4 week old bantam suddenly lethargic, solid white poops

[HeltsleyHen]

We picked up six chicks 9 days ago. We lost one of Friday that went from fully alert and active to dead in 12 hours. Fearing Coccidiosis, we switched to Manna Pro Medicated chick starter for the rest as a precaution. One of the chicks, a little blue silkie hen who has been very active and one of our favorites to watch all of a sudden went lethargic today and my wife is worried we are going to lose another. The bird started falling asleep while the rest of the flock was active and has been laying down a lot. It just pooped and the poop was solid and white.

Any ideas? Help saving this bird would be most appreciated.

 

[realsis]

please get corid for cocci it kills all strains of cocci not just some. the medi food won't kill the cocci its a perventive. do get corid as soon as you possiably can! i got mine online but try feed store as time is of importance! it will heal cocci.

 

[HeltsleyHen]

Thank you. We suspected after reading a few other posts that this might be the case. We have gotten some water into her with a dropper to try and keep her hydrated. If still with us in the morning we will go and get the corid. It seems like the only packet they have makes 125 gallons. Any suggestions on how to mix up for a smaller dosage?

 

[realsis]

i have the liquid corid so im not sure . use your best judgement or perhaps the feed store would know? I'm really hoping she makes it! please keep me posted. i wish i could be of more help! if it makes 125 gallons try to break down the size to your water gallons best you can. the liquid is different so my instructions are different. please keep us posted on her condition! best wishes!

 

[HeltsleyHen]

Fully expected to report that we had lost her by this morning, but with prayer and eye dropper every hour she pulled through and seems to be back to herself. Eating, walking around, showing foraging behavior. Yay! My hubby is getting the corid now just to be sure since we are not positive why she was so ill.

Thank you so much for the advice and thoughts. It made us feel better to know someone out there was listening! We are new to this and losing this little baby would have been very upsetting!

 

[realsis]

oh thank God! I've been thinking of you all night!i just had to check on this thread! I'm so happy for you! your a lot like me,i love my chickens so dearly! you know what i did? you might want to do this too, i made a emergency kit for them. i have corid, tylan,antifungal,and eye wash, ready. i also have some sulpha antibotic in there. just in case so its ready if i need it. Hope this helps! I'm so happy to know she's better! such Great news! take care and God bless!

 

[HeltsleyHen]

Thanks again for checking! Wonderful suggestion about the first aid kit as well! I'll be doing that. Wishing we had that last night so we didn't feel so helpless until the store opened. Like kids, they always seem to get sick after hours! Just checked and all 9 are fine and eating/drinking like little piggies!

Where are you located if you don't mind me asking?

 

[realsis]

hi there. no i don't mind at all. i live in a small town called bakersfield. it used to be a small town but its growing now like crazy. where are you located? my town is about a hour and half to Los Angelas. im in a valley. it gets soo hot here in summer! im talking 107! not looking foward to that! i have my pen under a big shade tree and keep a shade roof for the chickens so they don't get so hot! ive lived here my whole 43 years of life. how about you? are you in californa too? im so glad your baby is better! i have a small glock of only four silkies. mine range in age from 6months, to my babys at 13 weeks! im a avid reader and i swear before i got my babies i read about 15 books on chicken health! i still search up articles and read on it now. its really interesting to me! i like to give my chickens probotics from time to time this helps put good bacteria in the gut to fight the bad. one week a month i give pure unfiltered apple cider vineagar with "the mother" inside and this has many many health benifits for them! along with vitamins look it up it will suprise you how wonderful it is for them i use braggs brand. just a small amount helps the ph and it does many benifical things! they have many articles in it! i worry about my babies and try to help them the best i can. mine are not vaccinated so i worry a lot! well, enough about me. how about you?

 

[HeltsleyHen]

We are in Nashville, TN. My husband grew up here and I grew up in North Alabama, have been here for 12 years and my parents are about 20 minutes away...its home! I have brothers in law in CA - mostly middle and more northern CA I believe. They went to Cal Tech. My husband works for Tractor Supply Company in mktg so he has some working knowledge of chicks/chickens but its still a little trial and error - there is just SO MUCH to learn. We have been reading like crazy too and trying to learn from others. Our flock originally consisted of 6 (our max for the city/lot size). We have 1 each of: Blue Silkie Bantam, Welsummer, Americauna, Blue/Grey Cochin, Gold Laced Wyandotte & the Cinnamon Queen (which we lost last Friday). They ranged from 1 week to 3 weeks when we go them 1 1/2 weeks ago. This past Saturday we wanted to replace (not the best word) the one we lost and found someone close on this site who had some breeds we thought we wanted to try. We wanted to have a variety. From him we got 1 each of: Blue Cuckoo Marans, Ancona, Sicillian Buttercup (my special needs girl...she was a repaired splay leg and SO SWEET) and a Light Brahma. So, if you lost count that now gives us 9...meaning that we will eventually have to find a home for 3. We are hoping that one set of our friends will join us and then they can take our extra three. We are the guinea pigs of the backyard chicken adventure in our group! ;-)

It gets hot here too, not quite as hot and droughty as you all have to manage but humid and hot. We plan to put up a shade tent if needed this summer in addition to any shade they receive from the nearby tree. I think cold watermelons are also a good source of water and helps keep them cool as well as fans. My husband read about the apple cider vinegar last night too and we will definitely use that in the future...thanks for your info on that. There is so much out there and much of it is not consistent so we are trying to weed through what will work for us!

Again, thank you so much for your support and advice. So nice getting to know you Any other tips or bits of knowledge you run across please feel free to pass along and I will do the same!

 

[realsis]

thank you that sounds great! have you read anything about benifits of giving chickens probotics? I'm giving it a try now with a product called probios. the theory is the good bacteria take up space and fight the bad bacteria. its a great product to give after treatment with medicine because it replenishes the good bacteria lost from the medication. its fairly inexpensive and you add a small amount to the water. you might want to research benifits of probotics and chickens. that and the apple cider vineagar once a month for one week. braggs is a great brand vinegar for this because it has " the mother" inside which is where the vitamins are! that's about all i do for mine. i do have on hand electrolytes for the summer. plain yougart will do the same as the probiotic if you get the yougart with LIVE cultures in it! kinda hard to find here but maybe easier where you live. well, I'm really happy everything is fine. please consider me a friend and write me any time you want! even if you just want to chat! your county is really beautiful your very lucky! my area is like a desert. not much to see that's for sure! but we're close to mountains and beach about an hour and half for both things . well, take care and Hope to hear from you soon. God bless your friend, lynnette