Chickens with lethargy and diarrhea dying unknown cause

[pitsko]

Hi, I'm having an issue with my flock. I have lost 2 hens in the past few weeks, would have been 3 but the fox got her! I have one additional sick hen. They all have had diarrhea, lethargy and ruffed up feathers and hunched appearance. No respiratory s/s. I have treated them with Corid for Cocci, but no improvement. Currently I have a flock of 15 and none of the others have symptoms and their droppings are normal. I also have 16 2-3 week old chicks with no issues. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[Eggcessive]

A necropsy on a dead hen or two would have given you an answer about the cause of death, but it does sound like coccidiosis. Corid will do no good unless the maximum concentration is used, and the chickens drink enough. Sick chickens generally won't drink well. How old are the ones who died? Wet warm conditions are ripe for cocci, and I would make sure they get out on fresh grass and have clean and dry bedding at all times. Corid dosage is 1 1/2 tsp of the powder, or 2 tsp of the Corid liquid per gallon of water for at least 5-7 days is best. For those especially sick, I would even give 2 drops twice a day of the concentrated liquid, or the same of the powder mixed 1 1/2 tsp per 2 tsp of water to equal th Corid liquid concentrate.

 

[pitsko]

The oldest one was 5 the other ones are 2 and 3years old. I will start them on Corid again in the morning, that was my initial thought too. Their coop is dry, I mixed the bedding again today, and I did free range them most of the afternoon with supervision because we lost 5, 3 weeks ago to a fox attack. Not during free range, but the fox jumped our 4 foot fence! So now we have made our run like the federal prison!

 

[Glenda Heywoodo]

Since youall hink coccidiosis and treting them
Here is what I have done for decades and itreally helps the type chicns you hae there.
HOW TO DOCTOR A LATHARGIC CHICKEN
Glenda Heywood answered
Lethargic chicken/two vit's/wet mash/E.coli
For this problem I recommend my wet mash probiotic with yoguart be given.
I prefer to use the wet mash probiotic that includes chicken feed, yoguart and milk with applesauce
because chickens will eat the yoguart completely in the wet mash where as some chickens will not just eat yoguart ans it gets on their beaks, of which then they throw it away when cleaning the beaks
as you will notice if standing too close to them eating the yoguart

So read on down where I give the recipe
some advice for helping the chicken get over the lathargic

lathargic , I would suggest and advanced case of E.coli.

With all that is noted here is some good help that I have found to work for the health of the chicken

you mention sluggish behavior that denotes they have a gut problem

So here is what I would do at this time to help them get to feeling better

This is for single bird
I would start with the Vit E and Vit B complex with wet mash

A)
chickens do get some upset in the gut with E.coli and then it goes to a nervous disorder
natural probiotic wet mash with Vit E and Vit B complex added immediately
basically the chicken has some nerve damage from the E.coli do this immediately
need neurolodigal vit E and Vit B complex for E.coli and the nervous disorder Also the apple cider vineager in water

(1) 2 tbsp acv per gallon of water till chickens are well and then 2 times a week for life
for one chicken use 1 tbsp of ACV unpasteurized Braggs or Heinz
1 pint of water DO NOT USE ACV WHILE MEDICATING.

(2 immediately give the chicken 1000 mg capsule of liquid Vit E by cutting the end of the capsule and taking the vit E liquid and mix in wet mash probiotic

(2-B) total amt of capsules equals the total amt of chickens fed vit's multiply amt of recipe times amt of chickens fed it and the amt of vit's times amt of chickens given them

(3 also need to crush a vit B complex pill in tabsp and add tsp of water to it
put it in the chickens wet mash after it is disolved

(3-C) then give this to the chicken twice a week for two weeks should see much improvement

after the chicken has eaten the wet mash probiotic clean wet feeder and restock dry crumble feed.

(4 Do both Vit's twice today then for 7 days till you see some improvement in the chicken

(5 today I would see if the chicken will eat a wet mash with the Vitamins E and B complex

(-B) THIS IS FOR ONE CHICKEN
natural probiotic wet mash
2 tbp of dry crumbles
1 tbsp flax seed meal (the kind people take)
3 tbp of milk sweet, sour or buttermilk
1 tbsp of non flavored yogurt
2 tbsp of apple sauce
put it on top so the chicken can smell and see it
mix good and put the
vit E liquid as directed in the wet mash
and crumble the Vit B complex tablet in a tabsp and add to the wet mash
**BESURE AND MIX VIT'S VERY GOOD IN WET MASH***

(6 Do this twice a day for 7 days to see if the chicken is better
then do this once a day for another week then once a week for a while
this should give the nervous system some stability and cure the bad E.coli in the gut
(6-A) they should clean it up in 20-30 minutes
this will help them get good gut flora
also put 2 tbsp of ACV in gallon of water and keep giving them this water for a week straight
then give it 3-5 times a week for life
Glenda Heywood Cassville Missouri