Cocci - Please Help With Dosage!

[tarahharlin]

Hey all,

I have 5 pullets that are 7 weeks old and about 5 days ago, I noticed a poop that looked like it had some intestinal lining in it. Since, that was the only one and everyone was acting fine, I decided to keep an eye on their poops. Now yesterday morning and this morning, I saw another. They are all from the same hen and only seem to be happening first thing in the morning. They all have been on medicated feed since I got them at a few days old and I'm currently transitioning them to their pullet stage feed. Everyone is eating, drinking, alert and acting normal, however, after seeing a few of these now, I want to go ahead and treat them all with Corid and get this taken care of quickly.

I did some research on here regarding the Corid dosage and found @casportpony dosage info, but I want to verify that this is still the correct and that I'm giving them enough. I found on here that the dosage for moderate outbreak is 1tsp per gallon for 3-5 days....is that correct? Their currently using a quart size nipple waterer...can I use that and what would be the dosage for that size?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. This is my third group of girls and I've never dealt with this before, so of course I'm freaking out a little and want to make sure they all stay healthy.

Thanks!
Tarah

 

[coach723]

If you are using the powder the correct dose is 1.5 tsp per gallon of water, if you are using the liquid the correct dose is 2 tsp per gallon of water, for 5 - 7 days. You can follow for an additional 5 - 7 days with 1/3 tsp of powder or 1/2 tsp of liquid per gallon if they seem slow to recover. Make your solution fresh every day and don't give vitamins during treatment as it can reduce the effectiveness of the medication. Corid is very safe, so if in doubt I treat. Your dropping pictured looks like intestinal shed, which can be normal on occasion, but if you are seeing a lot of it I would go ahead and treat. Coccidia are everywhere and it's really common. I always use the severe outbreak dosing, the medication is safe and there is a risk of under dosing, especially if you have a virulent strain.

 

[Kiki]

Treating Coccidiosis with Corid, Amprol, AmproMed - The Correct Amprolium Dose

 

[tarahharlin]

If you are using the powder the correct dose is 1.5 tsp per gallon of water, if you are using the liquid the correct dose is 2 tsp per gallon of water, for 5 - 7 days. You can follow for an additional 5 - 7 days with 1/3 tsp of powder or 1/2 tsp of liquid per gallon if they seem slow to recover. Make your solution fresh every day and don't give vitamins during treatment as it can reduce the effectiveness of the medication. Corid is very safe, so if in doubt I treat. Your dropping pictured looks like intestinal shed, which can be normal on occasion, but if you are seeing a lot of it I would go ahead and treat. Coccidia are everywhere and it's really common. I always use the severe outbreak dosing, the medication is safe and there is a risk of under dosing, especially if you have a virulent strain.

Thanks for the correct dosage info! I’m picking up the Corid liquid today, so will treat with the 2 tsp per gallon of water. I also thought it looked like intestinal shed, but after seeing it a few times and with them only being 7 weeks, I think I’ll treat to be on safe side. Is intestinal shed normal for a 7 week old bird? One more quick question...I’m transitioning their feed, so I’m mixing the medicated feed with the new. Is that okay to still use?

 

[tarahharlin]

Treating Coccidiosis with Corid, Amprol, AmproMed - The Correct Amprolium Dose

This is super informative and helpful! Thanks

 

[coach723]

If I see one intestinal shed I don't worry, but do keep an eye on things. When I see a lot then I suspect either coccidia or worms. I also have to treat for roundworms in my flock and seeing a lot of shed can indicate it's time to worm also for me. Your birds are young, so concern about coccidia is real, I think treating is the right thing. I doubt the medicated feed in a small amount will matter, it's got the same ingredient as Corid. If it's not mixed in then I would just hold off on using it until after treatment is over, but odds are that it wouldn't be enough to do any harm. The amount of amprolium in medicated feed is really small.
I stopped using medicated feed a long time ago for several reasons. 1. Amprolium is a thiamine inhibitor, so there is a small risk of introducing a thiamine deficiency particularly in a chick that is already prone to it. 2. There is some debate on whether medicated feed inhibits or interferes with normal immunity building to the coccidia in the environment. 3. I don't like treating for something if it's not necessary. MANY people use and swear by medicated starter, it's a personal choice, and I'm not saying don't, those are just my reasons. I instead expose my chicks to the soil from day one in the brooder. They get a large plant saucer of dirt from my yard every day to scratch and peck and dirt-bathe in so they are naturally exposed to all the microbes in the soil. The saucer makes it easy to dump, clean, and give new dirt. As they get older I start adding small amounts of soil from the chicken run. The idea is to give them small exposure so they have a chance to develop immunity so their systems are not overwhelmed later when they move to the big coop. I always have Corid on hand just in case, but my incidence of outbreaks has been greatly reduced by doing it this way. My last outbreak was 4 or 5 years ago. Whether you use medicated or not, exposing them this way is still a good idea.

