Coccidious...treating since Sunday, they are still dying... :(

[LogCabinChicks]

I called the one in Ithaca, thats only 2 hours from me!!!! (got the answering machine but left a message)

Pretty sure I did have it down you're right...until we got dumped on with snow. Will have to make an outside covered run this summer for next winter....more farm projects...gotta love them.

 

[LogCabinChicks]

Is a puffy/hunched up? chicken a sign of cocci?

I noticed mine, the ones that are really sick, doing that last night, they wouldn't stay on the roost, but on the floor of the coop. I think they are trying to keep warm.

Symptoms include:

• Look dirty and unkempt
  - Weak and listless
  - Fluffed up not doing much
  - May see pale comb and skin
  - May be sick one day and drop dead the next day
  - Not eating and drinking much
  - Blood in poop (Some types of coccidiosis don't have bloody poop as a symptom) (do not get this confused with intestinal lining that chickens do shed that is brown/red)
  - Severe infection that causes yellow foamy poop

But what I noticed first was my chickens dying.

 

[casportpony]

Are they drinking enough medicated water? Have they ever been de-wormed with Safeguard or Valbazen?

-Kathy

 

[LogCabinChicks]

I feed them fermented feed, so I medicated the water for the feed too. They drink a full 3 gallon fountain of water just about daily. There is very little left the next morning. I paid for an online aviary vet and explained all the things I was doing and their symptoms. I have not wormed them, I was going to worm them right after I stopped the 5 day Corid treatment. The kind I have is Strike III, Type B Medicated Feed Poultry Dewormer. Large roundworms, cecal worms and capillary worms. My tractor supply did not have anything else...just like the Corid, I had to buy the Bovine package, same strength as Chicken Corid, or maybe that is the only way it comes.

Anyway, this was Dr. Bob's answer:

Okay, thank you.
It sounds like you may be dealing with more than one problem. Coccidia are often seen together with other intestinal parasites, worms in particular.
The combination of the stress on their bodies caused by blood from the coccidia along with nutrient loss by worms in addition to the severely cold weather could well account for the deaths you're seeing. Worm them now and increase teh protein in their diets by feeding a handful of dry cat food for each five to six birds. Dry cat food contains animal sourced protein which is much higher quality than that found in poultry feeds. The warm oatmeal is valuable, as are other warm highly nutritious foods like pancakes, cornbread, and scrambled eggs. Furnishing a heat source (heat lamps, etc.) and keeping the birds away from drafts will also be very good steps to take to help reduce the stresses they're encountering.
Bacterial opportunists are quick to complicate situations such as those in your flock, so covering them with a broad-spectrum antibiotic would probably be helpful in preventing further losses. Remember to observe the withdrawal times on any antibiotic used as well as for the wormer if one is recommended on the package. My choice for this situation would be either Tylan (tylocin) or Gallimycin (erythromycin), either of which may be available from your local farm or feed supply stores. If you have more questions, don't hesitate to ask.
Kind regards, Dr. Bob

So I have the pop door open and the main door. There is no breeze today and the sun is very warm, but it is still -2 degrees right now. So I did turn on the heat lamp, for an "area" for them to warm themselves. The worst ones are the leghorns and they are actually roosting on the front porch rail outside in the bright sunlight. The Doctor suggested heat, although it goes against everything I read. I am going to turn it off when I close them up for the night around 4:30. I did completely clean out all the old deep litter yesterday and started with 2 new 100lb bags of shavings yesterday, so everything is bone dry....do you think I should keep the light on through the night until they pull through?

I also did as he suggested and made more oatmeal, 6 scrambled eggs, 2 handfuls of cat food (thank goodness I'm cat sitting for my daughter while she is on a cruise) some layer pellets and the strike III dewormer. They gobbled it up. My tractor supply did not have Tylan...I'm going to call my vet and see if he can call in a prescription to walmart for erthromycin.

I did bring one chicken inside, put her in the dog cage, gave her medicated water and oatmeal. She is actively bleeding a lot, almost like a period, she was shivering, so ...thats why I brought her in. I covered the dog cage with a blanket so the dogs wouldn't stress her out. She is sleeping now.

I hope I'm doing everything right. I feel absolutely awful.

 

[LogCabinChicks]

Please read..should i leave the heat lamp on as the doctor suggested ?? Really confused.

 

[centrarchid]

Yes. Make so they can step away if need be.

 

[LogCabinChicks]

Yes. Make so they can step away if need be.

Thank you! I don't have it pointing on the roosts this time, just in the corner of the coop. Thank you thank you.

 

[centrarchid]

Keeping the birds thermally neutral will be ideal since if they have lost a lot of condition for the parasite load, their ability to generate heat is degraded. Your job is to control stress until de-wormer does its business. The de-wormer itself is a stressor so you can do only so much. To stimulate appetite that promotes uptake of water soluble medication I also offer live meal worms. Amount consumed not significant nutritionally but it ramps up interest in feeding and drinking better that other treatments and feeds I have tried. If interest in feed limited, then consider provided an electrolyte mix to water to promote stabilizing salt balance. Intestinal parasites cause tract lining to leak salts in addition to the water and blood you have already noted.

 

[LogCabinChicks]

Okay thank you. I have to go to town tomorrow and will stop at the pet store and pick up some meal worms. they are actually all still very excited to eat and come to the coop door when I walk out of the house and start calling them. I just gave them an evening warmed up mixed meal of scrambled eggs, wormer, layer mash, yogurt, oatmeal & a bit of ACV. It was gone very quickly. I have the next two days off, so I will continue this feeding regiment a couple times a day to ensure they are all getting a good portion of the wormer as well as the Corid in the water and fermented feed. I will keep you posted. I did start Corid last Sunday but because they are still compromised, I should continue correct?

Thank you again for replying.

 

[LogCabinChicks]

Another good morning. The hen I brought inside near the wood stove is still eating and drinking and not actively bleeding like yesterday. No blood on the newspapers this morning!

In the coop, all is well too. The leg horns don't have bright red blood on their tail feathers, everyone is active and alert. I am hopeful.