Dead chick, other chicks with red/bloody poop, coccidiosis??

[kmpcfp]

Help!! I am brooding my chicks in my coop. They are 5 weeks old, not on medicated feed. Found one dead this morning, the chicks have blood on them and I realized that atleast a couple of them out of the 20 had reddish/bloody poo. They were completely fine at last close inspection about 3 days ago, no blood in coop. Adult chickens and ducks seem fine for now. I am assuming it's coccidiosis. I have never had it before so I am unsure how to treat. But I am about to head to TSC.

Here's a poo from this morning:

 

[sourland]

Hopefully you are at TSC and are buying a coccidiostat. Good luck in saving them.

 

[kmpcfp]

I have had chickens for 10 years and have never had to deal with coccidia before. Is it two teaspoons per gallon if you get the 9.6%? Can I use poultry drench simultaneously?

 

[coach723]

The correct dose of the 9.6% liquid Corid is 2 tsp per gallon of water. Make sure it's the only water they have access to, and make fresh daily, treat for 5 - 7 days. You can also give any with symptoms, or that are not drinking well on their own, an oral dose for up to 3 days, give that in addition to the medicated water. Dosing is by body weight, instructions for that are here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/corid-amprolium-oral-drench-instructions.74391/
For any not drinking well, you can give some of the medicated water orally several times a day also until they start drinking on their own, you have to get the meds in them for them to work. Corid is very safe, don't worry about too much.
Don't give any vitamins that contain thiamine during treatment, that can reduce the effectiveness of the medication. You can give those after treatment is completed.

 

[kmpcfp]

The correct dose of the 9.6% liquid Corid is 2 tsp per gallon of water. Make sure it's the only water they have access to, and make fresh daily, treat for 5 - 7 days. You can also give any with symptoms, or that are not drinking well on their own, an oral dose for up to 3 days, give that in addition to the medicated water. Dosing is by body weight, instructions for that are here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/corid-amprolium-oral-drench-instructions.74391/
For any not drinking well, you can give some of the medicated water orally several times a day also until they start drinking on their own, you have to get the meds in them for them to work. Corid is very safe, don't worry about too much.
Don't give any vitamins that contain thiamine during treatment, that can reduce the effectiveness of the medication. You can give those after treatment is completed.

Thank you!!!

 

[kmpcfp]

The correct dose of the 9.6% liquid Corid is 2 tsp per gallon of water. Make sure it's the only water they have access to, and make fresh daily, treat for 5 - 7 days. You can also give any with symptoms, or that are not drinking well on their own, an oral dose for up to 3 days, give that in addition to the medicated water. Dosing is by body weight, instructions for that are here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/corid-amprolium-oral-drench-instructions.74391/
For any not drinking well, you can give some of the medicated water orally several times a day also until they start drinking on their own, you have to get the meds in them for them to work. Corid is very safe, don't worry about too much.
Don't give any vitamins that contain thiamine during treatment, that can reduce the effectiveness of the medication. You can give those after treatment is completed.

Should I put the chicks on medicated feed as well or would that overdose? Should I treat the adult chickens without symptoms at the same dosage? I also have call ducks in with the chickens do I need to separate them, I have read 50/50 about amprolium being toxic to them? Is there an egg withdrawal during treatment? The ducks have a pond that I already pumped out this morning. I'm thinking this is a sign I need to permanently separate my ducks from the chickens so only the ducks can get to the pond.

Thank you!

 

[coach723]

No need for medicated feed, the medication will be enough. Once they recover, they should have some resistance to whatever strain(s) they were exposed to. Your older birds, if they have been there for a while, should have some resistance to the strains you have. No need to treat them unless you see symptoms. I don't have ducks but my understanding is that it's safe for ducks at the correct dosing. But if your ducks are not showing symptoms, then likely not necessary. Most people end up not keeping ducks and chickens together since the ducks are water birds and tend to make a wet mess, which is less than ideal for chickens, particularly chicks. Also I've heard of drakes mounting chicken hens with tragic results.

 

[kmpcfp]

No need for medicated feed, the medication will be enough. Once they recover, they should have some resistance to whatever strain(s) they were exposed to. Your older birds, if they have been there for a while, should have some resistance to the strains you have. No need to treat them unless you see symptoms. I don't have ducks but my understanding is that it's safe for ducks at the correct dosing. But if your ducks are not showing symptoms, then likely not necessary. Most people end up not keeping ducks and chickens together since the ducks are water birds and tend to make a wet mess, which is less than ideal for chickens, particularly chicks. Also I've heard of drakes mounting chicken hens with tragic results.

My chickens are much larger than the calls and the drakes haven't even eyeballed the hens. I have had them for three years, without any Interspecies competition. Their pond is down-slope of the run and the entire run is on a slope, so most water drains down and out of the run, it dries quite quickly once the sun is out. The only problem is the hens will drink out of the pond, which obviously can be a problem if the ducks are subclinically shedding coccidia, which then chickens are more susceptible too. If they do end up showing signs, it's good to know I can treat them as well.

 

[kmpcfp]

Just an update, I am almost at 48 hours of treatment and they are all perking back up, even the sickest 4. I did end up losing one more yesterday morning, so two total out of the 21 chicks I was brooding. Unfortunately, it hit my salmon faverolles much harder than my olive eggers.

Fortunately, the adults and the 16 week olds that are in the main run are all asymptomatic.

 

[coach723]

I'm glad they are doing better, but sorry for those you lost. It's heartbreaking, I know. Hopefully you are past the worst of it now. Make sure you complete the full treatment course, no matter how good they may look.