Coccidiosis medication in Canada

[catchthewind]

Thanks jerseygirl! And my dad lives part time in Las Vegas and we're seeing him in two days. Had I known I would have had him pick some up for me, but he's in Canada now so it's not helpful. If we do chicks again next year, I'm definitely going to make sure to get some corid to have on hand. And thanks Dawn for the dosage instructions. The lady at the feed store says she uses it on her rabbits and it works for whatever strain of Cocci they get, so since she's local hopefully that will hold true for the chicks.

When we left this morning, one of the chicks was hunched in a corner. Now we're back and a few are acting subdued. They didn't mob the water when I put the medicated water in, and that worries me. If I didn't know something was up, I don't think it would be enough to worry me, but since I know they probably have Cocci it's noticeable, and very different from this morning. A few (including my very favourite who is always jumping to the top of the brooder to say hello) are completely fine still, and of course those are the ones that mobbed the medicated water. Should I be separating out the ones acting sick or just medicate them all? Also, the chick that was hunched earlier is moving around, but I haven't seen her drink. The feed store didn't have an eye dropper and with two kids to get in and out of the car each time I didn't want to stop anywhere else. Is there a way I can get her to drink some of the water? How fast will it work? Can I make a mash with their food too like I've seen suggested for the amprolium medications?

 

[catchthewind]

I've been reading more and see that Sulmet doesn't always work even on the strains it should work against. Should I order some Corrid now to have on hand or if it doesn't work will it be too late anyway? The chick that was a bit hunched earlier was sitting on the roost just now and when I opened the brooder jumped off it and gave me the stink eye, so she's either feeling better already or isn't feeling too bad in the first place. I hope I don't lose any more of them, poor things. Will definitely be giving chicks small amounts of dirt to play with in the future though. Are different breeds more susceptible? The one that died was an Ameraucana, and the one that is acting a bit sick is another Ameraucana (the prettiest one). The third Ameraucana is a bit quiet, but not hunching or listless yet. I guess all I can do now is keep an eye out. Can I mix Sulmet in with their feed and make them a mash?

 

[adoptedbyachicken]

I tend to order meds in from Jeffer's Livestock however sodium sulfamethazine is OTC in Canada, Dominion Lab is the brand I have.

However if there are just a couple of birds that have a bit of it rather than ruin their immune response I tend to just give them powdered milk half and half with their chick starter. All that does is tip the pH of the gut away from favorable for the Cocci and still allow their natural immunity to identify the cocci and fight it. This is not a 100% cure however, weak chicks will still die but with my heritage breeder lines I always wanted to breed towards disease resistance so for me it suited. Also powdered milk is easy to get a hold of when needed, as your finding out the medications are not always. Buying ahead sounds like a great idea, but looking on my shelf to see the brand I also see it expired in 2010. It's unopened, so that was a waste of money.

As for the thiamine blockers remember that birds are very dependent on thiamine for correct growth and development so don't keep them on it a minute longer than needed if you get a hold of some. Adding thiamine to the water, like stress guard or such will defeat your purpose too if your just using a thiamine blocker.

 

[catchthewind]

Thanks April. Most of the chicks are fine and happy still. The one that was a bit hunched this morning is moving around eating and drinking now (and was quite quickly after I got home, so I'm unconvinced it was the sulmet that did anything.) A few seem quieter to me than normal, but I've now seen pretty much all of them eat and drink. I do have the sulmet in their water and ended up putting a bit in their food too, but I very much prefer to tend toward natural immunity and letting the body do it's job too. Even after this, I wouldn't put new chicks on medicated started if I started again. Instead, I'll be more proactive about exposing them to small amounts of soil earlier. I like the idea of the powdered milk. I'm actually tending towards taking out the Sulmet and just watching for lethargy and separating any chicks that are lethargic and treating them individually, so that the chicks that are able to fight it on their own aren't being medicated. I do realize that may up the chance of losing a chick, since it killed the one so quickly, but it doesn't sound like the Sulmet is a very nice medication for them either. I dunno, the Sulmet is in there now and I'm mulling it over. I worry too about creating resistance, since it sounds like starting and stopping a medication will develop resistance, and if that's the only one I can find around here I certainly don't want to create resistance to it!

I'll check into Jeffer's Livestock for sure and see what they have. My husband and I are discussing putting together a little first aid kit for the chickens anyway.