First time in 20years, suspect Coccidiosis 5 week old chick

[coach723]

The decision to use medicated feed vs non medicated feed is a personal one, there are pro's and con's with each. Many people prefer not to medicate unless it's necessary and don't want it in the feed. Some worry about causing thiamine deficiency in the chicks since amprolium mimics thiamine. There is also discussion on whether using low 'preventative' doses may contribute to medication resistant forms of coccidia. Honestly, you should do what you are comfortable with. If I had lots of trouble with coccidiosis and was losing a lot of birds (some strains are more virulent than others) then I might consider using it. But I've found that by introducing them early to the natural microbes and keeping things reasonably clean I've been able to hugely reduce my incidence, so prefer to just treat when necessary. When I started out I pretty much had annual outbreaks, now I've not had to treat in I think about 8 years. If you have coccidia in your environment, and it's very common, then at some point they will be exposed. It really is everywhere, it can be brought in on clothing, shoes, wild birds, etc. Trying to be totally biosecure with a backyard flock is nearly impossible.
Having healthy birds in a healthy environment and treating as early as possible are the best tools for outbreaks.
There are many, many articles on line regarding using medicated feed or non medicated. I've never used it. You really have to decide based on your own beliefs, comfort level, and what keeps your flock healthy.
This is a good article on coccidiosis, treatments and prevention. It gets a bit in the weeds but the section "Conventional Coccidiosis Control Strategies" is fairly easy to get through.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7337151/

 

[SandyRiverChick]

Thanks again I really appreciate your insight and I'm giving the white paper a read. It feels like I've dealt with worse (rescued the 2 in my avatar with respiratory disease,) but that is just because I knew for sure what it was. When I watch the 5 chicks I have now, 4 of them are living their best lives in the good sized room I've made for them in my coop. They just discovered dust bathing (the lettuce tub of sand grows to a big box at this point,) and it's hilarious. But this one little buff is just not well. My son reminded me that a few nights ago, she was sort of away from the others in the cold when she couldn't (or didn't,) get up their ladder to sleep. I wonder if that caused what's going on?? She would have been much colder (around *45) than the other's that one night, then this unwell behavior 2 days later. The stress maybe caused her to be more susceptible to coccidiosis than the others? Or the cold itself did something? I'm just baffled at this point and I wish I knew for sure what's going on.

 

[coach723]

Sometimes it's hard to know when they are so young. That she didn't roost a few nights ago probably means she was not feeling good then. How long has she been on the Corid?

 

[SandyRiverChick]

Sometimes it's hard to know when they are so young. That she didn't roost a few nights ago probably means she was not feeling good then. How long has she been on the Corid?

This is the 2nd day on Corid. It was yesterday morning that I noticed her not acting well so I put some Nutridrench in one of their waters. A few hours later I remembered her looking puffed up the night before so I took the Nutridrench away and started Corid. I gave her a 2ml. dropper yesterday and again just now. So in total she's had 2 single doses and Corid water for almost 2 days(1 night.) Her poo is yellow watery still and she's not eating much.

 

[coach723]

Is she drinking the corid water on her own? You may have to give it orally until she does. The meds have to get into her in sufficient amounts for it to start working.
Some strains respond quickly, some take a little longer. If you have a picture of the poo, can you post it?

 

[SandyRiverChick]

Is she drinking the corid water on her own? You may have to give it orally until she does. The meds have to get into her in sufficient amounts for it to start working.
Some strains respond quickly, some take a little longer. If you have a picture of the poo, can you post it?

She is way better this morning! Jumping around and eating. I did give the Corid via dropper orally twice so far, in addition to it being in the waterers for all of them for 2 days now. I'll continue with Corid water for the recommended time but can I stop the oral dropper for her or should I keep that up? I'll try to take some poo picks this when I go out at lunch. Definitely no bloody poo's....

 

[coach723]

Good news that she's looking better today! Sometimes it can take a few days for them to start looking better. If she's eating and drinking well on her own then she should get enough medication that way. Make sure to do the regular treatment for the full 5 - 7 days. You can do the second week at a reduced dose if you think it's needed (1/3 tsp of the powder or 1/2 tsp of the liquid per gallon). That is a judgement call, if there are any symptoms remaining then I would do the second week lower dose. Hopefully droppings will start to look better too. A probiotic (that does not contain vitamins) can sometimes be helpful also. You can use an all species one like Probios, or even human ones.

 

[SandyRiverChick]

Good news that she's looking better today! Sometimes it can take a few days for them to start looking better. If she's eating and drinking well on her own then she should get enough medication that way. Make sure to do the regular treatment for the full 5 - 7 days. You can do the second week at a reduced dose if you think it's needed (1/3 tsp of the powder or 1/2 tsp of the liquid per gallon). That is a judgement call, if there are any symptoms remaining then I would do the second week lower dose. Hopefully droppings will start to look better too. A probiotic (that does not contain vitamins) can sometimes be helpful also. You can use an all species one like Probios, or even human ones.

I read a 16pager post, another case somewhat similar to this one - where the chick looked good one day then back down the next, etc. But that chick had bloody poo and it seems was "sicker," making your point about strains and outbreaks being different. Point being I'm hoping she doesn't go back and forth on recovery. I'll for sure continue treatment til we're at 7 days and re-assess if 2nd week is needed. I do have chick probio's so I'll check for vitamins. Should I give vitamins (likely via nutridrench,) after Corid treatment is over or wait a bit (wondering is introducing Vit B too soon encourages overload to happen again?) You've been SO KIND to help me through this btw, very much appreciated!!!

 

[coach723]

Once treatment is complete you can give any vitamins if you want. The risk of it causing vitamin deficiency is pretty low, but not zero, and every bird is different and has a different immune system. The amprolium in Corid acts as a mimic of thiamine, which is what the coccidia need to survive. When they take up the amprolium instead of the thiamine then they starve and die. Supplementing thiamine during treatment can thus feed the coccidia and make the treatment less effective. Once treatment is complete then it shouldn't matter giving it to them. The length of recovery is very dependent on how much coccidia are in the gut, and how much damage was done, and that can be really hard to know externally. When a bird is exposed, and recovered, their immune systems will be more resistant to what ever strains they were exposed to and should not usually get sick again unless their immune systems are compromised by something else, or they are exposed to a new strain.