Hi, I'm new to this forum and though I've been a member of our town's chicken co-op for a couple years, I just got 3 pullets here at home a month ago, now two are 14 weeks old and one is 12 weeks. And now I have one who's ill...
Anyway, yesterday morning my SO told me the chickens were "acting weird." I went to check what he was talking about, and found the RI Red sleeping by the food and water instead of up on the perch with the other two. She was kind of lethargic, closing her eyes and dozing on and off, came out of the coop reluctantly and was walking kind of incoordinated with her wings drooping, then just stood around. Her poops were runny, but not bloody. She was eating and drinking, pecking around at bugs and preening herself, just doing all these things way less enthusiastically than the other two, and she was reluctant to move much. It was obvious she wasn't feeling well, and the symptoms (from a helpful site linked from this site) seemed like cocciodosis.
When the feed store opened, I got some Amprol/Corid and replaced their water with a 1 tsp per gallon mix, as well as giving her 1 oz of this mix from a syringe.
This morning, she seems somewhat better...she still spent the night lying down instead of perching, her gait is still weird - walking like she is trying to step over something - but not as unbalanced as she was yesterday. She's still drooping her wings, but not as bad, and seems a bit more alert and happier to come out of the coop.
My questions:
For those experienced with coccidia, do her symptoms sound like that?
The vet site recommended 7 days of the Amprol/Corid, then 3 weeks off, then 5 days of sulfamethozone, 3 weeks off, and repeat the pattern until they start laying - anyone else have good experience with this protocol?
Since her poops weren't bloody and she never stopped eating and drinking, do you think I caught it early enough that she will recover with no ill effects?
Should I be worried about the other two, even though all three are drinking the treated water now?
Any advice would be appreciated!
Anyway, yesterday morning my SO told me the chickens were "acting weird." I went to check what he was talking about, and found the RI Red sleeping by the food and water instead of up on the perch with the other two. She was kind of lethargic, closing her eyes and dozing on and off, came out of the coop reluctantly and was walking kind of incoordinated with her wings drooping, then just stood around. Her poops were runny, but not bloody. She was eating and drinking, pecking around at bugs and preening herself, just doing all these things way less enthusiastically than the other two, and she was reluctant to move much. It was obvious she wasn't feeling well, and the symptoms (from a helpful site linked from this site) seemed like cocciodosis.
When the feed store opened, I got some Amprol/Corid and replaced their water with a 1 tsp per gallon mix, as well as giving her 1 oz of this mix from a syringe.
This morning, she seems somewhat better...she still spent the night lying down instead of perching, her gait is still weird - walking like she is trying to step over something - but not as unbalanced as she was yesterday. She's still drooping her wings, but not as bad, and seems a bit more alert and happier to come out of the coop.
My questions:
For those experienced with coccidia, do her symptoms sound like that?
The vet site recommended 7 days of the Amprol/Corid, then 3 weeks off, then 5 days of sulfamethozone, 3 weeks off, and repeat the pattern until they start laying - anyone else have good experience with this protocol?
Since her poops weren't bloody and she never stopped eating and drinking, do you think I caught it early enough that she will recover with no ill effects?
Should I be worried about the other two, even though all three are drinking the treated water now?
Any advice would be appreciated!
