7 dead- help!!

BusyBearMama

Songster
5 Years
Apr 25, 2014
712
29
128
New York State
Ok so I had 8 6 week old chicks and I put 6 of them in a pen inside the hen house with 14 hens & pullets- they had clean food & water & grit & a heater. The other two were in a pen up in our indoor porch thing because we were considering selling them- they were all doing fine and they got their first run about the chicken tractor one day, the next day was a cold night so in the morning when they looked all ruffled I thought that was why and the next morning 3 were dead. We thought a hen had gotten them through the cage. They were all flopped over and there was a bit of blood & one and a big tuft of feathers in her claws. Its was unpleasant so we cleaned them
Up and brought the other 3 in and put them with the other two thinking no one would get them and they'd be fine. But over a couple hours they were pooping blood and died. The last one looked sick and I was really mad at myself for compromising our usually pretty strict bio security. I dosed the last bird and the other two with corid the next day because they'd never had anything like medicated feed or anything and I thought maybe they'd gotten coccidiosis digging in the coop. So... When I got home yesterday evening that was 24 hours since dosing them. The two that had been inside that showed no sign of illness were very dead and the last sick bird was crying. She's all hunched over and doesn't do much. I just sent in a fecal sample and she just started pooping blood herself over the last 12 hours. So I have 14 hens & 19 chicks and at this point all have been in the same room as these birds and none are now but we need to Sanatize everything I know... Any idea what on earth is going on?! Has anyone ever had a group go like that? They were all from the same group of eggs hatched at the same place from the same flock as well but they were otherwise all healthy up until they were ruffled up that day I guess. So now I'm
All oh no, they probably got something, bacterial or infectious like deadly deadly bird flu and now everyone's going to die. In saying this you should know we've never lost any bird over a few days old that wasn't to predation... So this is freaking us out seriously. Advice, similar experiences, any response really just this is really strange. Thanks.
 
It sounds like coccidia. This happens most commonly when people take chicks out into an area that currently holds chickens or has in the recent past. The eggs are in the soil, ever-present actually, but tend to build up in areas where there is livestock. Young chicks pooping blood is almost always coccidia. I'd keep the remaining birds on Corid and pick up a good vitamin/electolyte supplement. What happens, is the parasite destroys the lining of the intestines, which keeps the chicks from properly absorbing nutrients. They get lethargic, puffed up, whine a lot, and finally start pooping blood. The good news is that if treated properly, it's actually a fairly easy and quick fix (I know it looks terrible). Out of curiosity, were the babies getting medicated feed?
 
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I started the corid treatment 2 days ago, I'm so glad you think its that too, I was really second guessing myself when the other 2 just dropped. I sent the sample out today and they'll be back to me in a few days for confirmation. No they hadn't been on medicated feed :-( my younger chicks are but they hadn't been because my older birds hadn't been getting medicated feed because they had been vaccinated against it I believe and I wanted to use up the bag... So I'm levels of mad at myself... I'm now scanning the chicks trying to make sure I have a couple cockerels... It got all of them. Is it usually this rapidly progressing. I would like this pullet to make it and she actually seems better after 2 days on corid but the other two died with just 2 days exposure to an infected bird... This is horrid and all my fault :-( as you can tell I just haven't had this trouble. My birds are all pretty young and well... If she recovers what do you recommend, should I leave the bird in isolation a month or so? Then attempt to introduce her to the flock alone? They're all pretty big, mixed breeds and Orpingtons and 2 unpleasant production nhrs :-/ and some rocks...
 
