Coccidiosis in my white maran

[StepfordCuckoos]

It has been a rough month or so for us when it comes to our chickens. We lost our frizzle, Goldilocks. Then our white maran, Sunshine, started acting very sick. Shortly after that, our RIR named Effie started acting sick. THEN our crossbeak was acting odd (breathing hard, crop didn't seem to be passing food). Our crossbeak is fine now. We withheld food for a day and gave her mineral oil and she was completely fine the next day.

I started treating our two other birds with medicine and gave them eggs and Effie (who got sick after Sunshine) passed away over the weekend. Sunshine is doing horrific today. I realized today that it was likely she has coccidiosis and so I got that medicine from TSC. When I came home I found her in the run, looking almost dead. Her feet we moving a little bit and so I carried her inside and gave her the medicine. She's now in our bathtub but I really don't know if she's going to make it. She will open her eyes if I pick her up but otherwise she's not really doing anything. Does it sound like it's too late for her? I feel so awful, I've been crying on and off about it. I was treating her with the wrong medicine thinking she was doing better but clearly not.

 

[Razzlefrazzle]

What exactly are the symptoms? Why do you think it's coccidiosis?

I give a little sugar water every half hour or so to weak chickens to help keep their strength up. It sounds like she is very sick but it's hard to know what her chances are... You just have to do your best to keep her hydrated/fed and hope she gets strong enough to recover.

 

[StepfordCuckoos]

What exactly are the symptoms? Why do you think it's coccidiosis?

I give a little sugar water every half hour or so to weak chickens to help keep their strength up. It sounds like she is very sick but it's hard to know what her chances are... You just have to do your best to keep her hydrated/fed and hope she gets strong enough to recover.

• Bloody or watery diarrhea.
• Lethargy.
• Lack of appetite.
• Pale combs and wattles.
• Droopy posture and wings.
• Ruffled or puffed up feathers.
• Droopy, dull or glazed eyes.

These are the symptoms I found on google and they match her almost perfectly. The only one I'm not sure about the first one because she's in a run with a bunch of other chickens and haven't seen her poop specifically.

I'll definitely do the sugar water, thank you!

 

[Razzlefrazzle]

• Bloody or watery diarrhea.
• Lethargy.
• Lack of appetite.
• Pale combs and wattles.
• Droopy posture and wings.
• Ruffled or puffed up feathers.
• Droopy, dull or glazed eyes.

These are the symptoms I found on google and they match her almost perfectly. The only one I'm not sure about the first one because she's in a run with a bunch of other chickens and haven't seen her poop specifically.

I'll definitely do the sugar water, thank you!

It won't hurt to treat for coccidiosis, but those symptoms minus the bloody poop can occur with a lot of illnesses and coccidiosis is rare in adult birds that haven't been exposed to any new chickens. I would check the coop for any moldy food/feeders and the run for any poisonous plants or toxic things they could be getting into just in case it's something they are eating. Also consider things like mite/lice infestations or heavy worm loads.

Hoping your girl pulls through... let us know how she does.

 

[StepfordCuckoos]

It won't hurt to treat for coccidiosis, but those symptoms minus the bloody poop can occur with a lot of illnesses and coccidiosis is rare in adult birds that haven't been exposed to any new chickens. I would check the coop for any moldy food/feeders and the run for any poisonous plants or toxic things they could be getting into just in case it's something they are eating. Also consider things like mite/lice infestations or heavy worm loads.

Hoping your girl pulls through... let us know how she does.

Thank you!

If it is mites/lice/etc. is there any way to seriously treat them? As I've been giving her medicine I also was dusting her with DE as well. We cleaned their coops too. Aside from DE is there any thing we can do for that? We added ACV into their water as well.

 

[nuthatched]

Thank you!

If it is mites/lice/etc. is there any way to seriously treat them? As I've been giving her medicine I also was dusting her with DE as well. We cleaned their coops too. Aside from DE is there any thing we can do for that? We added ACV into their water as well.

Im sorry for your losses, thats rough.
DE won't help mites, it's dangerous for you and your birds to breathe, especially them.
Only use acv in plastic waterers, or it will leach zinc and poison your birds.
What is their diet? Age? What are their crops like? Can you get pictures?

 

[Razzlefrazzle]

Thank you!

If it is mites/lice/etc. is there any way to seriously treat them? As I've been giving her medicine I also was dusting her with DE as well. We cleaned their coops too. Aside from DE is there any thing we can do for that? We added ACV into their water as well.

Permethrin based dusts and sprays work well against mites and lice (I use the dust on the birds and the spray for the coop). I know a lot of people use DE, but it isn't as effective as the chemical sprays and is dangerous if inhaled so I don't use it. For worms I use safeguard or valbazen. I do use ACV water (in plastic waterers) about once a month to help keep my girls healthy, but it won't really cure anything.

 

[StepfordCuckoos]

Im sorry for your losses, thats rough.
DE won't help mites, it's dangerous for you and your birds to breathe, especially them.
Only use acv in plastic waterers, or it will leach zinc and poison your birds.
What is their diet? Age? What are their crops like? Can you get pictures?

Thank you
I don't have any pictures right now but I will get one later and post it here. I just gave her more sugar water and did dust her (but won't any more now that you mentioned that). I am hoping that she will make it through the night. I think I found her as she was literally dying this afternoon. Luckily I left work an hour early to get medicine for her because I just had a bad feeling- I'm glad I did. I think if I had left regular time, she would have been dead by the time I got home. I'm hoping that because she hasn't died yet, that's a good sign and there's a chance she'll pull through.

 

[StepfordCuckoos]

Permethrin based dusts and sprays work well against mites and lice (I use the dust on the birds and the spray for the coop). I know a lot of people use DE, but it isn't as effective as the chemical sprays and is dangerous if inhaled so I don't use it. For worms I use safeguard or valbazen. I do use ACV water (in plastic waterers) about once a month to help keep my girls healthy, but it won't really cure anything.

We put ACV in our metal waterers the day before yesterday. Should we empty it and refill all of them?

 

[nuthatched]

We put ACV in our metal waterers the day before yesterday. Should we empty it and refill all of them?

Yes, acid makes the galvanized metal (zinc) leach out.