Baby chick passing blood..HELP!

[Hoosiershorty]

Hello,

I have a baby chick that is passing blood in its stools/urine. I have other chickens and have never experienced this problem but this is my first time raising a chick. It is under a brooder lamp with a large dish of water to keep the humidity high, and Everything else that i was told to do has been done. Any ideas what I can do? The chick is a little over 2 weeks old. Im not sure the breed but it is just a basic chicken (thats what I was told when I got it).

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Blood in the stool is indicative of coccidiosis. Add sulmet or corrid to the drinking water.

 

[Hoosiershorty]

I trolled the board for awhile and saw other posts, so I went to tractor supply to get the meds suggested for it. Unfortunatly when I got back she was dead

. I really want to get another chick to raise but I am really worried that I did something wrong with this chick. Is it something just random or is it something I did?

 

[threehorses]

When you see blood in the droppings in coccidiosis, you're seeing severe coccidiosis (at least in that chick) as the cecum is irritated to the point of bleeding. BUT it doesn't take blood to make a case of coccidiosis - only when you see it, if it's coccidiosis, then it's severe.

On these babies, for now if they're all very active, all eating, and normal droppings with possibly only a few wetter ones, I'd treat with "probiotics" as listed below.

If there is mucus in the droppings, slimey droppings (other than an occassional cecal poop), red droppings, or diarrhea, I'd treat with Corid or Sulmet in that order as well as with probiotics.

In all cases, I'd examine your environment of the brooder and correct it as listed below.



As for the "why" let's explore it.



First, are you using a feed that is medicated with "amprolium" _ and doesn't contain BMD (bacitracin)? Or does the feed have amprolium in it at all?

You have to read the label. Dumor feed isn't necessarily medicated with amprolium, a coccidiostat.

If your feed is medicated, then the amprolium is designed to kill some protazoa (cocci) but not all and not a bloom of them. It's meant to allow young birds to develop an immunity to cocci after being exposed to them - so you don't want to sterilize the environment of a young chick from all cocci (not that you could).

There are 9 strains of cocci - they only develop an immunity to the one they are exposed to. If they meet another strain, they can get coccidiosis from that.

In the mean time, it's very important to keep the environment of the brooder and growing pens very very dry, airy and clean. Chicks seem to like pooping in their feeder and their waterer. (Mine this year learned the fine art of pooping solid but sideways so that they always hit their waterer.) When you find droppings in the water, empty the waterer immediately and clean with hot water and soap. Rinse. Replace the water.

If they spill water into their bedding (something else chicks are particularly good at), then you must remove the wetted bedding (and underlayer if you use newspaper under there), replace with dry, and try to find a better way of doing their waterer. I found that raising the waterer to the level of their backs helped eliminate much of the poop and spilling (or walking through their water, another behavior that encourages coccidiosis).

So keep the bedding dry, clean, airy.

Another thing I do to keep my chicks more resistant to any gut issue is starting with probiotics on the second day they eat, using weekly for the first 6 weeks, using occassionally for the next few weeks, and then using the yogurt form of probiotics weekly during the pullets' first weeks of laying.

For birds who aren't being treated for a disease with a -cycline or -mycin drug (read the label's active ingredient), you can use plain yogurt. 1 teaspoon per 6 new chicks, to 1 tablespoon per adult hen. Mine like it straight from the spoon or bowl. Some babies are "offended" by the texture - so with those you mix the yogurt with some water, and use that yogurt-water to wet some crumbles. Stir and let sit for 10 minutes. The crumbles should be damp but not wet, not soggy. Just softer. Take the feed up 30 minutes before you feed this, then put it in -they should devour it. Then remove, and give them their dry mash for the rest of the day.

Other alternatives: Probios dispersible powder from the feedstore. One small $8 bottle lasts ages if you refrigerate it. 1/4t for 6 babies, or one adult. Mix with a quickly eaten damp treat or a smaller portion of damp mash. Another alternative: acidophilis capsules from the vitamin section of the Walmart, grocery store, drug store. Empty one capsule = that treats 6 babies or one adult. Use like probios. Both of those you can use even while medicating with -mycins or -cyclines if you ever need to do.

The living bacteria within birds are necessary in that not only do they feed your bird by breaking down what the gizzard started so that the food can be absorbed, but also producing enzymes that bad bacteria (and other pathogens hate) and by literally crowding other pathgens out. The stronger the beneficial bacteria, the more likely the babies and adults are to resist disease.

OK, so a summary:

cocci can happen to all babies. Amprolium medicated feeds are designed to keep that in control, but the environment of the brooder (wet, warm, not pretty darn clean) can help a "bloom" happen and babies become infected anyway. Treat an infection with Corid (preferably) or Sulmet. Treat them daily during illness or suspected coccidiosis fights with probiotics. Treat them weekly from day 3 of life through their growing period with probiotics of your choice. Keep their environment clean, dry, poop free as possible.