Coccidios Not Responding to Corid or Sulmet

[Haunted55]

I really hate to do this but is there anyone out there who could direct me to BYC articles or any for that matter that would deal with a form of Coccidiosis that shows paralysis and doesn't respond to 3 seperate courses of Corid and finally a full treatment of Sulmet. All of these birds have been wormed with Safeguard as well.

I just received a call from the Vet who did a necropsy on one of my birds I believed had Marek's because of the paralysis that kept showing up in the birds I have lost. I mean textbook, one leg forward and one leg back paralysis. One bird pulled out of a mild case, only one leg involved but in the second bout, a month later, she succumbed to what I believe was the occular form of Marek's. Lumps around the eyes that had not been there before and blindness. According to this Vet's findings, it is either the food is not giving the proper nutrition or it's coccidios.

 

[tiki244]

How old are the birds that died of Mareks?

Are they the same ones that have cocci problems?

How old are the birds that have cocci? Do they have cocci now? What was the last time you treated them and with what?

This will help to answer your question.

 

[tiki244]

Did you worm baby chicks? I am a bit confused about the post.

 

[Haunted55]

Sorry, I'm a little shocked by the the first results of this necropsy.

History;

Hatched eggs in incubator in March 2012 13 eggs hatched. All healthy. Did not give Marek's vaccine because was too stupid to think of getting it before hand. Was too caught up in the miracle of the hatch.

March 9th, bought 6 Wyandottes and 6 Partridge Plymouth Rocks from TS. Was told they had been vaccinated for Marek's.

April 7th, started eggs for a friend

May 1st 2 chicks had hatched and had died. Friend's eggs. Not counted in my loses.

May 4th, picked up order of chickens, meat birds, turkeys, geese from local farm store. Mt Healthy birds vaccinated for Marek's.

June 5th, had first loses of chicks, 2. Meat birds fine. Geese fine.

June 15th loses of my hatched birds, 3 in one day. Partial paralysis in 2 birds, wing and leg. The last one just flat on floor of brooder, no symptoms.

June 21 Still getting medicated feed and 7 more dead. 5 birds showed symptoms of wing paralysis and some involvement of left legs. 2 just found dead. One bird with paralysis still hanging in there.

July 6th, 15 birds showing paralysis and inability to get food and water on their own. 6 more dead no symptoms. No longer getting medicated food. Switched to 20% grower.

July 9th, birds showing signs of cocci, started course of Corid.

July 11th, 10 more birds showing signs of paralysis. 2 found one leg forward and one leg back. One bird from the June 21st paralysis has seemed to recover. No problem getting around and is able to eat and drink without help.

July 12th, culled 24 birds beyond help and 6 more found dead in morning.

July 29th, birds still showing symptoms of cocci. another 7 day course of Corid.

July 30th, 1 found dead, 1 bird not getting up to eat or drink. Hand fed and watered 8 times during the day.

Aug.3rd., 6 more birds dead. Some had shown signs of leg problems, unsteady gait and easily tired.

Aug9th, bird who seemed to recover from partial paralysis showing lumps/tumors around eyes and appears to be blind. Has been free ranging during the day with original layers from 2011. Started another course of Corid as remaining sick birds showing signs of cocci still.

Aug. 14th, 4 more birds dead at evening chores. Bird with blindness is culled because she cannot fend for herself any more.

Aug. 17th Only 2 birds left from TS, 1 wyandotte and 1 partridge rock. Partridge rock is the size of a softball at 23 wks..

Aug. 19th, started course of Sulmet as some birds still symptomatic of cocci. 1 bird found dead at morning chores.

Aug. 28th 4 more dead and 3 with very pale combs. All still eating and drinking.

this is where I stopped writing things down. I don't know if this will help or not but thank-you so much for responding.

 

[speckledhen]

NO coccidiosis has anything to do with paralysis. That is not your cause of paralysis. If it doesn't respond to Corid then on top of that, Sulmet, it is not cocci.

Medicated feed does little to prevent coccidiosis. In fact, if I could easily get it, I would just feed non-amprolium feed. That said, you are probably dealing with non-textbook Mareks or some other issue. I've never had paralysis in any bird nor ever dealt with Mareks Disease so cannot help you with that.

I do know that vaccinations do not prevent Mareks, only the tumors associated with it.

 

[Haunted55]

Yes I did worm the birds, this was done with safeguard after the course of Sulmet, sorry. Just too much to remember today.

 

[speckledhen]

You never said how old these birds are. It's not all that usual that adults get coccidiosis and it's not all that usual that a chick needs worming, either. I've never wormed a chick in my life nor had an adult bird with cocci.

You also never said if the vet tested for Mareks. Sounds like he/she doesn't know what he's talking about.

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

Sounds like another form of Marek's? I have read that it will affect different birds in different ways...I've never dealt with it personally but I have heard it can be really hard to get rid of.

I've dealt with Cocci and it's always responded well to dry, clean conditions and Corid.

Don't know if this helped any.

 

[Haunted55]

NO coccidiosis has anything to do with paralysis. That is not your cause of paralysis. If it doesn't respond to Corid then on top of that, Sulmet, it is not cocci.

Medicated feed does little to prevent coccidiosis. In fact, if I could easily get it, I would just feed non-amprolium feed. That said, you are probably dealing with non-textbook Mareks or some other issue. I've never had paralysis in any bird nor ever dealt with Mareks Disease so cannot help you with that.

I do know that vaccinations do not prevent Mareks, only the tumors associated with it.

this is what i thought as well but this Vet told me that a form of Coccidiosis will in fact cause paralysis. I am just so confused right now. Everything I've read and thought I knew is gone with this diagnosis. I knew that Marek's vaccine only stopped the formation of the tumors, not the disease. But the bird who seemed to recover and then went blind was my hatch and not immunized. Believe it or not, I still have 4 birds from my hatch who are healthy. this just doesn't make sense to me. There have been more deaths since the last i wrote about. The most recent was yesterday evening. A white JG rooster. Symptoms before death were pale comb and a couple of days befroe death, hiding and slow gait. The female necropsied died on Sept. 21st..

 

[Haunted55]

You never said how old these birds are. It's not all that usual that adults get coccidiosis and it's not all that usual that a chick needs worming, either. I've never wormed a chick in my life nor had an adult bird with cocci.

You also never said if the vet tested for Mareks. Sounds like he/she doesn't know what he's talking about.

All of these deaths were this year's birds. Hatch dates from April for my own and the birds purchased from Ts, to May for the birds purchased from local farm store and McMurry hatchery. Sorry I am not coherent. I am trying to find all of my notes and history so I can put it all down as it happened and not guess.

I specificaly asked them to test for marek's as I was sure that this was in fact the issue. Am still not convinced it isn't. Yes a lot of the birds culled or that were found dead did show signs of coccidiosis but after treating them with Corid x's and then Sulmet???? It shouldn't be there, at least to my thinking. The Vet found the small intestine loaded with coccidiosis and blood and mucus. Told me this bird had no signs of being exposed to Marek's.