MixedFlock23
Songster
Please help. My two week old chicks are failing to thrive. I can feel their ribs and keel bones. They are up and eating normally. I had a fecal test that showed cocci and this is day three on corid.
The 9 hatchery chicks arrrived 8/12. One arrived unable to stand without stumbling backwards. It has an air sac tear, I think, because it kept inflating. (not the crop) It passed away after 2 days of my trying to keep it alive. It was inflated like a soft balloon. The next day (8/15) I bought 7 chicks (3 days old to 2 weeks old) from a breeder. On 8/17, one of the breeder chicks sneezed and had a watery eye. (I, unfortunately, did not quarantine but mixed the 15 chicks together in the brooder in our house.) On the 18th, a hatchery chick sneezed. It was barely noticeable (like maybe 1 sneeze an hour or less.) I began weighing every chick daily on the 19th. By the 23rd in the evening, two chicks (one hatchery chick that never had any symptoms other that a belly rumble and the first sneezer chick from the breeder) passed away within hours of each other. 10 of 15 chicks were losing weight by then. I was already giving electrolytes, vitamins, apple cider vinegar, honey, garlic, nutridrench, and vetRx as well as yogurt and cooked egg yolks. The were on medicated food. On the 24th, I switched to unmedicated food (suggestion of the hatchery) to see if that helped and the vet called back and suggested corid, but it was afterhours, so I picked up Corid and began only Corid-treatment (and cooked eggs) on the 25th in the morning. I dropped off a fecal sample and it was positive for cocci. It's been two full days of treatment and the chicks are still losing weight or barely gaining any. They feel emaciated though they are eating.
Six chicks did sneeze, including one that died, but I only hear one sneezing (and not often) now. The other one that died had a growling tummy before dying but nothing else off except 10% of her body weight lost. I did feed her multiple times a day with a mash of acv, honey, crumbles, garlic, etc. and she ate on her own as well up to just a few hours before dying.
I've been cleaning the brooders at least twice a day. (Soap and water) (I now have them separated by size.) Paper towel as bedding with large pine chips. Temps 95 first week, down to 88 now. (They moved outside to the insulated shed 8/23 and it stays warm in there.)
I feel like I'm dealing with something else along with the coccidiosis. I'm afraid if I don't figure this out, they'll all die. (No avian vets around to help.) They eat during the day, but by bedtime their crops are flat, some crops stay flat all day. In the morning, most have lost weight from the day before. Crops still flat. A few chicks have diarrhea but only one bloody stool have I seen (just once), likely from the cocci.
I so very concerned. Three of 13 continue to lose weight even after two days on corid. (Corid dose I'm using is 2 teaspoons per gallon of plain water, changed twice a day, made fresh daily)
(Also, we have 12 hens who came from several sources over the last 4.5 years: hatching eggs from the hatchery, day old chicks from TSC and Rural King, and an auction. I've never got them from more than one source before this year. Normally I get a few chicks once each year. But the silkie was the one that died from the hatchery and we wanted to replace it, thus the breeder chicks and chicken math. Our hens are just over a year old to 4.5 years old. Four came from an auction (never again). With that came lice, bumblefoot, coryza (I think, smelly nasal discharge), and some growth in the mouth that is off white and lumpy. The lice and mouth issues I am still dealing with over a year later. The throat I had cultured last year and it came back inconclusive, but we believed it was a yeast overgrowth. It did not respond to antifungals or antibiotics though. Just last week I noticed a third hen with this issue. (One died last year after the mouth issue spread to her beak then face despite treatments. I looked like a cancer/rot and between seeing it and her dying was less than a week.) The two hens that have the off white things growing in their mouths/throats occasionally sneeze/honk, but the one has been like this over a year and the other just over a week since we noticed. (I'm very bad and making the decision to cull and since I stupidly put the hens in with my healthy girls with too short of an quarantine period, I don't want to have to cull all 27 birds we have. They are pets and we will never let any leave our property. I understand my birds could be carriers to newcomers but the coryza auction hen died in 2017, and the new chicks in 2018 and 2019 never got sick with anything. It's another fall 2016 auction bird with the mouth growths and sneeze now and the spring 2016 hen we hatched from hatchery eggs with the chronic yeasty mouth that been going on over a year with failed treatments.)
