Bloody Stool - Suspect Cocci - have started Corid

[aquaponics3712]

I am new to this and just figured out how to start a thread. I hope I did it right!!

I have a baby girl born May 23rd, 2013 (almost 3 months). On Thursday evening, I noticed that she was having trouble walking and her bottom was caked in diahrea. (I did not notice any blood at this time.) Her comb and wattle were pastey white. The first thing I thought was that she was dehydrated so I started giving her water in a syringe but when water was given to her she DID drink it on her own as though she was VERY THIRSTY. She also ate the food I gave her on her own. I kept her inside for the night to watch her. By Friday morning she was pooping blood. It looked like she had been cut and was free bleeding - it was so running and thin. She was soooo week and was falling over and would try to stand but was unable to.

I checked this forum and went to TSC asap and got Corid. I began giving that to her immediately at 11:30 am Friday. I also put save a chick in her water to help with the dehydration. Within a couple of hours she looked a little stronger and the color was starting to come back to her.

(I medicated all of my hens and other chicks as well just in case.) I then cleaned out all of the bedding from the house and replaced it with new pine shavings. I moved their run as well to offer new grass/soil.

I put some of her medicated water onto her food to make sure she was getting medicated no matter whether eating or drinking.

Yesterday (Saturday) morning, she was sitting up (still inside in my bathroom) looking much more alert and the bleeding looked to have completley stopped. By 4 pm, her poo was firming up quite a bit and still no blood. She was now trying to walk more but was still off balance and could only take about 4 steps (or what looks more like wobbles.) Another thing that I enjoyed was hearing her start to chirp again. She hadsn't done that the day before.

This morning (Sunday) around 5 am, I found her behind the pedistal sink lying on her back, her feet sticking stretched out- lying perfectly still. This freaked me OUT! I thought she had died in the night, but she I supposed had fallen backwards and gotten stuck back there. (Or perhaps she was sleeping as she wasn't struggling to get up....I didn't wait to find out - I was so panicked and grabbed her up from there!).....anyway.....she is still on the corid for 2 more full days (she has been on it for 54 hours). I have taken her outside in her own little doggie pen so that she can get sunshine and can at least hear her chicken brothers and sisters to hopefully encourage her to hurry up and get better! I am sitting and watching her while I work by the kitchen window so that nothing can get to her.

BUT I am still concerned -

She is alert, and if she weren't trying to walk, I would have no idea anything was wrong with her. She eats, drinks, pecks at the ground. But when she tries to stand or walk, she is still very wobbly and sits down most of the time. She can only take a few "unsure" steps. I am wondering if anyone else's chicks took this long to get their legs back? And I know I can't give her vitamins for the duration of the corid treatment, so is there anything I can do? Or do I just have to wait this out?

Thanks for any suggestions!!

 

[Kelsie2290]

If they are really sick with coccidia it will take them a good week to recover completely, it can really hit them hard. It is a good sign she has responded to treatment already, but you may have to repeat the treatment more than once also.
If she is still dehydrated you could use pedialyte or something similar for her water (as long as it doesn't have thiamine/vit B in it). Hopefully most of the walking/standing issue is just from her being so weak and then being stuck, but I would concerned about is if there is something else going on with her if she is the only one that is/was sick? Are you sure she did not get into anything or eat anything poisonous. Have they been vaccinated for Mareks?

 

[aquaponics3712]

Thanks for your reply!!

There was one other chick with bloody stool, but it wasn't watery yet and she didn't act sick. And since having started the corid on all of my birds, there is no more bloody stool in any of them.

You mentioned repeating the treatment. Should I do the five days and wait a week and then do it again?

I haven't had them vaccinated for mereks. I wasn't aware that I needed to do that. I hatched them from my 9 month old hens and roo.

How do they catch mereks and what is that?

 

[Kelsie2290]

OK, that is good, well it is bad that you had more than one sick chick, but with multiple birds with those symptoms it does mean that what you have is probably coccidia and not something wrong with the one chick in particular. When they are that sick, they will often have a relapse a couple of days after you stop the treatment because their immune system is still not able to cope. Usually what I do is stop treatment after 5-7 days and keep a close eye on them, if anyone looks at all iffy I start a second round.
Marek's is a viral disease that chickens get, it is highly contagious and pretty common in some areas. We vaccinate for it routinely because it is common in the area. There is a lot of controversy about whether or not small backyard flocks should vaccinate for it (do a search on byc about it, you can read for days). But whenever you have leg problems/paralysis in a young chicken it is something to keep in mind.

 

[aquaponics3712]

UPDATE!
I am SOOOOO excited!

Last night, she was still stumbling and very weak. MUCH better than 5 days ago, but she still couldn't walk more than 2 or 3 steps at a time. So, I made some eggs for her with corid on them and I gave it to her at about 9 pm. I checked on her 3 times in the night and she was sleeping the whole time. ( I am keeping her in my bathroom until she is strong enough to hold her own with the flock.)

And this morning when I opened the door to the bathroom she was standing at the door. I reached down to pick her up like usual to give her her medicine water and she RAN FROM me, flapped her arms and sqwaking around the room. (I was secretely THRILLED!) I showed her a treat (more eggs) and she came running TO me this time.

I can't tell you how excited I am to see her up and running, strutting and bobbing her little head. I was so worried that she might never walk again. But what seemed like over night (actually 5 nights) she is now I'd say 90% back to her normal self.

Thanks so much for your support and for everyone who posts their experiences on this forum! My chickies lives have been saved as a result!!

 

[Wyandottes7]

UPDATE!
I am SOOOOO excited!

Last night, she was still stumbling and very weak. MUCH better than 5 days ago, but she still couldn't walk more than 2 or 3 steps at a time. So, I made some eggs for her with corid on them and I gave it to her at about 9 pm. I checked on her 3 times in the night and she was sleeping the whole time. ( I am keeping her in my bathroom until she is strong enough to hold her own with the flock.)

And this morning when I opened the door to the bathroom she was standing at the door. I reached down to pick her up like usual to give her her medicine water and she RAN FROM me, flapped her arms and sqwaking around the room. (I was secretely THRILLED!) I showed her a treat (more eggs) and she came running TO me this time.

I can't tell you how excited I am to see her up and running, strutting and bobbing her little head. I was so worried that she might never walk again. But what seemed like over night (actually 5 nights) she is now I'd say 90% back to her normal self.

Thanks so much for your support and for everyone who posts their experiences on this forum! My chickies lives have been saved as a result!!

Yay, I'm glad its ended well!