Collapsed egg hanging out of vent

[rehsanipoor]

btw.
She doesn't seem listless and is alert. I'm not convinced that the lack of eating in the house isn't due to the fact that she doesn't like being brought in and separated.

 

[rehsanipoor]

I apologize for the poor quality but we are also seeing her do a lot of this weird movement. She especially does it when we massage her crop. Does anyone know what this is???

strange neck movement

 

[Wyorp Rock]

She's adjusting her crop in the video, it's normal action.

Glad you were able to see the vet, hopefully the meds will get her through this.

Sometimes if they are acting normal, eating/drinking and relatively active, the best thing to do is give them their normal feed, water and see how they do.

I'm surprised the vet recommended medicated chick starter to treat Coccidiosis, it has such a minute of Amprolium that it's not usually used to treat an outbreak, just provide a slight to help reduce numbers of Coccidia so chicks can get a jump start on building resistance.
Chicks STILL have outbreaks of Coccidiosis when on medicated feed, so there's that too. Interesting.

 

[rehsanipoor]

How would you recommend treating coccidia? I was surprised as well that he only recommended the feed and asked for clarification. I mean no disrespect, but he's an "exotic" vet, not necessarily poultry, so maybe it's different.

From what I am reading it looks like putting amprollium in the water is what is more common. Can you give me exact instructions on how to do this if that's a better way to go? I think I'd rather take a more aggressive approach.

I'm wondering if this WHOLE thing that has gone on with Flo since November has been coccidiosis. Her symptoms seem consistent with what I'm reading. Is giving amp. directly to flo a course of action?

As Always, Thanks for your help!

 

[azygous]

It depends on what the fecal test showed on how heavy or light the coccidia count was. A very light proportion of coccidia in the stool would indicate only a supportive dosing of amprolium would be necessary in order to assist the chickens in developing a healthy resistance. A heavy load, on the other hand, can not be treated with medicated feed. That's when Corid in the water is necessary to bring the coccidia intestinal loads back down to normal limits so the chickens don't become sick.

Coccidia are usually present in all chickens in very small amounts because coccidia are present in all soil everywhere. It's when they grow to large populations that they cause trouble for chickens. Other animals as well.

To set you mind at ease, ask the vet if the coccidia in the sample were within normal limits. They probably were.

Either way, you should be treating all of the chickens when coccidia is in question.

 

[rehsanipoor]

Okay, thanks I will contact the vet and find out what the sample showed.

 

[rehsanipoor]

Heard back from the vet, he said it was a "light infestation". It was a voicemail so I didn't get to ask any questions.

It took a few days for him to get back to me and I had already gone ahead and treated them with Corid in their water (first day 2 tsp/gallon and then 1tsp/per gallon for a few days).

I actually have to head out to get more feed today. Would you recommend I get them medicated chick starter? I was inclined to stick with their regular feed since I hopefully zapped whatever bugs they had with Corid.

Should I be using medicated feed as preventative? Does it have the nutrition for laying hens? I could do a 50/50 mix. Thoughts??

On the Flo front:
Her crop has been empty in the mornings. So excited! We've been weighing her each day before she eats and today she was up a .25 lbs. Her poops are not totally normal, but much less watery. I'm hoping we are on our way to recovery, this had been a long road with her!

 

[azygous]

Since you already started the Corid, medicated feed will serve no purpose.

 

[rehsanipoor]

Just trying to understand this all: If it is in the soil, what will prevent them from getting sick from it again? I know a certain level is normal, is there something in particular that supports their imune system and prevents higher levels of it or illness?

 

[azygous]

Low coccidia counts are normal as coccidia are always present in the soil. Normal immune systems support normal body functions, digestive tract moves material through and doesn't allow coccidia to conduct their life cycle and multiply and there are too few coccidia to cause problems.

Abnormally high coccidia populations in the soil caused by wet warm conditions can get into the chicken's intestines at a much higher amounts, thus overwhelming the system, causing coccidiosis as the intestinal lining becomes inflamed from so many coccidia.

What prevents them from getting sick is that the chickens build up resistance to a particular coccicia strain, and they are unable to find a happy environment to dig in to conduct their life cycle.