All that said, my big girls seemed fine and their fecal test didn't show cocci, but I'm treating them as well. I saw one bloody stool from them after starting the corid. One has diarrhea. I checked them all after starting the corid and, yes, they are thinner as well.
I've spent countless hours (up until 3am) trying to figure this out and treat and save my chicks and hens.
I've considered MG (the the incubation period is much longer than what we had), IB (but it's very contagious and only 7 of 27 have sneezed, most of which were cured with honey/acv/garlic before the corid/water only began, and recently, now I think the growths may be canker. But it's off white not yellow.
I do change shoes when going to see the hens, but not clothing, so perhaps I spread whatever the hens have to the chicks. (Symptoms came on fast. Hatchery chicks arrived 8/12, breeder chicks picked up 8/15, sneeze #1 8/17 (breeder chick), sneeze #2 8/18 (hatchery chick), significant weight loss noted at the first check 8/19-8/20. Please give me your thoughts. The vets here don't treat chickens. I feel so at a loss. I am going to finish day 3 of corid today (it's a five day run), but I don't know if Little Blue the Silkie will hold on another three days so I can start something else. Can I treat him with a drench of something while he has Corid water with the others? I know I can't mix meds in the water. I am considering switching everyone to Bactrim today if the vet has it and will sell it. It treats most gram negative bacteria, staph, and cocci. But I do wish I knew what I'm trying to fight. (I asked the vet to call me back two days ago to see about another throat swab, but haven't heard anything yet.)
Here are their weights with body weight percentage changes over the last eight days. the two that died lost about 10% of their weight first though they were up and active and eating. Please give me ideas of what could be wrong and advice.
The 9 hatchery chicks arrrived 8/12. One arrived unable to stand without stumbling backwards. It has an air sac tear, I think, because it kept inflating. (not the crop) It passed away after 2 days of my trying to keep it alive. It was inflated like a soft balloon. The next day (8/15) I bought 7 chicks (3 days old to 2 weeks old) from a breeder. On 8/17, one of the breeder chicks sneezed and had a watery eye. (I, unfortunately, did not quarantine but mixed the 15 chicks together in the brooder in our house.) On the 18th, a hatchery chick sneezed. It was barely noticeable (like maybe 1 sneeze an hour or less.) I began weighing every chick daily on the 19th. By the 23rd in the evening, two chicks (one hatchery chick that never had any symptoms other that a belly rumble and the first sneezer chick from the breeder) passed away within hours of each other. 10 of 15 chicks were losing weight by then. I was already giving electrolytes, vitamins, apple cider vinegar, honey, garlic, nutridrench, and vetRx as well as yogurt and cooked egg yolks. The were on medicated food. On the 24th, I switched to unmedicated food (suggestion of the hatchery) to see if that helped and the vet called back and suggested corid, but it was afterhours, so I picked up Corid and began only Corid-treatment (and cooked eggs) on the 25th in the morning. I dropped off a fecal sample and it was positive for cocci. It's been two full days of treatment and the chicks are still losing weight or barely gaining any. They feel emaciated though they are eating.
Six chicks did sneeze, including one that died, but I only hear one sneezing (and not often) now. The other one that died had a growling tummy before dying but nothing else off except 10% of her body weight lost. I did feed her multiple times a day with a mash of acv, honey, crumbles, garlic, etc. and she ate on her own as well up to just a few hours before dying.
