Cochin died... was fine at bedtime, listless this morning

[casportpony]

I read in another post that the dose is 2tsp / gallon and I started them on that this morning. It may not be cocci, but it can't hurt to treat! I was very thankful to the staff at Davis for doing the necropsy so fast, I told them I was worried about the other chickens and since I have so few, they must have bumped me up in the line! I drove her there yesterday morning so that I could get results fast (its only an hour away) instead of overnighting... I'm a new chicken owner, but I am always proactive when it comes to health concerns!

If you're using the liquid, 2 teaspoons is the dose recommended for severe outbreaks and it medicates the gallon at .024%.

This is the recommendation from the FDA:
Source: http://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary...lDrugProducts/FOIADrugSummaries/ucm148849.htm
"K. Recommended Dosage:
Give amprolium at the 0.012% level (8 fl oz per 50 gallons) as soon as coccidiosis is diagnosed and continue for 3 to 5 days. (In severe outbreaks, give amprolium at the 0.024% level.) Continue with 0.006% amprolium medicated water for an additional 1 to 2 weeks. No other source of drinking water should be available to the birds during this time. Use as the source of amprolium."


-Kathy

 

[roheryn]

thanks! I'll cut back to 1 tsp the next three days, then continue at 1/2 tsp for the next two weeks. So far my two EEs still look great, still waiting for the second to give me an egg... hoping for a blue one as the first one lays a pinkish-tan.

 

[casportpony]

Just want to be clear, when using the liquid, the following should be true if I have done my math correctly:

.024% is 2 teaspoons per gallon
.012% is 1 teaspoon per gallon
.006% is 1/2 teaspoon per gallon.

-Kathy

 

[roheryn]

Reports from the lab say it is not coccidiosis, but my poor girl was pretty much destroyed from the inside! Not salmonella either. Most of her intestines and ureters were severely inflamed and necrotic. I know a chicken can hide illness, but this seems really severe... and I am a keen observer and spend a fair amount of time with my chicks, especially Cochina. No indications of anything wrong. I am still waiting (more tests being done, they don't like mysteries either) but I feel so bad that she had to be such a mess. I'll post once I find out!

 

[casportpony]

Reports from the lab say it is not coccidiosis, but my poor girl was pretty much destroyed from the inside! Not salmonella either. Most of her intestines and ureters were severely inflamed and necrotic. I know a chicken can hide illness, but this seems really severe... and I am a keen observer and spend a fair amount of time with my chicks, especially Cochina. No indications of anything wrong. I am still waiting (more tests being done, they don't like mysteries either) but I feel so bad that she had to be such a mess. I'll post once I find out!

Thanks for the update... I gonna guess that the final report will show e. Coli and/or necrotic enteritis, but that's just a guess.

-Kathy

 

[roheryn]

Final report says: Special stains demonstrate the presence of gram positive rod -shaped bacteria within
the intestinal lesions, most consistent with Clostridium perfringens. This is considered the likely cause of enteritis.

An article from NCBI online says:
The incidence of Clostridium perfringens-associated necrotic enteritis in poultry has increased in countries that stopped using antibiotic growth promoters. Necrotic enteritis and the subclinical form of C. perfringens infection in poultry are caused by C. perfringens type A, producing the alpha toxin, and to a lesser extent type C, producing both alpha toxin and beta toxin. Some strains of C. perfringens type A produce an enterotoxin at the moment of sporulation and are responsible for foodborne disease in humans. The mechanisms of colonization of the avian small intestinal tract and the factors involved in toxin production are largely unknown. It is generally accepted, however, that predisposing factors are required for these bacteria to colonize and cause disease in poultry. The best known predisposing factor is mucosal damage, caused by coccidiosis. Diets with high levels of indigestible, water-soluble non-starch polysaccharides, known to increase the viscosity of the intestinal contents, also predispose to necrotic enteritis. Standardized models are being developed for the reproduction of colonization of poultry by C. perfringens and the C. perfringens-associated necrotic enteritis. One such model is a combined infection with Eimeria species and C. perfringens. Few tools and strategies are available for prevention and control of C. perfringens in poultry. Vaccination against the pathogen and the use of probiotic and prebiotic products has been suggested, but are not available for practical use in the field at the present time. The most cost-effective control will probably be achieved by balancing the composition of the feed.

A presumptive diagnosis of NE can be made on the basis of typical clinical signs (depression, huddling, diarrhoea and sudden death - often as outbreaks) and gross lesions consisting of acute necrosis of the small intestine, generally with little haemorrhage. The gross lesion may be confused with ulcerative enteritis, caused by C. colinum, and coccidiosis (Long et al., 1974; Porter, 1998). Confirmation of gross findings by histologic and microbiologic examination of affected tissues is thus recommended.

 

[seminolewind]

Roheryn, I had 3 eight week old Polish die from that. That night they were fine. The next morning, they were laying there dead, when I picked them up, blood came running out. It was awful. I think they had poor immunity to opportunistic bacteria.