Coccidiosis in my chickens?!

[AlannaB]

Hi guys,
Can anyone help?
I have two young bantam hens who I believe to have coccidiosis. They are still busy and active, but have stopped laying, have very pale combs and are producing unpleasant looking (and smelling) faeces heavily streaked with gut lining and mucus.
I've upped their protein and supplements and have been treating them with Coxoid oral solution.
However, it's been a week of medication and it doesn't seem to have made any difference at all.
Can anyone suggest anything else?

Thanks
A

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Hi @AlannaB
Can you post some photos of the poop?
Putting your location in your profile can be helpful when getting opinions - I assume you are in Europe, possibly the UK since your are using Coxiod?
How old are they?
What do you feed?

It's hard to know what's going on - are you giving a supplement that contains Thiamine in addition to their feed. It's debatable, what is considered "excessive", but too much Thiamine in the diet while treating with a Coccidiostat like Coxiod (Amprolium) can negate the effectiveness of the medication.
Make the Coxoid solution the only source of water available and stop any vitamin supplementation until after the full treatment is finished.

If there is no improvement after you make adjustments to your supplementation, then consider treating for worms or have your vet perform a fecal float to see if there is an overload.

Keep us posted.

 

[AlannaB]

Hi @Wyorp Rock
Thank you for your reply, really appreciate your knowledge.
I am indeed in the UK. (Norfolk.)
I'll try and get some pics of the poop, but I clean it away and disinfect the area each morning to try to reduce it spreading to my other birds. (They mainly produce the mess while roosting at night.)
The two birds with the problem are 6 months old (welbar and bearded thuringian bantams). I feed them a mixed grain (wheat, corn, maize, dari, linseed, millet... ) and layer pellets. I also mix in Battles' poultry spice and they get daily greens; lettuce, spinach, kale, cabbage, broccoli.
It's really useful to know that the Thiamine inhibits Coxiod. Thank you.
Maybe I should avoid giving them spinach and treats like cooked rice and lentils like for the time being?
Thanks again!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

If you feed layer pellets, usually this should be their main source of nutrition. I would cut out the rice. Aim for "treats" to be no more than 5-10% of their daily intake depending on the protein content of the pellets. Even though layer pellets have calcium for hens, it is best to offer oyster shell free choice as a calcium supplement as well. They will take what they need.

A question about the lentils - are they raw/dried? I really can't say, I have not done enough research to know for sure, but it seems the general consensus is dried beans could be toxic(?) So cooking the lentils may be better - they are a great source of protein/nutritional value. It's a bit confusing about beans/lentils in feed since I do see that organic feeds have dried lentils in the ingredients, but I'm not sure if they have gone through some type of processing. Just a thought.
http://www.fresheggsdaily.com/2012/10/growing-sprouts-for-your-chickens.html

I do give mine small amounts of spinach spaced apart, but spinach contains oxalic acid which binds with calcium and prevents the body from being able to absorb calcium like it should. But, again, this has been widely discussed and there's seems to be some debate about how much it too much. I give it sparingly, but spinach is not a favorite of my flock, but Kale sure is

I'm not a vet, expert or nutritionist, so do a bit of reading/research to determine what adjustments, if any need to be made to their diet. You might find by tweaking it a bit, you will see improvement.

 

[AlannaB]

Thanks so much! Really appreciate your advice and knowledge @Wyorp Rock!