 

[CatWhisperer]

I have read here that you shouldn’t treat with amprolium at the same time your chicks are on medicated feed. Seem like after that long on medicated fed you should be dealing with something besides coccidia. Don’t want you to miss that possibility.

 

[coach723]

Medicated feed contains a very low preventative dose of amprolium. It does not always prevent an outbreak. For an actual outbreak you have to treat. The intent of the feed is to allow them to be exposed to coccidia but keep the numbers low enough that they don't actually get sick. The treatment with the powder or liquid is a much higher dose intended to kill off as many of them as possible in order to save the birds life since too many coccidia can do massive damage to the digestive tract and be fatal. When the numbers get too high, the amount in the feed is ineffective. I wouldn't use both, but I doubt it would hurt the chicks if it happened, it would be hard to overdose on amprolium.
There are loads of articles touting the pluses and minus's of either medicated or non medicated.
https://www.fresheggsdaily.com/2019/02/do-i-need-to-feed-medicated-chick-feed.html
https://www.purelypoultry.com/blog/coccidiosis/

 

[CatWhisperer]

Medicated feed contains a very low preventative dose of amprolium. It does not always prevent an outbreak. For an actual outbreak you have to treat. The intent of the feed is to allow them to be exposed to coccidia but keep the numbers low enough that they don't actually get sick. The treatment with the powder or liquid is a much higher dose intended to kill off as many of them as possible in order to save the birds life since too many coccidia can do massive damage to the digestive tract and be fatal. When the numbers get too high, the amount in the feed is ineffective. I wouldn't use both, but I doubt it would hurt the chicks if it happened, it would be hard to overdose on amprolium.
There are loads of articles touting the pluses and minus's of either medicated or non medicated.
https://www.fresheggsdaily.com/2019/02/do-i-need-to-feed-medicated-chick-feed.html
https://www.purelypoultry.com/blog/coccidiosis/

Thanks Coach723 that's very enlightening!

 

[tarahharlin]

If I see one intestinal shed I don't worry, but do keep an eye on things. When I see a lot then I suspect either coccidia or worms. I also have to treat for roundworms in my flock and seeing a lot of shed can indicate it's time to worm also for me. Your birds are young, so concern about coccidia is real, I think treating is the right thing. I doubt the medicated feed in a small amount will matter, it's got the same ingredient as Corid. If it's not mixed in then I would just hold off on using it until after treatment is over, but odds are that it wouldn't be enough to do any harm. The amount of amprolium in medicated feed is really small.
I stopped using medicated feed a long time ago for several reasons. 1. Amprolium is a thiamine inhibitor, so there is a small risk of introducing a thiamine deficiency particularly in a chick that is already prone to it. 2. There is some debate on whether medicated feed inhibits or interferes with normal immunity building to the coccidia in the environment. 3. I don't like treating for something if it's not necessary. MANY people use and swear by medicated starter, it's a personal choice, and I'm not saying don't, those are just my reasons. I instead expose my chicks to the soil from day one in the brooder. They get a large plant saucer of dirt from my yard every day to scratch and peck and dirt-bathe in so they are naturally exposed to all the microbes in the soil. The saucer makes it easy to dump, clean, and give new dirt. As they get older I start adding small amounts of soil from the chicken run. The idea is to give them small exposure so they have a chance to develop immunity so their systems are not overwhelmed later when they move to the big coop. I always have Corid on hand just in case, but my incidence of outbreaks has been greatly reduced by doing it this way. My last outbreak was 4 or 5 years ago. Whether you use medicated or not, exposing them this way is still a good idea.

The only reason I was continuing with a little of the medicated is because I'm currently in the process of switching their feeds, so I was worried if I did it too suddenly that I'd upset their systems. I do introduce some outside soil to them in the brooder box, but never even thought to take soil from the chicken run, so I'm definitely going to do that the next time!

Does treating them with the Corid cancel out any immunity they have? I started them on the Corid Wednesday afternoon and this morning I didn't notice any weird poops, so hopefully that will be it! Thanks again for all your help and information!!