they had worms that bad I would see it in fresh poop, so I'm not sure why it looks that way. Any thoughts? What else can I do for the little one to help her gain weight? She's so small to be 4 mo and she is such a sweetheart, I don't want to lose her. Somewhere I just found a new link with pictures of chicken poop and what they mean. Of course, I can't find it right now...As soon as I do I will post the link for you.

On a brighter note, got our first egg today from one of the older ones. She layed it in a corner and it was cracked. It is smaller than I thought it would be and has a pretty thin shell. We hadn't switched to layer feed yet but will start it tomorrow and get them some oyster shell too. Anything else I need to do? How do I encourage her to use the nest box? Will she do it on her own eventually? Mine figured it out by themselves, but some use fake eggs to give them the idea this is where it's done.

Thank you for your help. I didn't realize keeping these gals would be so tricky!

Oh yeah....tricky isn't the word for it sometimes. You'll get it and so will they. Sometimes, it seems like nothing will ever work. This is when I step back and take a few deep breaths. I always thought chickens were stupid....it turns out they aren't, lol, we tend to be the stupid ones because we don't 'get them' at first. They aren't stupid, they just have a different agenda and could care less about yours. You will learn how to read them and what they are telling you after a while. The best advice I can give you is to keep a journal and yes, it can be a real pain in the butt sometimes. If you force yourself to start and 'do it', and it doesn't develope legs later on, you will be amazed at how much you know about your birds. I have started a new one and I add all meds, vitamins, hatches, injuries and the fun stuff as well. First crow, first egg, info I find on BYC that I think will be helpful later on...you get the idea. When you need answers, check here first, I really think you will be happy with the results.

 

[Eggcessive]

I really think the problem here is that you added chickens from other places for a period after the first chicken has coccidiosis. There are 7 strains of coccidia, and once a chicken gets one and recovers they are usually immune to that one, but when you bring in a chicken from here or there, they can bring in other strains. I don't know for sure that this is the case, but just a guess.

 

[maricybele]

How is going now?

 

[chevybelle]

I sectioned off a corner in the coop and moved her in there today. Hoping they will get used to each other again over the next little while (until I'm comfortable letting her loose in there) and everything will be fine. That RIR isn'tvery nice and i'm a little nervous about her. I raked out all the pine shavings from their run and added more sand so hopefully it will stay much dryer. We are only having scattered showers these days rather than soggy rain for days. I haven't wormed them yet because I'm just unsure about it since I don't see any evidence in their poop. Any thoughts on that? I also remembered to get some buttermilk last week but keep forgetting to give it to them or look up what to do with it besides make biscuits ; ) thank you for checking back on us!

 

[Haunted55]

Worming once or twice a year isn't a bad thing to do. This way you are ahead of the game with your birds. If you set up a schedule and follow it yearly, it takes a lot of guess work out of what could be going on and keeps them healthier. Just an aside, I've read that pumpkin will treat some worms. I have never tried it for that, but my birds are given the extra from what I grow. I'm not sure that I'd trust this for the only treatment though. I'm one that would rather 'know' that I have done the best I could for them.