Last month I lost a blue orpington (Sapphire) and a light brahma cross to cocci. I had never experienced it before, and all I noticed was that the pen full of chicks had a few that were not as peppy as before. My brooder is a 4x4' enclosed pen, shavings, with a heat lamp in one corner. So far it has been working out great, and is perfect for a dozen chicks that are older than a week. Every day I fluff the shavings, take out any clumpies, fresh food, fresh water (many times a day). These chicks have never set foot on soil, and it is one of 10 similar pens than house other breeds, some of which DO go outside now that they're old enough.
The day before yesterday I checked all the chicks... everyone is chipper, bright, running around, eating, drinking... great.
We're happy.
Yesterday, during the morning rounds, I'm greeted by an orpington chick that can't seem to get up. I thought at first that she had hurt her leg rough-housing with the others, but when I picked her up I realized that she was very light. I checked the pen... no sign of bloody poo that I could see, but I brought her inside, put her in her own box with heat, food, water, and waited for her to poop.
Here's what the chicks look like when they're starting to feel sick from Cocci...
Sapphire
Pearl
Note the fluffed up appearance, the pale face, the sleepy look...
Then, two hours later, Pearl pooped... this is what it looks like...
(Sapphire's, day before she died)
Pearl's, yesterday morning...
That clinched it for me...
4 cc (ml) of Amprol 9.6% solution/1 gallon of water , and I forced her beak into it to drink several times yesterday. It was actually easy, because I put the waterer in front of her, and when her head fell forward as she fell asleep, as soon as it hit the water she would drink.
She's still only getting crumbles at this point, because you want to decrease the protein intake. Later it is good to give them a little yogurt to get the good bugs back in their systems.
And then you wait. Hopefully, you catch it when they first start looking lethargic. Don't wait to see. Separate them, put them on wire if you can to isolate them from the poopies... the oocytes that cause the illness are passed through the poopies.
This morning, we all breathed a sigh of relief...
Poopies are starting to look a little more normal, more brown and green than red...
And she's eating and standing!!
I lost the first chicks because I only had Sulmet on hand - I have to order other meds online, and it didn't get here until two days after Sapphire passed. Using Sulmet on the birds that were showing milder symptoms perked them up immediately. But if they're so far gone as to be hunkered down, fluffed up, and non-responsive, the Amprolium is a way to hit it hard and fast. The directions on Amprol/Corid is 9.5 cc/1 gallon... keep in mind that this med is intended for use with pigs and cattle... drop it to 4cc/1 gallon for the first 5 days, then 2cc/gallon for 2 more days.
This is what we did, and I'm happy to report that she's cheeping and active again. Not out of the woods, but much better.
I hope that this will help anyone else that is wondering if this is what their chicks have/had, and that anyone with more experience will add their successes and techniqes to the thread. Cocci has been bad this year. If this helps save other chickies from the same fate as my little Sapphire, then her death will not have been for nothing.
The day before yesterday I checked all the chicks... everyone is chipper, bright, running around, eating, drinking... great.
Yesterday, during the morning rounds, I'm greeted by an orpington chick that can't seem to get up. I thought at first that she had hurt her leg rough-housing with the others, but when I picked her up I realized that she was very light. I checked the pen... no sign of bloody poo that I could see, but I brought her inside, put her in her own box with heat, food, water, and waited for her to poop.
Here's what the chicks look like when they're starting to feel sick from Cocci...
Sapphire
Pearl
Note the fluffed up appearance, the pale face, the sleepy look...
Then, two hours later, Pearl pooped... this is what it looks like...
(Sapphire's, day before she died)
Pearl's, yesterday morning...
That clinched it for me...
4 cc (ml) of Amprol 9.6% solution/1 gallon of water , and I forced her beak into it to drink several times yesterday. It was actually easy, because I put the waterer in front of her, and when her head fell forward as she fell asleep, as soon as it hit the water she would drink.
And then you wait. Hopefully, you catch it when they first start looking lethargic. Don't wait to see. Separate them, put them on wire if you can to isolate them from the poopies... the oocytes that cause the illness are passed through the poopies.
This morning, we all breathed a sigh of relief...
Poopies are starting to look a little more normal, more brown and green than red...
And she's eating and standing!!
I lost the first chicks because I only had Sulmet on hand - I have to order other meds online, and it didn't get here until two days after Sapphire passed. Using Sulmet on the birds that were showing milder symptoms perked them up immediately. But if they're so far gone as to be hunkered down, fluffed up, and non-responsive, the Amprolium is a way to hit it hard and fast. The directions on Amprol/Corid is 9.5 cc/1 gallon... keep in mind that this med is intended for use with pigs and cattle... drop it to 4cc/1 gallon for the first 5 days, then 2cc/gallon for 2 more days.
This is what we did, and I'm happy to report that she's cheeping and active again. Not out of the woods, but much better.
I hope that this will help anyone else that is wondering if this is what their chicks have/had, and that anyone with more experience will add their successes and techniqes to the thread. Cocci has been bad this year. If this helps save other chickies from the same fate as my little Sapphire, then her death will not have been for nothing.
