Corid not working for treating cocciodosis, HELP!

[Bongoline]

Help, 5 of the girls in my flock of 8 hens have had diarrhea for a long time, at least a month.

The diarrhea is watery and light brown, I noticed blood in the stool after they had diarrhea for a few weeks. To be clear not all their droppings were diarrhea, maybe one in five, the others look normal.

I had a fecal float test performed and they tested positive for coccidia. I began an immediate course of Corid 9.6% putting 2 teaspoons in one gallon of water and changing it daily.

The diarrhea has not stopped at all however the bloody stool is gone, except for one dropping I found today with a tiny bit of blood in it.

Ive been scared to stop the Corid treatment because I dont want to lose any progress, but they been drinking corid water for nearly two weeks now, Im really concerned for their well being and dont know what to do. Please if anyone can give me feedback it would help.

They are eating non medicated feed, organic grower crumbles and get some treats of lettuce or leafy greens most days as well as time foraging in my garden, sometimes they get yogurt and garlic too.

Their coop is pretty clean and cleaned regularly. The 5 who have diarrhea are four months old, the three who dont seem to be having diarhea are older, the 5 young ones do deal with some bullying from one of my older hens and maybe are not eating and drinking as much as they would if they werent hiding from the bully but they still are spending a lot of the day eating and drinking, they seem healthy honestly, their energy is fantastic and their appetites are good, although im worried their feathers are starting to look rough as of today.

Im terrified they are going to fall off a cliff healthwise suddenly. Im also concerned the now weeks of corid treatment is having a rough effect on my older hens, they are old and I dont want anything avoidable to happen to them. I emailed my vet and they never got back, but i will try them again.

If anyone has advice I would appreciate it so much. Thank you so much!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Hi, sorry you are having trouble. I am not an expert on this but I know that Corid is usually given for 5 days. I suggest you start giving them plain water and stop the Corid treatment. They also probably need vitamins now, I believe it is thiamine that is needed, as Corid depletes them of that. However I cannot tell you exactly how much to give or exactly how to administer it. Go easy on the garlic as too much is toxic to them. Hopefully in the morning one of the Educators can give you more info. Let me tag @rosemarythyme and @alinas2010 for their input.

 

[Cheekychook12]

Help, 5 of the girls in my flock of 8 hens have had diarrhea for a long time, at least a month.

The diarrhea is watery and light brown, I noticed blood in the stool after they had diarrhea for a few weeks. To be clear not all their droppings were diarrhea, maybe one in five, the others look normal.

I had a fecal float test performed and they tested positive for coccidia. I began an immediate course of Corid 9.6% putting 2 teaspoons in one gallon of water and changing it daily.

The diarrhea has not stopped at all however the bloody stool is gone, except for one dropping I found today with a tiny bit of blood in it.

Ive been scared to stop the Corid treatment because I dont want to lose any progress, but they been drinking corid water for nearly two weeks now, Im really concerned for their well being and dont know what to do. Please if anyone can give me feedback it would help.

They are eating non medicated feed, organic grower crumbles and get some treats of lettuce or leafy greens most days as well as time foraging in my garden, sometimes they get yogurt and garlic too.

Their coop is pretty clean and cleaned regularly. The 5 who have diarrhea are four months old, the three who dont seem to be having diarhea are older, the 5 young ones do deal with some bullying from one of my older hens and maybe are not eating and drinking as much as they would if they werent hiding from the bully but they still are spending a lot of the day eating and drinking, they seem healthy honestly, their energy is fantastic and their appetites are good, although im worried their feathers are starting to look rough as of today.

Im terrified they are going to fall off a cliff healthwise suddenly. Im also concerned the now weeks of corid treatment is having a rough effect on my older hens, they are old and I dont want anything avoidable to happen to them. I emailed my vet and they never got back, but i will try them again.

If anyone has advice I would appreciate it so much. Thank you so much!

What’s the weather like? Mine had runny droppings in summer heat, and have you treated them for worms recently or did you test for worms in the fecal float?

 

[alinas2010]

Sorry you’re having issues. I agree with @BigBlueHen53, treatment dosage for corid is usually given at 2 tsp per gallon of water for 5 days, then a preventative dose can be given at 7-14 days at 1/2 tsp per gallon, but doesn’t have to be. I don’t see any benefit in giving beyond that.

Corid (amprolium) is a thiamine (vitamin b1) inhibitor, so whatever vitamins you’re providing after treatment, ensure that vitamin B1 is included for a few days. It is also a good idea to include some probiotics in their diet to help them recover after infection with coccidiosis.

The infection itself causes intestinal damage and that can lead to bacterial imbalances, which can cause the diarrhea you’re seeing still. So even if the infection is gone, you may just be seeing diarrhea because of the pending imbalances. Try offering your flock Greek yogurt or Kiefer or even just a probiotic supplement in their water for a few days, also.

Ensure you have plenty of feed and water stations in your run and coop for the newer chicks so they can get enough nutrition to recover from this. The big ones can’t guard all the feed/water stations if there are a lot of them. They’ll need a lot of “junk” in the run to hide behind so they don’t get stressed out and picked on constantly. A cluttered run is a new pullet’s best friend. It breaks up the line of site so the older hens aren’t always out to get them and they have a place to hide and get away.

If you have pictures of the poop, please post them for us to take a look at.

 

[Bongoline]

Thank you for all these responses.

The weather is fine, there is no excessive heat.

After posting this I did see that the feed I am giving them (Scratch and Peck Grower Crumbles) has added thiamine! I am very concerned that has counteracted the Corid.

Im going to go buy some Purina feed today that doesnt list any thiamine as ingredient.