I started the corid treatment 2 days ago, I'm so glad you think its that too, I was really second guessing myself when the other 2 just dropped. I sent the sample out today and they'll be back to me in a few days for confirmation. No they hadn't been on medicated feed :-( my younger chicks are but they hadn't been because my older birds hadn't been getting medicated feed because they had been vaccinated against it I believe and I wanted to use up the bag... So I'm levels of mad at myself... I'm now scanning the chicks trying to make sure I have a couple cockerels... It got all of them. Is it usually this rapidly progressing. I would like this pullet to make it and she actually seems better after 2 days on corid but the other two died with just 2 days exposure to an infected bird... This is horrid and all my fault :-( as you can tell I just haven't had this trouble. My birds are all pretty young and well... If she recovers what do you recommend, should I leave the bird in isolation a month or so? Then attempt to introduce her to the flock alone? They're all pretty big, mixed breeds and Orpingtons and 2 unpleasant production nhrs :-/ and some rocks...

The good news is that if the bird recovers, it will acquire some level of immunity to the parasite. I'm almost positive that all of your birds harbor some amount of coccidia in their digestive tracts, most birds do. Your larger birds are just, well, larger and have more developed immune systems. I don't think there is much chance of this little gal infecting anyone else, unless you should decide to get more chicks...which might actually be best when it comes time for introductions again. If you should try introducing her alone, start by letting her roost with the others at night and if at all possible free-ranging with them during the day. If you can't free-range, a cage in the run like you did before should work. Just be sure that they can't get to her inside the cage.
 
The good news is that if the bird recovers, it will acquire some level of immunity to the parasite.  I'm almost positive that all of your birds harbor some amount of coccidia in their digestive tracts, most birds do. Your larger birds are just, well, larger and have more developed immune systems.  I don't think there is much chance of this little gal infecting anyone else, unless you should decide to get more chicks...which might actually be best when it comes time for introductions again.  If you should try introducing her alone, start by letting her roost with the others at night and if at all possible free-ranging with them during the day.  If you can't free-range, a cage in the run like you did before should work.  Just be sure that they can't get to her inside the cage.

Thank you~ we have younger chicks- they're about a month younger, I'm debating waiting until they're about 6 weeks older to attempt an introduction with the bigger birds, one is a silkie and she even gets a bit of a hard time in the brooder- I want them to fill in a bit and be ready to hold their own a bit. As we speak my husband is working on adding to their fencing- we get migrating birds as well as predators, we keep a coop with penned guinea fowl nearby and they usually scare a lot of the critters away but we don't free range anymore :-/ the chicken tractor can hold a couple dozen large fowl and they seem to like going around the property and enjoying all the tasty yard bugs ... I really hope this pullet makes it :-/ I will let people know when we get the results of the test and please let me know if it sounds like something else
 
Thank you~ we have younger chicks- they're about a month younger, I'm debating waiting until they're about 6 weeks older to attempt an introduction with the bigger birds, one is a silkie and she even gets a bit of a hard time in the brooder- I want them to fill in a bit and be ready to hold their own a bit. As we speak my husband is working on adding to their fencing- we get migrating birds as well as predators, we keep a coop with penned guinea fowl nearby and they usually scare a lot of the critters away but we don't free range anymore :-/ the chicken tractor can hold a couple dozen large fowl and they seem to like going around the property and enjoying all the tasty yard bugs ... I really hope this pullet makes it :-/ I will let people know when we get the results of the test and please let me know if it sounds like something else

Do get some vitamins for her as well. Once treatment is over, she's going to need them. I am sure she's deficient given her absorption issues and that Corid is a thiamine (B1) blocker. Without the thiamine, the coccidia cannot reproduce and eventually die off.
 
Do get some vitamins for her as well.  Once treatment is over, she's going to need them.  I am sure she's deficient given her absorption issues and that Corid is a thiamine (B1) blocker.  Without the thiamine, the coccidia cannot reproduce and eventually die off.
Oh no! Thanks for the advice, I was thinking 7 days? On corid, then 7+ days on save a chick vitamins & electrolytes & probiotics? Would that be ok ?
 
Oh no! Thanks for the advice, I was thinking 7 days? On corid, then 7+ days on save a chick vitamins & electrolytes & probiotics? Would that be ok ?

That sounds great. Once the corid is finished, I'd get them on some medicated feed. Just to ensure that everything is truly gone.
 

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