I've been cleaning the brooders at least twice a day. (Soap and water) (I now have them separated by size.) Paper towel as bedding with large pine chips. Temps 95 first week, down to 88 now. (They moved outside to the insulated shed 8/23 and it stays warm in there.)
I feel like I'm dealing with something else along with the coccidiosis. I'm afraid if I don't figure this out, they'll all die. (No avian vets around to help.) They eat during the day, but by bedtime their crops are flat, some crops stay flat all day. In the morning, most have lost weight from the day before. Crops still flat. A few chicks have diarrhea but only one bloody stool have I seen (just once), likely from the cocci.
I so very concerned. Three of 13 continue to lose weight even after two days on corid. (Corid dose I'm using is 2 teaspoons per gallon of plain water, changed twice a day, made fresh daily)
(Also, we have 12 hens who came from several sources over the last 4.5 years: hatching eggs from the hatchery, day old chicks from TSC and Rural King, and an auction. I've never got them from more than one source before this year. Normally I get a few chicks once each year. But the silkie was the one that died from the hatchery and we wanted to replace it, thus the breeder chicks and chicken math. Our hens are just over a year old to 4.5 years old. Four came from an auction (never again). With that came lice, bumblefoot, coryza (I think, smelly nasal discharge), and some growth in the mouth that is off white and lumpy. The lice and mouth issues I am still dealing with over a year later. The throat I had cultured last year and it came back inconclusive, but we believed it was a yeast overgrowth. It did not respond to antifungals or antibiotics though. Just last week I noticed a third hen with this issue. (One died last year after the mouth issue spread to her beak then face despite treatments. I looked like a cancer/rot and between seeing it and her dying was less than a week.) The two hens that have the off white things growing in their mouths/throats occasionally sneeze/honk, but the one has been like this over a year and the other just over a week since we noticed. (I'm very bad and making the decision to cull and since I stupidly put the hens in with my healthy girls with too short of an quarantine period, I don't want to have to cull all 27 birds we have. They are pets and we will never let any leave our property. I understand my birds could be carriers to newcomers but the coryza auction hen died in 2017, and the new chicks in 2018 and 2019 never got sick with anything. It's another fall 2016 auction bird with the mouth growths and sneeze now and the spring 2016 hen we hatched from hatchery eggs with the chronic yeasty mouth that been going on over a year with failed treatments.)
All that said, my big girls seemed fine and their fecal test didn't show cocci, but I'm treating them as well. I saw one bloody stool from them after starting the corid. One has diarrhea. I checked them all after starting the corid and, yes, they are thinner as well.
I've spent countless hours (up until 3am) trying to figure this out and treat and save my chicks and hens.
I've considered MG (the the incubation period is much longer than what we had), IB (but it's very contagious and only 7 of 27 have sneezed, most of which were cured with honey/acv/garlic before the corid/water only began, and recently, now I think the growths may be canker. But it's off white not yellow.
I do change shoes when going to see the hens, but not clothing, so perhaps I spread whatever the hens have to the chicks. (Symptoms came on fast. Hatchery chicks arrived 8/12, breeder chicks picked up 8/15, sneeze #1 8/17 (breeder chick), sneeze #2 8/18 (hatchery chick), significant weight loss noted at the first check 8/19-8/20. Please give me your thoughts. The vets here don't treat chickens. I feel so at a loss. I am going to finish day 3 of corid today (it's a five day run), but I don't know if Little Blue the Silkie will hold on another three days so I can start something else. Can I treat him with a drench of something while he has Corid water with the others? I know I can't mix meds in the water. I am considering switching everyone to Bactrim today if the vet has it and will sell it. It treats most gram negative bacteria, staph, and cocci. But I do wish I knew what I'm trying to fight. (I asked the vet to call me back two days ago to see about another throat swab, but haven't heard anything yet.)
Here are their weights with body weight percentage changes over the last eight days. the two that died lost about 10% of their weight first though they were up and active and eating. Please give me ideas of what could be wrong and advice.
