Chicks with Coccidia and Sour Crop? 2 Died Already. Help!

[jeflin]

I have 2 groups of chicks. 1 group of nine 6 week old Pita pinta and 1 group of ten 4 week old Denizli Longcrowers. They are being brooded together in my garage in a 6 ft by 6 ft brooder. I feed them medicated chick starter.

I was gone all day yesterday, but fed them and changed water before I left. All seemed fine. Then this morning I found 1 Pita Pinta dead. And lots of bloody stool in the bedding. I immediately started Corrid in their water. I just found another Pita Pinta dead. Several chicks are hunched and lethargic with pale faces/combs. I also noticed enlarged, spongy crops in those same chicks. In searching online I found that sour crop can be a secondary issue with chicks that also have coccidia. But I found conflicting advice on how to treat. Does anybody have any experience with this? What do I do? I don’t have any good bird vets in my area. I don’t want to lose any more birds. And of course, the 2 pita pinta that are acting the worst are my daughter’s favorites. Any advice greatly appreciated!!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I don't have any good experiential help for sour crop but the Corid should correct the coccidiosis. Keeping the bedding bone dry helps a lot too. Coccidia need a moist environment to complete their life cycle.
To make sure that is all you are dealing with, send a recently dead bird to your state poultry diagnostic lab for a necropsy.
What state are you in?

 

[jeflin]

I don't have any good experiential help for sour crop but the Corid should correct the coccidiosis. Keeping the bedding bone dry helps a lot too. Coccidia need a moist environment to complete their life cycle.

To make sure that is all you are dealing with, send a recently dead bird to your state poultry diagnostic lab for a necropsy.
What state are you in?

Thank you! I’ve got a good system for water in place that keeps the bedding dry. The only moisture would be from the feces, right? I wanted to completely clean out the bedding today, but don’t want to stress them out in the process. I’m in Oklahoma. My husband already disposed of the dead chicks. If another dies we would be interested in sending it off.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

You have at least one lab. That one is in Stillwater but there may be more.
Most labs will e-mail a Fed-Ex label for shipping the medical sample (carcass) if you call them.
Keep it refrigerated till you ship it.
Oklahoma Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory
Oklahoma State University
College of Vet. Med
Farm & Ridge Road
Stillwater, Oklahoma 74078-0001
Phone: 405-744-6623