blood in poop? what to do?UPDATE & ??'s pg 2

[chickeypoo]

I have some chicks that have blood in the poop. i have determined it's the younger ones, but im not sure who it is exactly and i don't have the means to separate all of them. and i don't have a vet who is open and when he opens tomorrow and all week, i am at work until waaaaaaaaay after he closes so.. what am i to do? is it cocci? i hadn't changed their bedding for a few days as i have been having personal issues. so it was wet and nasty when we got to it today... any help would be great.. please let me know what i can give them to help them out. oh, their ages range from a three weeks to 4 or 5 weeks.

Thanks
Sue

 

[Mahonri]

Get them on antibiotics ASAP as blood is a sign of coccodosis.

You could also give them medicated chick starter and that should help.

 

[threehorses]

I've posted something on this thread that would apply to you:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=206672

I would recommend the same to you.

Your medicated feed, is it medicated with Amprolium alone?

You can give them both at the same time. They don't counterindicate.

What you will want to do now is give them some probiotics, live bacteria, to help strengthen the colonies of GOOD bacteria in the gut that are supposed to help them resist coccidiosis's culprit, cocci. If you do this immediately, you might see their droppings clear up before the meds arrive. This happens frequently. In any case, they'll need probiotic treatment during treatment and for a while thereafter.

Probiotics are simple. You can find the living bacteria you need in many commonly found products:

plain yogurt, live culture (says so on the label)
prepared probiotics from the feedstore (Probios, Fastrack, etc)
Avian specific probiotics from Pigeon suppliers (Foy's is my favorite)
Acidophilis tablets or capsules from the vitamin section of the grocery store or pharmacy.

For giving probiotics for possible coccidiosis cases, your base will be this:

crumbles - your medicated is fine
a little water (no vitamins/electrolytes in it please)
babyfood applesauce
the probiotic of choice.

Make a dixiecup full of the above with your probiotic mixed in at this rate:

1 teaspoon of yogurt per 6 brooding chicks up to 1 tablespoon of probiotics per each large fowl. how much varies on the age. - or -
1 capsule of probiotics acidophilus per three or four babies - or -
1/2 teaspoon of Probios - or -
Avian specific probiotic as labeled

Make it to where it's just barely moist.

If your babies or adults were getting this because of other reasons, you can mix in boiled mashed egg yolk. I like less added protein during possible coccidiosis because cocci (protazoa) love protein.

Withdraw their food late at night, feed this mixture first thing in the morning as their first food. Make sure everyone gets at least yogurt. If they don't, you can hand-feed at the end of a spoon. around 1/4th teaspoon or less per baby chick will do.

The thing with cocci is this. Chicks are born without bacteria and without any exposure to gut bacteria. Their guts are "first come first serve". In a natural situation, they'd peck their broody's vent and eat some of her droppings fresh as they're trying to figure out how to eat. Her droppings contain natural sources of good bacteria, which take over the uncharted territory of the babies' guts. The good bacteria produce B vitamins (very very vital to correct development), enzymes that help them digest their food, chemicals that help ward off bad bacteria, and they literally help crowd out bad bacteria and other pathogens.

Chicks are then exposed to things like Cocci. Cocci cause a reaction in the chicks usually as an unnoticed immune fight against the intruders, in this case cocci. The medication in the food is light enough to help this fight without overly interferring. It's NOT designed to kill all cocci, it's designed to facilitate the body being able to develop an immunity along with the new bacteria.

If the new bacteria aren't strong enough, the chicks start to fail at the fight despite the meds because the meds aren't made to "treat", but to help prevent big problems.

So we arm the chicks with their own army of good bacteria.

Your chicks might just be going through that fight, but red (especially mucousy) is a sign that they might not being doing great on the fight, might have coccidiosis. So boost their bacteria while you wait for the meds.

By the way, any time birds are stressed, medicated, wormed, you should always give probiotics. Only don't use yogurt if you're using a medicine that ends in -cycline or -mycin. The meds won't work.

Hope this helps this instance, and helps you understand the basics of the chicken. Everything hinges on these little warriors inside of them.

 

[chickeypoo]

I went to the store ASAP before reading anyone's postings.. so i went to buy sulmet... cuz when i was there for corrid the last time they only had huuuuge jugs.. which cost about 80 and i can't afford that. but when i got there.. they had little jugs which was only 13.99 YaY! so.. then i read it after getting it home, and says 16 oz per 100 gals(i think).. ok.. so, i don't have 100 gallon waterer for my chix haha. i think i have a gallon waterer. so how much do i add for a gallon waterer? the last time i *thought* we had cocci, none of my chix died so.. i didn't think it was cocci(but this was two years ago)

also i do have yogurt (but they weren't too impressed the last time i gave them some HAHA) so maybe i can try again.

so, i only bought Corrid.. do i need anything else to help? and this wasn't blood in their poops, it looked like Bloody poo. i am so glad i have this place to come to. they were so happy when they had clean feeders/waterers/bedding. i felt so bad when i finally got to it. i did give them water every day but i just couldn't clean their waterers and bedding every day. i was hoping i had people coming to buy some before i saw that. thanks much for the info!

Sue

 

[SundownWaterfowl]

The Sulmet dosage is 2 tablespoons per gallon.

Medicate as above for 2 days, then reduce amount of Sulmet Drinking Water Solution to one-half above for 4 additional days.

 

[chickeypoo]

I don't have sulmet, i ended up with Corrid. i thought it was better for cocci. i should have bought sulmet too. and i don't have medicated feed. oh and do i give them the water all day long? and take it away at night? and give new in the am? or can i give them the stuff from the day before?


Sue

eta questions

 

[SundownWaterfowl]

Quote:
Oh Okay.

Here is a link to the dosage for Corid.

http://www.drugs.com/vet/corid-9-6-oral-solution.html

 

[chickeypoo]

that's right on the bottle. im just confused about how much to give in a gallon water jug
Sue

 

[threehorses]

Quote:
Here's how I work it down when it's a good 100 gallon dosage (thankfully).
16 ounce / 100 gallons
1.6 ounce / 10 gallons
.16 ounce / 1 gallon

Then a nice conversion program online.
0.16 ounce = 0.96 teaspoons (of the measuring set kind, not the kitchen eating kind).

That would mean take a measuring spoon set and give one teaspoon per gallon.

As for between the two, really I think Corid in this case is the better choice as it's not an antibiotic.

As for the yogurt, try mixing a little witha tiny tiny bit of water and putting a couple of globs on their beak. Or mix it with a tiny bit of babyfood applesauce and crumbles. (The babyfood applesauce doesn't require grit, cleanses the gut, has apple pectin which helps feed the bacteria in their gut to encourage them to thrive, and they like it).

Sometimes chicks (like kids) don't like yogurt and other mushy stuff at first because of the stickiness of it. I think they look insulted.

I hope they take it now. A back up (and good for you, too,) is acidophilus capsules from the grocery store. They're under 10 dollars and you can mix one capsule's contents into just enough water to make it barely drippy or lightly pasty or like applesauce. Drip a little of that onto the side of their beak, they eat it. Then whenever you have to take antibiotics, take it when you're done. Especially for women. Our guts utilize bacteria too - just not as strongly because we chew our food and use acids that break food down at the upper parts of our digestive tract.

More than you wanted to know, huh?

 

[chickeypoo]

it's great that you let me have so much info

i know about eating yogurt after antibiotics. i have had them and then needed to get meds for *certain* things. uck. anyway, thanks so much. Dlhunicorn pmed me as well.

Sue