6 week old chicks showing signs of illness in a few

[rebrascora]

Amprolium for cattle (usually branded as Corid) is what you want. The dose is 2 teaspoons of the liquid to a gallon of water or 1.5 teaspoons of powder form of it to a gallon. I believe you treat for seven days and then reduce the dose by a third for another 10 days. You can direct dose a couple of drops of the liquid into the beak of any really sick birds that are not drinking enough for it to be effective.

PS. Well done for getting a necropsy and thanks for updating us so that we can all learn from your sad experience and perhaps help others in the future.

 

[DeRock89]

Amprolium for cattle (usually branded as Corid) is what you want. The dose is 2 teaspoons of the liquid to a gallon of water or 1.5 teaspoons of powder form of it to a gallon. I believe you treat for seven days and then reduce the dose by a third for another 10 days. You can direct dose a couple of drops of the liquid into the beak of any really sick birds that are not drinking enough for it to be effective.

PS. Well done for getting a necropsy and thanks for updating us so that we can all learn from your sad experience and perhaps help others in the future.

What about using Oxytetracycline too? What do I dissinfect everything with (that won’t harm them) to prevent it from living on surfaces and passing again?

 

[rebrascora]

I would bleach everything but ensure that it is rinsed thoroughly, but I've never brooded chicks.... I always use broody hens and never had a problem with coccidiosis. Hopefully someone else will give better advice. Just wanted to clarify the situation re Amprolium so you could get some from the cattle section asap.

I'm in the UK so I would need to see a vet to get antibiotics. I know restrictions have been imposed in the USA in recent times regarding purchase of antibiotics but hopefully someone can advise on that too.

 

[lifetimechicklover]

I'm sorry you're having such a bad experience. I really don't know what to tell you. How about the feed? Is there any chance it could be moldy? I believe there is a date on the tag that says when it was made. A "mill date". I have read that it should not be more than 6 months old. Are there any chemicals in the garage near them? I can't think of anything else right now.

I had thought that. There's a large can sitting on the floor that looks like it might contain chemicals. Of course, I could be wrong on that.. So sorry for your losses.

 

[lifetimechicklover]

He hasn’t had a problem with his dying. He was a breeder that breeds all kinds of birds. He offered to give me some more but I’m scared of more dying. The food I’m feeding them is brand new and organic. I used a feeder I used a long time ago with my flock but I cleaned the crap out of it and it has not been used in awhile to lead me to think that a pathogen couldn’t be on it anymore. Could the treated wood I used to build the pin have anything to do with it? My kids are devistated...

Is there a simple coop I can build that would be adequate until I can add them to my existing flock in June? I built a very basic pin for the garage because it was intended to be temporary and be modular to connect to my existing setup outside to give my flock more space too. My plan was to have them protected from the elements and have a cost effective way to temporarily house them until they were ready for integration in June at the 3 month old mark. I feel If I try again, I need to keep them outside Incase I never figure out if the issue was the garage. To do so though. It means I need to build a temporary yet adequate coop too and they would need to be okay with 60 degree nights.

I understand that treated wood inside a coop can be deadly!

 

[DeRock89]

I had thought that. There's a large can sitting on the floor that looks like it might contain chemicals. Of course, I could be wrong on that.. So sorry for your losses.

Oh that’s just an empty bucket I was using to sit on so I could sit and watch lol. It has some dried concrete on it and was just used for pouring water in concrete mix like last year.

I was able to get it from GA poultry lab. I had to drive 3 hours away and drop them off. Results where back in 5 hours. Necropsy results where that's it's Coccidiosis and the doctor said there was a High count of some other protozoic parasite that he said in 30 years he's never seen that may be a factor and will have to send to a pathologist.... I need to see if I can go find Oxytetracycline and Amprolium and treat them soon as possible and disinfect everything... I have no idea what to disinfect with that won’t be harmful to such young birds though.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I was able to get it from GA poultry lab. I had to drive 3 hours away and drop them off. Results where back in 5 hours. Necropsy results were that's it's Coccidiosis and the doctor said there was a High count of some other protozoic parasite that he said in 30 years he's never seen that may be a factor and will have to send to a pathologist.... I need to see if I can go find Oxytetracycline and Amprolium and treat them soon as possible and disinfect everything... all I’m finding though is for large livestock like cows... and I have no idea what to disinfect everything with that won’t be harmful...

What about using Oxytetracycline too? What do I dissinfect everything with (that won’t harm them) to prevent it from living on surfaces and passing again?

Good job on getting them to the lab so you know how to proceed. My state lab is over 3 hours away and I've driven there at least 3 times to drop off dead birds. Once was at midnight on a Saturday in a holiday weekend. The university always has someone on call.

I wouldn't use oxytetracycline. The necropsy didn't show anything that it could cure.

Of the many species of Eimeria (causing coccidiosis), 9 species affect chickens. There are also other protozoa that infect chickens. Cryptosporidium baileyi, Histomonas meleagridis, Toxoplasma gondii, Trichomonas plus a couple blood protozoa. Let us know if it was any of those when the final results are in.

As for disinfecting, oocysts are sensitive to ammonia so I might use that. But they also need moisture to survive. so I wouldn't use anything with water in it unless you get the brooder bone dry. They don't survive long in dry conditions, below freezing or at temperatures above 130F.

 

[Tiana's chickens]

I'm glad you found out why they were dying, so now you can treat it. I'm sorry for all your losses. My chickens have been struggling with coccidiosis as well. It's an extremely common parasite that lives in pretty much every soil every where you go, when chicks are exposed to small amounts they gradually build up an immunity. It's normal for small amounts of coccidiosis to be found in the gut of any chicken but it's when the chicken becomes overrun with the coccidiosis that it becomes deadly.
How long have you owned these chicks for?

 

[Tiana's chickens]

Ah sorry, you already said you bought them a few days ago. That means they would have already been heavily infected with coccidiosis before you bought them because it takes a few weeks for the coccidiosis to multiply in the chicks gut. I'd strongly suggest telling the breeder so they can treat their other chicks and clean the environment they've been raised in.
I'm so sorry you've had to go through all of this, I know how heart breaking it is. I hope the breeder is decent enough to replace the chicks you've lost

 

[Tiana's chickens]

Oh something else I want to add, chickens can have coccidiosis for weeks and not show any symptoms. They hide it very well so you don't know they are sick with it until they are really sick