Bloody diarrhea in laying hen

[mstraga]

Wow, after reading some of the other posts in this forum I feel very unknowing about chickens. I thought I knew at least a little. My husband and are new to all of this for sure. We have a total of four chickens. Our first two are 20 week old leghorns that we got from my mother-in-law. She has had them since they were hatched. We got them five weeks ago. Two weeks later we got a one-year old sexlink that was already laying and has been laying about every other day until it hit 100 degrees last week. About 4 days ago we got a year and a half old RIR. She is supposed to be laying but we haven’t seen an egg yet. And, before anyone says this all important note, I will say it myself since it has become oh-so obvious to me now (hindsight is 20-20 as they say)-Always quarantine!!! I don’t actually know if we have a disease or not and that is why I am writing this. Here is my problem, the sexlink seemed to be fine. When I opened up the coop to let them out this a.m. I noticed that there was bloody stool in the coop. I wasn’t sure which one it was coming from so I watched them for a bit. The sexlink has bloody diarrhea. It is quite watery. Neither her backside or any of the other girls is dirty from what I can tell. I have read several other posts and was hoping to get the specific symptoms of Marek’s and some of the other problems but haven’t come upon the right post yet I guess. Can anyone tell me what is wrong with her and maybe what we should for her? If you need any more information I would be happy to provide it if I can. Thanks for your help, I look forward to seeing what you all have to say.

 

[Judy]

I'm going to guess that the sexlink has picked up a case of cocci from your soil. You may have a type of cocci she hadn't been exposed to before. Treatment is Corid. Here is a thread about how to use it and how to provide other support for her:


https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=213541&p=1



And here are a few other threads that my search for bloody diarrhea produced:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/search.php?search_id=1220375618

 

[mstraga]

Thank you so much for your help. Now I have a couple of questions related to the treatment. 1-where do I get Corid and how will I be administering it? 2-Do I need to treat all four of the girls? 3-Do we need to do anything to the soil?

Also, after the bloodiness this a.m. we have seen no more. When we went into the coop this afternoon there was an egg. Very surprising and we can't be sure which one of them laid it. Other than we know that it wasn't one of the leghorns. We were able to pick all of them up and check them for any other issues. They seem to be fine and without any other problems.

Thank you again.

 

[Judy]

Your answers are in the threads I linked for you. You need to read through and decide for yourself whether cocci is the problem and whether you need to treat them. If they do not seem sick, perhaps it was an isolated problem and not cocci. There is no way to treat the soil; the chickens eventually build an immunity to cocci. If your feed store does not carry Corid, you will probably have to order it online.

I will give you another link, which is pictures of poo, which may hep you decide whether what you saw was normal or not:

http://www.chat.allotment.org.uk/index.php?topic=17568.0

 

[threehorses]

In addition to ddawn's good advice, I'd like to add the following:

Laying hints:
-All of your layers should be on a diet of 16 to 20% laying mash or pellets for at least 90% of their over all diet.
-Always offer oyster shell free-choice to layers. As laying mash is made for the average hen who needs 6:1 calcium to phos, but some hens need as much as 15:1 cal/phos, always offer free-choice prepared oyster shells. I prefer the crushed shells over the pelleted. This should be fed in addition to any grit as it's too easily dissolved to act as grit. Do not feed egg shells; they're simply not as bioavailable a souce of calcium. Feed separate from the feed. I feed mine in a container with the granite grit. (Last time I bought a two-dish cat feeding plastic bowl at the dollar store - works great, doesn't shift, doesn't get knocked over.)
-Feeding new layers plain yogurt weekly not only increases their calcium, but gives them some vitamin D which is essential for calcium absorbtion. You get the added benefit of boosting their beneficial bacteria, which is wonderful as the first weeks of laying are stressful and can predispose a bird to illness.
-Make sure that you don't feed excessive grains. Grains are high in phosphorus and though phosphorus is needed for calcium absorbtion, too much will make a hen cease to put calcium into egg shells - and eventually lead a bird to leach the calcium from their own bones to make up for the excess phosphorus.

If you hadn't mentioned the very loose droppings mixed with blood, I'd almost think that a new layer (as you said you were surprised to see an egg) might have simply bled as the cloaca hadn't yet had an egg pass through it. Sometimes fissues in the cloaca can bleed into the droppings making it appear as if there's blood in the droppings. However, the diarrhea make me at least suspect cocciodiosis although it's more uncommon for older birds in dry conditions. I'd second ddawn's recommendations of determining whether the blood was in the droppings, or possibly from the vent. DO examine all droppings very carefully. If you know which hen, isolate her for a day. Do the yogurt and oatmeal in the mean time as they'll help in any case and might clear up the diarrhea at least.

Diarrhea treatment:

Using a little plain yogurt daily for birds with any digestive symptoms can replace the beneficial bacteria that help them fight diarrhea (as well as fighting opportunistic pathogens like bad bacteria and yeast/fungus). So give them a little treat. "Hiding" it in cooked oatmeal additionally can sooth their gut (oatmeal), as well as make the good bacteria happy by providing them food (oatmeal fiber). Cook it more dry than normal, use the yogurt (1 teaspoon or tablespoon per hen) to make it a more normal consistency. Plus what birds don't like oatmeal?

