Cocci is LETHAL...DO NOT take it lightly...

[kaybats]

Thank you so much for that link Blue!!! I actually hadn't found that one. Then again, I was pretty stressed and distraught when i was trying to figure this out.

Everyone seems to be OK out at the barn....but I've been fooled by that already, so need to stay on a steady keel and just be prepared in the morning.

I do not want to jinx things, but I have to say that Little Miss on the kitchen table is looking pretty good. Huge improvement instead of decline. I can NOT get excited, though. That's even harder when things go "south".

And I think the lack of improvement in the barn could be a combination of low dose and bad strain of the disease.

BTW, the coop/run is out in the open, but sheltered, part of the barn. And being a Nosey Rosey, I found out recently that a long time ago before my dear departed Gramma bought the place, all kinds of animals used to be slaughtered out there. Do you or anyone know if that has anything to do with Cocci?

 

[kaybats]

Well, I got her through the night, sort of. I finally laid down around 2 am or so. This is how I found her a few minutes ago.....

I am nearly at my wits end with this. She was really starting to show some improvement last evening, but as the night went on she turned again. i just wonder what I'll find in the coop this morning. A part of me (a very small part) wants to just throw in the towel as I feel I have been beaten. But I just can't do that....I have to know that I really did everything I could...

 

[speckledhen]

Someone asked what it was in the dirt that caused cocci. It's a protozoan, not a bacteria, called an oocyst, a single celled creature. It's similar to something that causes giardia when you drink untreated water from a creek and get digestive upset, if that helps understand it any. It ravages the intestines. There are 9 types and your soil may have some and not others. They become resistant to the types in your soil, but if they are moved to some other location that has different oocysts, the birds may contract cocci at that point, not being resistant to the new type of oocysts they encounter there.

It's not contagious like something respiratory, but they expel the oocysts when they poop so when they poop in the water and others drink it, it can spread that way. Some birds are more resistant than others and older birds are more resistant than younger birds. So, keeping waterers and feeders clean helps, but they can still get cocci because the oocysts are in the soil, especially in soil that has had birds on it for many years. Pens can be heavily limed (keep birds off till it's rained in well so it doesn't burn their feed) and tilled under to help change the pH in the soil and that helps a bit.


Corid is always better for treating cocci than Sulmet, which is much harder on the intestines and actually can make them bleed longer. Treat with Corid, then try to replace the good gut bacteria with plain no-sugar yogurt for a week, a few tablespoons daily. If they aren't over it, you can then try Sulmet, but I have quit using that entirely.

 

[seminolewind]

The best thing that works for me is sulfadimethoxine. I get it online where you get chicken or cow stuff. It's powder and the dose is 1 tsp per gallon. It works quick, and I give it to them for 5 days.

 

[kaybats]

Quote:
Incredibly informative! I mentioned something about knowing it was in the dirt but not exactly sure what.....thank you for sharing that piece of your knowledge!

 

[kaybats]

UPDATE:

Little Miss has actually made it through today, so far. It's almost as if she has gotten to a "sick" point and hasn't budged. She has been the same all day...no change, but still alive. if I didn't know better, I'd think she was trying to milk this for my attention! I made a sling so I could carry her around with me all day to monitor her!

I shouldn't make light of this, though. I really think that I will lose her

The remaining Buffs are doing fantabulous. I think it may have a lot to do with adjusting the dosage of Corid due to the great info I found here

Aside from my newest dilemma with the baby White Rock, I think I'll be OK.

 

[speckledhen]

Quote:
That is the same thing called Albon, for someone looking for it.


Some birds are more affected by cocci than others. Some are more resistant than others, even as chicks. Once I had one chick that was all huddled up and ill looking while the rest seemed perfectly fine. The poop told the tale and I treated them all with Corid, but it was obvious that one chick was more affected than the rest of them, even with the same exact environment. He did survive; never lost one to cocci yet.

 

[roz]

Wow Kaybats,
I have to say that just made me smile when you said you made a sling for her to carry her around in all day. Even if she doesnt make it, she certainly will be comfy in her last hours. My chickens get a dog crate on the dining room table. We have had chickens in our "hospital for the last week and a half (they are finally gone...one made it, one didnt), so we've had to eat dinner with trays in the family room...gotta love having chickens!

 

[roz]

not to make light of the situation though....

 

[kaybats]

you bet ROZ!! There is nothing like having chickens!

I had a sling type thing for my human babies (all 4 of them) and thought why not for my chickie babies?!?! I was able to keep my eye on her and SHE knew that I was! Made everyone happy.

If I had a dining room, it would be more than a hospital for my chicks...It's enough to say that my kitchen and bedroom are sanctuaries!!!!