Chronic diarrhea, please help.

[Seansbrew]

Hello all, I have 3 four week old australorps chicks. one of them has had diarrhea since week one. The diarrhea appears as undigested food with a lot of water this chick is also drinking large amounts of water and there is a very foul sour smell it goes along with it, could this be Clostridium?
They are on medicated purina start and grow. I occasionally give them treats such as meal worms and veggies (sparingly). They have had chick grit and i have also given them plain yogurt a few times a week.
I have a flock outside that I started inside like these, they never had poo like this and have never smelled like this. Something is definitely wrong.
I have made efforts to keep these chicks under quarantine from my outside flock. I have attached a photo of the poop.
I am new to this and need advice, thanks

 

[Eggcessive]

If they haven't been outside yet, I wouldn't think it was clostridium. Coccidiosis might be the problem since you have older chickens where cross contamination may take place. This particular chick could possibly have something wrong in it's digestive tract, I suppose. I would probably do a 5 day treatment of Corid, and see if it improves. The dose is 2 teaspoonful liquid Corid or 1.5 tsp powder in a gallon of water. Yogurt can make stool a bit runny and is not great or chicks since it has a lot of calcium. Buttermilk (in small amounts) or Probios might be a better alternative.

 

[cafarmgirl]

X 2. Nix the yogurt and give probiotics in their water, or a bit of buttermilk. I like the powdered probiotics in the water, easler, less messy. You can treat with Corid if you want to be on the safe side, even though it doesn't look like a coccidiosis poop for lack of a better description. But that is one of those things that I prefer to err on the side of saftey and just rule it out.

As a side note, I have a 20 month old pullet, healthy in ever other way who very often makes poops just like this, sometimes much more watery. She has done this her whole life. Eats, drinks normally, is active, lays regularly, on a regular deworming schedule, is in excellent feather and body condition etc. etc...she just makes occasional crazy poops.

 

[Seansbrew]

They have not been outside yet. I've done my best to control cross contamination. They have not touched or used anything the other chickens have used unless I cleaned it with bleach and rinsed.
I have some probiotics I will give them.
Not all the chickens have it, just the one. And they were purchased together.

 

[Seansbrew]

Anyone else?

 

[Michael Apple]

Buttermilk or fish protein can actually increase the severity of a clostridium problem. I wouldn't recommend that for chicks. I wouldn't be alarmed about a few loose droppings as it could be attributed to what you are feeding them. Change feed to an organic start & grow formula. Purina/Land O' Lakes/ Dumor (one in the same) are known for recalls, so I wouldn't trust the proper amounts of Amprolium for resistance to Coccidiosis. Back off the meal worms and vegetables and just provide the starter. The problem with greens, such as kale for instance, is that it has a whopping 9% calcium content on average. Too much calcium can damage the liver and cause abnormal development in chicks.

Generally 5-6 weeks is when we put chicks outside in a grow off pen, so you want to be sure they build immunity to Coccidiosis, which is a threat particularly those first 9 months of growth. I do this with Corid treated water every 3 weeks. The preventative dose with Corid 9.6% is 1tsp per gallon of water for 5 days. Symptom treatment dose is 2 tsp per gallon of water for 5-7 days. Maintaining intestinal health is important, so a good quality vitamin-electrolyte-probiotic dispersible powder in waterers 3 days a week is very beneficial. Avian Super Pack is superior to many as a vitamin powder, and Probios dispersible powder has a great balance of lactic acid bacteria.

 

[Michael Apple]

If you do not see improvement after a couple days using Corid, I would suspect a bacterial infection. L-S 50 water soluble powder is a very effective antibacterial used for chicks. Dose is 1 tsp per gallon for 5-7 days. Just as you would with any medicinal treatment, follow up with vitamins-electrolytes-probiotics in water for a few days afterward.

 

[Seansbrew]

If I am to start administering amprolium for preventive/symptoms , I need to stop the medicated feed correct?

 

[Michael Apple]

Yes.

 

[Seansbrew]

Thank you, I now have a plan of attack. Off to the feed store.