Bantam frizzle cockerel suddenly with bloody poop

[HHandbasket]

This morning when I got up and checked on everybody in the brooder, I noticed a bloody spot on their bunny (yes, there's a stuffed bunny in the brooder). I watched the chicks for a while & found the offending bloody-pooper. His poo is straight bloody red. I have no idea what could have happened to him. They are almost 5 weeks old (will be 5 weeks tomorrow), and the 2 cockerels have started kinda chest-buttin' a lot. This is the most dominant of the 2 cockerels. I have separated him out from the rest of the brooder in a tub by himself with food & water and a roosting stick.

Any thoughts/ideas, anyone?

 

[HHandbasket]

Oh, here's the info from the thread sticky:

1) What type of bird , age and weight. Bantam frizzled cochin, almost 5 weeks, don't know what he weighs.

2) What is the behavior, exactly. His behavior appeared somewhat normal, though only slightly less active than he usually is. I noticed bloody poop in the brooder this morning and watched the chicks for a while to see who was having trouble. I watched everyone for a while to make sure it is only the one chick with bloody poo, and it is just this one.

3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms? Just this morning.

4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms? No.

5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma. There is bright red blood in the poo. No signs of trauma.

6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation. I have no idea. All brood members are on the same food/water regimen & no one else has bloody poo.

7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all. He is on Purina medicated chick starter and plain water with vitamins-electrolytes added at half-strength.

8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc. It's like formed poo in a bloody liquid suspension.

9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far? So far, I have sequestered the cockerel in a tub by himself with fresh food and water and bedding.

10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet? I'm hoping it's something simple I can treat at home.

11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help. I do have a picture of it, but my picture messaging from my phone is offline right now (we have had trouble with our cell service since the tsunamis--I imagine the systems are overloaded with worried family members here in California along the coast).

12) Describe the housing/bedding in use. He is in a solidly-made homemade brooder with 8 other chicks of comparable age. There are 4 large fowl chicks in there, but they are 2-3 weeks younger than him, so everyone is about the same size.
In fact, he's probably the largest one in the brooder.

 

[HHandbasket]

I don't think he's gonna make it. He's barely breathing now.

I have no idea what happened.

 

[Morgan7782]

bump

 

[jmtrestle]

I'm pretty sure cocci can cause bloody stools... think I'd run a round of medication for them all to be safe...

 

[PepsNick]

Sounds exactly like cocci. Is he okay now? Get some corid on hand and put it in the water for a week. Check for more bloody poop from the others, and if so, than treat with corid.


He can still get cocci, even with the medicated feed.

 

[HHandbasket]

Have Corid on hand & just gave him some good Corid water.

I don't know if he'll drink it, but I hope so. He's in a bin by himself and is being sweet and quiet. He's usually a feisty little snot & I knew it was bad when he quit chest-butting his brother. He's also got medicated chick starter feed.

He has not been outside & I'm not sure how he could have been exposed to cocci, but it does happen. We have dealt with it outside in recent months, and we thought we had been really careful to always wash our hands before handling the chicks. We are definitely going to be a lot better about it from here on out!

Stanley (that's the little roo's name) is getting treated now, and we are hoping for the best. I really want to keep this one. I like his little feisty personality!