do you know?

[thegirlsc160]

about 5 of my 7 6 month old red sex-links chickens have allot of a little blood (im asuming its blood since they havent eaten anything red lately) and theve all been groggy and unenthused about food and such. normaly they all come running up to me when i go to the door but now only 2 do that. i had one today that i assumed had an impacted crop because it was all swolen and we forced alot of water and now shes week but her crop isint as hard and shes walking a little more (not by much). they havent had any new food lately. the one girl did eat 2 of my earings a couple days ago but i think if that was going to effect her it would have been sooner. they just havent been acting normal, to my knolage theve never been vacniated for anything unless it was at the hatchery (we got them from tractor supply) weve never wormed or taken them to a vet or anything. i have been feeding them alot of treats lately, but one night we had a loud thunder storm and i had to go out at 5:30 am so they all woke up really early ive let them sleep in and they really short naps during the day there apatite has gone down and there very appathetic could it be cocolidosis or mareks or something, we called the vet but they wernt verry helpful, i dont see any worms in there poop so i dont think its that, so what should i do , sorry this is so long, should i put somthing special in there water or do that milk flush thingy i read some where about or should i just let it run its corse? im helpless and i dont know what to do ill do anything to keep them alive i just dont know what. thanks

 

[ChickenCanoe]

about 5 of my 7 6 month old red sex-links chickens have allot of a little blood (im asuming its blood since they havent eaten anything red lately)

You don't say where the blood is.
If it's in the feces then you are most likely dealing with coccidia.

Please, next time run spell check.

 

[thegirlsc160]

sorry i was typing to fast i meant to say there was a lot/ little (it varies) in there droppings, there also liquidity

 

[thegirlsc160]

is there a way to treat if without having to know if it absolutely is coccidia, like without having to take them to a vet, is there a medicine i can give them to cure/prevent it and where can i get it (in the US). Are there other things i should get them vaccinated for as well so something like this doesn't happen again?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Bloody feces is definitely coccidiosis. You will need to get amprolium at a feed store. 1 teaspoon of 20% per gallon of water for 5 days. Act fast as mortality can be high once they are at the lethargic stage.
I once had an infected flock that I cured with just a bag of medicated feed(amprolium) but it was a mild infection and that tack isn't recommended once the birds are in the condition yours are in.

Most vets know very little about chickens. If you have a local avian vet that knows chickens you're lucky. They're few and far between.

No vaccinations recommended at 6 months for small flocks.
Good management is better than meds and vaccinations.
In the case of coccidia, keeping the bedding dry and feeders at least half full is usually enough to prevent serious infection.