Blood poops everywhere.. birds seem fine

[saskmomma4]

I have about 50 mixed chickens, 6 turkeys a d 2 guineas. We had our roughly 25 older birds (between 4 and 5 months old) in a seperate coop and recently moved them to their new coop along with the baby chicks and turkeys. The baby chicks (4 weeks) have all been vaccinated at the hatchery and all the older chickens were fed medicated starter. Not long after moving them to their new home I started seeing a few red bloody poops. At first I thought it was just shedding intestinal lining but soon it started getting more bloody. It started with one red runny pop here and there and by now it's pretty bad. Theres lots of runny bloody poop all over.

I understand coccidiosis is a possibility but there are 0 other symptoms. My birds are all happy running around foraging, eating and drinking fine.

My guess is the strain the babies were vaccinated with is different than my older birds have built immunity to and my hope is they will work it out naturally. I'm looking for tips on helping them, vitamins or probiotic, etc.

**I just want to note too that I live in canada and I'm not certain that I can just go buy corid at my local feed store. I know I can buy something called "super booster" and antibiotic and vitamin.

 

[Chick-N-Fun]

I would treat your whole flock just in case. Best of luck!!!!

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Doesn't matter if there are zero other symptoms... In groups that big, it can be easy to miss the subtle clues, it's VERY likely coccidiosis... not treating can be deadly fast... that's a lot of blood for a small bird to lose... treat with Corid ASAP. Or another amprolium based product... IF you chose to treat with an antibitotic it would need to be sulfa drug, prescription in the US.

Coccidia thrive on thiamine... a B vitamin... I would not supplement vitamins at this time. Amprolium works by mimicking thiamin to starve out and slow the growth of the coccidia. It does not actively kill them. Probiotics... sure why not?

I have seen bloody poo and just corrected the issue... overcrowding and make sure water gets ZERO droppings in it.

Good luck!

 

[Eggcessive]

Were the chicks actually vaccinated for coccidiosis, and not just for Mareks disease? I would be very tempted to go ahead and treat all for coccidiosis with Corid (called amprol or amprollium in Canada) or sulfa antibiotic from your vet. They will sell Corid from you vet. If you do treat with Corid it will cause a coccidiosis vaccine to be ineffective. Mixing different ages can help expose younger chicks to big loads of coccdia before they build up a tolerance for it in the environment. Look for other signs of lethargy, runny poops, standing around hunched or puffed up, not eating, and ruffled feathers. Here is some reading about coccidiosis:
https://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/agdex4616

 

[saskmomma4]

Were the chicks actually vaccinated for coccidiosis, and not just for Mareks disease? I would be very tempted to go ahead and treat all for coccidiosis with Corid (called amprol or amprollium in Canada) or sulfa antibiotic from your vet. They will sell Corid from you vet. If you do treat with Corid it will cause a coccidiosis vaccine to be ineffective. Mixing different ages can help expose younger chicks to big loads of coccdia before they build up a tolerance for it in the environment. Look for other signs of lethargy, runny poops, standing around hunched or puffed up, not eating, and ruffled feathers. Here is some reading about coccidiosis:
https://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/agdex4616

Yes the babies were vaccinated for coccidiosis, so I'm thinking of I treat them the others I should keep them separated.

 

[saskmomma4]

Called the vet office and they're looking into it if I can get amprol or corid. Our vet here is crazy expensive so I'm keeping my fingers crossed I dont need an appointment

 

[saskmomma4]

Just wanting to post an update. Our local vet literally was charging an arm and a leg to come out and diagnose so I could medicate them. It would have almost made more sense for me to just cull all my birds and replace them. So I did some research and found some "natural remedies" I added chopped garlic and apple cider vinegar to their water. Trying to keep the waters clean and added oregeno to their feed. We went around the yard and picked a bunch of plantain to feed them. I haven't lost any birds and there is no more blood poops!!

I was so frustrated with the vet costs but I think I made the right choice. They are healthy birds who do a lot of foraging and eat good quality feed. We can still eat the eggs and I was concerned about the medication affecting their future built up immunity to the coccidiosis strains they have already built up immunity to. I'm unsure if coccidiosis was actually the problem to begin with because we didnt have any birds die and not really show any other symptoms. A few were acting a bit sleepy for a few days in a row but I didnt see anything very alarming. Overall I think we are out of the woods.

 

[rebrascora]

Are you sure it was blood and not some berries they were eating. It is the right time of year for berries. I would be extremely surprised if the natural remedies you used would be effective against an outbreak of coccidiosis, especially when they are pooping blood in noticeable amounts. A lot of medication is restricted here in the UK but you can buy Amprolium here in the UK for pigeons without a prescription. I have a small bottle that I purchased for my first aid kit and have never used. It is worth sourcing a bottle if you can, especially if you are mixing age groups like this and have large numbers of birds. I can understand you jibbing at a vet's bill. My finances don't run to that for my chickens and most vets know less that I do about chickens.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

I would be extremely surprised if the natural remedies you used would be effective against an outbreak of coccidiosis,

I have stopped an outbreak of coccidiosis... simply by giving more room, making sure things were dry and waterers were kept clean, when I KNOW it wasn't berries in a brooder and discovered shaving were wetter underneath than they appeared on top. The birds are already fighting it off and have SOME immunity developing.

I'm sure it would cost an arm and leg if the vet came out here too. Taking a fecal sample in for testing costs me $25 US.

Confession time... I have Corid, but disorganization (clutter) is one of life's current great challenges for me... SO... I couldn't find it... when I had a heat bulb go out and had to combined to groups of chicks. They were definitely over crowded and keeping standard (non nipple) waterers poo free in a brooder is an hourly job when I had to be gone most of the day that one time. Good to have a back up heat source, if you can find it!

I'm unsure if coccidiosis was actually the problem to begin with because we didnt have any birds die and not really show any other symptoms.

IMO... that was it. I NEVER see ALL birds show the same symptoms in ANYTHING we have faced. Some have better immunity and won't struggle AT all with MANY things. In studies conducted here in California, 90% of parasites were in ONLY 10% of the birds in the SAME back yard flocks... Genetics plays a heavy roll, to me.

Will Amazon deliver Corid to you guys there?

Glad the birds have recovered quickly.