I am wondering if anyone can advise if I should give the chicks a break from medication and a day or two of vitamins or replace the food and keep going with corid treatment.

I also ordered Trimethoprim Sulfa and may to switch to that because before I found out about the thiamine in their food I was worried that they have an additional bacterial infection possibly brought on by the coccidia.

I feel so terrible for these birds that they had to endure two weeks of medication that was possibly being counter acted by their feed. Their health and well being is so important to me.

Again, the pullets seem quite healthy and happy, but their droppings and mild feather loss is really concerning me.

Attached are some examples of their droppings i took this morning, apologies for the yucky photos.

 

[Beau plus penny]

Help, 5 of the girls in my flock of 8 hens have had diarrhea for a long time, at least a month.

The diarrhea is watery and light brown, I noticed blood in the stool after they had diarrhea for a few weeks. To be clear not all their droppings were diarrhea, maybe one in five, the others look normal.

I had a fecal float test performed and they tested positive for coccidia. I began an immediate course of Corid 9.6% putting 2 teaspoons in one gallon of water and changing it daily.

The diarrhea has not stopped at all however the bloody stool is gone, except for one dropping I found today with a tiny bit of blood in it.

Ive been scared to stop the Corid treatment because I dont want to lose any progress, but they been drinking corid water for nearly two weeks now, Im really concerned for their well being and dont know what to do. Please if anyone can give me feedback it would help.

They are eating non medicated feed, organic grower crumbles and get some treats of lettuce or leafy greens most days as well as time foraging in my garden, sometimes they get yogurt and garlic too.

Their coop is pretty clean and cleaned regularly. The 5 who have diarrhea are four months old, the three who dont seem to be having diarhea are older, the 5 young ones do deal with some bullying from one of my older hens and maybe are not eating and drinking as much as they would if they werent hiding from the bully but they still are spending a lot of the day eating and drinking, they seem healthy honestly, their energy is fantastic and their appetites are good, although im worried their feathers are starting to look rough as of today.

Im terrified they are going to fall off a cliff healthwise suddenly. Im also concerned the now weeks of corid treatment is having a rough effect on my older hens, they are old and I dont want anything avoidable to happen to them. I emailed my vet and they never got back, but i will try them again.

If anyone has advice I would appreciate it so much. Thank you so much!

corid doesnt work overnight it took ours a little over a week before they started walking around again

 

[Bongoline]

corid doesnt work overnight it took ours a little over a week before they started walking around again

Ok, that is relieving to hear that a little patience might be in order however it’s been two weeks with corid for me and they are not better.

 

[Beau plus penny]

Ok, that is relieving to hear that a little patience might be in order however it’s been two weeks with corid for me and they are not better.

have you cleaned the coop

 

[alinas2010]

The fact that they aren’t acting off and are eating and drinking is good. The droppings do look a bit yucky, but one of them looks cecal and there may be intestinal shedding that is causing the red. Usually if there is a coccidiosis infection bad enough that droppings are bloody, the birds will act pretty ill. Do keep a close eye on them whichever direction you choose to go.

Can you post pictures of the birds themselves? You mention feather loss, is it possible they are going through a juvenile molt? I feel like on one of the droppings I see some feather casing from a feather opening, indicating maybe a molt is going on? Have you looked them over well for mites and lice?

I know you’re worried about them, it is stressful, I know. I would give a day or two without medication since they are ding okay, but continue to monitor them closely. Then switch to a feed without the thiamine in it if you see that they are going downhill or not improving and start a round of corid treatment for 5 days and go from there. If you end up treating them, be sure to supplement them with some probiotics.

I am not sure id reach for another, different medication right away. They may not need anything right now unless they start acting sick. Their guts might just need time to recover from the treatment.

Edit to add: because the feed they were eating had thiamine in it, but they do seem to be doing better, I think I’d monitor very closely for a day or so as advised and consider treating again after that. From what I understand, treating a flock for coccidiosis that doesn’t need it should not hurt them. The biggest the issue with treating again is probably thiamine deficiency, but because the feed they were getting had that, that may not be a risk, and thiamine deficiency is treatable. If you’re worried about your older hens still, you could consider limiting the treated water to only the chicks somehow if you treat again, if possible?

 

[Bongoline]

The fact that they aren’t acting off and are eating and drinking is good. The droppings do look a bit yucky, but one of them looks cecal and there may be intestinal shedding that is causing the red. Usually if there is a coccidiosis infection bad enough that droppings are bloody, the birds will act pretty ill. Do keep a close eye on them whichever direction you choose to go.

Can you post pictures of the birds themselves? You mention feather loss, is it possible they are going through a juvenile molt? I feel like on one of the droppings I see some feather casing from a feather opening, indicating maybe a molt is going on? Have you looked them over well for mites and lice?

I know you’re worried about them, it is stressful, I know. I would give a day or two without medication since they are ding okay, but continue to monitor them closely. Then switch to a feed without the thiamine in it if you see that they are going downhill or not improving and start a round of corid treatment for 5 days and go from there. If you end up treating them, be sure to supplement them with some probiotics.

I am not sure id reach for another, different medication right away. They may not need anything right now unless they start acting sick. Their guts might just need time to recover from the treatment.

Thank you so much for this feedback, even being able to discuss this with people is a relief.

I checked them thoroughly for mites and lice, I do think it is likely they are going through a juvenile molt, they are the age for that.

I gave them Poultry Cell in their water this morning and will monitor them for the next few days to see if they remain active and hungry. They've been normal, active, all day, they dont seem droopy, and their droppings so far all look healthy.

Here they are on their roost bar, where they do spend a bit of time each day hiding out from the bully, but they had a few hours bathing and foraging in the yard before this.