Avoid higher proteins during coccidiosis. Normally I'd say "use boiled eggs to get them to eat yogurt" but during coccidiosis, no. If you use it to keep your healthy hens healthier - yes!

I'd second ddawn's recommendations of Corid as it treats 9/9 cocci species. If you simply cannot find it, you could use Sulmet but you'd have to discard eggs and it's also an antibiotic, more harsh on the system. However bloody diarrhea is serious. I'd use the product I can find within 2 days.

best of luck, and please respond here with any updates as we'll be here watching for word from you.

 

[mstraga]

I did read the links that were in the response. I just didn't do it until after I posted my questions. It gave me all of the information that I needed. Thank you. There are still bloody droppings. To be on the safe side I am going to treat them for the cocci. I am on my way to the feed store now. Thank you all for your help. I will keep you posted.

 

[Glenda L Heywood]

To add to the others notes this may help you out

#1b] the red poo is coccidiosis
en they get coccidiosis from the NEW soil they were put on


#1 FOR COCCIDIOSIS
Use medication of choice
I give both medications and amts to put in the wet mash medicated with either corid or sulmet

also use the corid or sulmet in the water at same time for 5-7 days

)A) for the flock do this
THIS CAN BE MADE INTO 1 QT OF DRY FEED
2 QTS OF WATER
AND THEN ADD THE 2 TSPS OF SULMET


If using corid 9.6% for the flock
1 QT OF of dry mash
2 QTS of water
add 2 tsp of corid 9.6% to the water
feed 2 tbsp per chicken for a feeding
feed this two mornings to get the medication in the birds
also at same time put the corid or sulmet in the drinking water for 7 days
each chicken gets 2 tbsp of the wet mash with coccidiosis meds

speckled hen gives corid(9.6%) liquid in 2 tsp per gallon of water a

And after medicating give the following things
either the corid amproylium or the sulmet will work but now you have a difficient gut problem with the E.coli
and it needs to have the Vitamin E put in the wet mash probiotic to help the E.coli gut problem

do this
now the
natural probiotic recipe is is:
3 tbsp of dry crumbles
4 tbsp of milk, sweet, sour, or buttermilk or a mixture of all or some
1 tbsp of yoguart of non flavored yoguart ( no artificial sweetmer)
mix good
AFTER PUTTING vIT'S IN
PUT 1 TBSP OF APPLE SAUCE FOR THE WET MASH PROBIOTIC

NOW THE IMPORTANT INGRIEDIENT FOR EACH CHICKEN FED
and add 1- 400 mg of Vit E by cutting the end off the vit E capsule for each chicken fed this wet mash
putting it in the wet mash

OR FOR each chicken your treating
so for each chicken use 2 tbsp of mixture and 1-1000 mg of Vit E

twice a day for them till the manure is solid

and feed each chicken
2 tbsp full of the wet mash probiotic and what they will clean up in 20-30 minutes
then clean wet feeders and restock dry crumbles

do this twice a day for a week
till the chickens manure is right
then quit the Vit E make just the wet mash probiotic
then once a week for life

All the while after mdicating the birds use
do not use ACV with medication

2 tbsp of apple cider vinegar per gallon of the chicken water so their gut flora wil be regulated
they should have this at least 3-5 days a week
then three days aweek after they are over coccidiosis
the vit's are neccessary to clean up the damaged gut problem


Smith's Poultry supply in Ks has the medications
HERE IS THEIR INFROMATION
Smith Poultry & Game Bird Supply Home A family-owned business that offers poultry and game bird books, supplies, vitamins and medication. Located in Kansas, US.
www.poultrysupplies.com/ - Cached - Similar

Smith Poultry & Game Bird Supply

14000 W. 215th St., Bucyrus, KS 66013-9519

Ph. 913-879-2587 - 7:30 A. M. - 3 P. M CST Monday-Friday

24-hour Fax. 913-533-2497

WHILE WAITING FOR THE NEW MEDS DO THIS

email me any questions

 

[mstraga]

Thank you for your reply. I have to be honest with you-that was so much information that it confused me. But I think I understand what you are saying.

I started them on the Sulmet yesterday afternoon and have seen no signs of blood today. It appears that the manure is more solid and I don't see any other symptons or problems with any of them.

So far so good. I planned to change the water this afternoon and from your post I see that that is what I am supposed to do.

I will keep up on updating how they are doing. So far so good.

 

[Sillystunt]

 

[threehorses]

Quote:
This might help;

keep on the Sulmet just as the label says. Give yogurt daily to help replace good bacteria that unfortunately will killed by the Sulmet as it treats your birds. Replacing the good bacteria daily will help prevent any more problems. It'll also reduce diarrhea. After the last treatment with Sulmet, give yogurt every other day for 2 weeks.

Keep the brooder particularly dry and clean. And yes - do make solutions fresh daily of the Sulmet and water.