Cocci?

[Chooksaurus]

Our birds are all over 20 weeks in age, and on occasion I have noticed what looks like a bit of blood in their droppings in the morning. The first time I saw it was after one of them laid a large double-yolker, so I assumed it was related.

Yesterday I noticed a couple of spots that had small amounts of blood, but they looked like the shed intestinal lining pics from the poo page, so I did not think too much of it.

This morning, I went out and again saw a couple of spots, but was quite shocked to see an actual puddle of blood on the dropping board. The board is covered in linoleum tiles, and considering the spreading of liquid on linoleum, I would estimate that it was about 1 Tbs. of blood. This clearly is not intestinal lining.

The problem is that none of my girls are acting strangely. One of them was standing in the doorway of the coop with her eyes closed, but I've seen them do that before. Rather than sit here all weekend and monitor the situation, I would like to be proactive because we are not home during weekdays to react to problems.

Advice? Treat for cocci and continue observation?

Thanks in advance.


Edit: I did check the vents of the one bird that was standing in the doorway as well as the others I could catch, and nothing looked out of the ordinary.

 

[Chooksaurus]

Follow up:

I went back out to the coop, she was sitting in the doorway this time, which is unusual for her. When I approached her, she did not get up, and she is usually the first to acknowledge people and move away unless you have food.

I nudged her to move, and there was a watery poo under her that was half blood. I have isolated her in a wire dog cage with bedding until I can determine the best course of action.

The only treatment available nearby is going to be Sulmet.

If it is cocci and I treat with Sulmet:

1. Do I just treat the whole flock and forfeit the eggs until treatment is done, or just treat those showing signs in quarantine?

2. Can it jump to people/dogs? My 5 y.o. daughter loves to go "pet" the girls and collect eggs, so I need to keep her away until treatment is complete?

 

[ShaggysGirl]

Quote:
You may want to order some Corrid for the future. It is better than Sulmet on Cocci and you don't have to toss the eggs.
Best of luck
Rhonda

 

[powerline]

For preventive measures, cover your ground with hydrated with lime 2 or 3 times a year, and about every other month, give Acidified Copper Sulfate in the water. ACS is a mineral not a drug. Therefore, it wont mess up your eggs.

 

[hinkjc]

Here is a good article on cocci. http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/PDF/coccidiosis.pdf

Typically, once you see blood there is already intestinal damage happening. I would treat.