Coccidia is killing my flock one by one- tried everything

[Jarsheart]

I have spent hundreds of dollars at the vet. My silkie chickens are dying one by one of coccidia. I had gone several weeks without a death, then had a sudden death today. He died at the vet in my lap. I have used corid, sulfamet, sulfatrim and still he died. I did not use the two sulfa drugs back to back of course. Any other ideas ? I am down to eight chickens, and can't take much more of this.

 

[BlacksheepCardigans]

Baycox! Or Marquis (the horse paste) or clinacox. The active ingredient should end in -uril (ponazuril, toltrazuril, diclazuril). If your vet is already working with you on this, they can help you find the tiny portions you need. They may need to contact a compounding pharmacy but it's available and possible. You can buy portions from larger farms in the area as well, if you can find someone willing to break up a pack for you.

The big problem with the first-line defenses by vets - usually corid or albon - is that they only depress the coccidia. Usually that works because the animal can get the upper hand and recover, but for a strain that is harder to fight off corid and albon can be basically useless. The -urils will kill the coccidia.

 

[cowcreekgeek]

I have spent hundreds of dollars at the vet. My silkie chickens are dying one by one of coccidia. I had gone several weeks without a death, then had a sudden death today. He died at the vet in my lap. I have used corid, sulfamet, sulfatrim and still he died. I did not use the two sulfa drugs back to back of course. Any other ideas ? I am down to eight chickens, and can't take much more of this.

I'm sorry for your loss, and apologize for being so unusually brief (the storm caused me a bit of trouble here).

There are resistant forms of nanotodes and other parasites, allegedly as the result of using ivermectin pour on for external parasite control. The vet should have told you exactly which parasites you were dealing with, and if not? Stop going there. <-- period. I'm gonna post a longer list here, 'n come back to this thread when I'm not worried that I'll not get to the submit button before another limb gets to the power lines:

PARASITE (INTERNAL) SOLUTIONS
The following treatments have been shown to be effective for eliminating internal parasites from poultry and game birds. Neither of these drugs (fenbendazole or leviamisole) has been approved for use by FDA, so the producer accepts all responsibility for their use. Both drugs have been very effective if used properly and will eliminate most types of internal parasites that affect birds. Caution: Do not use with birds producing eggs or meat destined for human consumption.
Fenbendazole Treatments
One-day Treatment

1 oz Safeguard or Panacur per 15-20 lb feed​

Dissolve the fenbendazole product in one cup of water. Mix this solution well into the feed and give to the birds as their only feed source for one day. When completely consumed, untreated feed can be given. Be sure that the commercial medication contains 10% fenbendazole.
Safeguard is a product of Ralston Purina, and Panacur is a product marketed by American Hoechst. One ounce of medication will treat about 1000 10-oz bobwhite quail. Adjustments of the amounts of medication and feed needed may be necessary depending on the number and size of the birds.
Three-Day Treatment

1.2 oz Safeguard or Panacur in 100 lb feed
-or-
4 oz pkt of "Worm-A-Rest Litter Pack" (Ralston Purina) in 50 lb feed
-or-
5 lb bag of "Worm-A-Rest Mix Pack" in 495 lb feed​

Feed all the medicated feeds free-choice for three consecutive days. The feed mixtures provide 75 ppm fenbendazole. Quail will receive about 1.7 mg/bird each day for adult birds or 2.75 mg/lb of bodyweight.
Fenbendazole has been shown to be a very effective treatment for eliminating Capillaria (capillary worms), Heterakis (cecal worms), Ascaridia (roundworms), and Syngamus spp. (gapeworms). Toxicity from overdosing with fenbendazole is very remote. Research indicates that amounts up to 100 times the recommended dosages have been given under research conditions without adverse effects to the birds. Use of this product during molt, however, may cause deformity of the emerging feathers.
Leviamisole Solutions

52 gram (1.84 oz) pkt Tramisol in 100 gallons water
-or-
13 gram (.46 oz) pkt Tramisol in 25 gallons water
-or-
52 gram (1.84 oz) pkt in 3 qt water (stock solution)​

Dissolve the 52 gram packet of "Tramisol Cattle and Sheep Wormer" or the 13 gram packet of "Tramisol Sheep Drench Powder" into the appropriate amount of water. If the stock solution is used with a water proportioner, be sure that the stock solution is dispensed at the rate of 1 oz/gallon in the drinking water.
Any of the solutions are effective at treating Capillaria (capillary worms), Heterakis (cecal worms), and Ascaridia (roundworms). The solutions contain .5 gram of leviamisole per gallon of water. Allow the birds to drink the solution for one day, then remove. In severe cases, the treatment can be repeated every 5-7 days.

:: edited :: for clarification purposes ... note the green highlighting, in regard to any fear of harming your chickens by the use of fenbendazole. Also, these treatments were clearly planned for larger scale operations ... doin' a bit of math may be req'd ~'-)

 

[dawg53]

Thanks, that definitely explains a lot. I hope it isn't too late for the Corid to save the rest of my flock and I hope it gets here
in time.

It's possible your sick birds may not drink the corid treated water. You'll have use an eyedropperful or syringe without a needle to administer the mixture to your birds. Do this about 4-5 times a day and be careful they dont aspirate when orally dosing them. They should improve and soon be able to drink the treated water by themselves.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I am sorry this is happening to you and your chickens, alot of people on here have silkies, maybe Pm someone with experience in Silkies, one person I can recommend is Bat Cave Silkies, hope this helps.

 

[SilkieTime]

So sorry, Did you do 1 1/2 tea. to 2 qt. for 5 days then two weeks do it again?

 

[silkiechicken]

What kind of coop are they in? Might help if you get them off the soil up into wire cages without floors. Eliminating or greatly reducing their contact with soil/poop will stop cocci from re-entering their digestive tracts. The drugs can only control what is gong on in the bird, does nothing for the cocci that is consumed.

 

[SilkieTime]

What kind of food do you have?

 

[PepsNick]

Disinfect a new area, and move them in. Cocci always stays in the soil, and can't go away. Same with the location. It's a lot easier to treat early on. If all of them die, I would recommend vaccinating your next flock for cocci from 1-3 days old.

 

[Harrietsmum]

I used 'Baycox Piglet' for mine. Give .5 ml per kg of body weight orally once a week for three weeks. Easy to administer and works almost immediately. Because it administered straight into the bird's mouth, you can guarantee that each bird is getting the correct dose.