Fresh blood on Poop of 5wk old Chick

[ninejw]

I woke up this morning and found that one of my 5 wk old chickens had been pooping blood since I put him to bed last night. This chicken has not had it easy since I got him!.. He was sick with a respitory infection a few weeks ago and has recouped and been doing great. There are no visible signs of blood on him only in the cage. He was put outside in an encloser yesterday to graze I'm not sure if maybe he ate something hard or sharp..? It is fresh drippy blood so it would have to be something bleeding close to the exit. the Does any body have any advice on how to treat this? I'm tsking away his food for a few hours to see it that will stop the bleed. Thanks for any help in advance! My poor chick...

 

[Matt A NC]

If they are not on medicated starter, it could be Cocci. Sulmet is the fastest treatment for that.

Matt

 

[hinkjc]

It could be cocci whether he's on medicated starter or not.

Was he on medication for the respiratory illness? If so, what? Also, did you follow treatment with probiotics? Medication is very hard on the gut and should always be followed with probiotics like yogurt.

Jody

 

[rachipetal]

I had 6/7 week old chicks that arrived and presented with the same symptom. They seemed healthy but there was fresh (bright red) blood in some of their poos. We treated them with coxoid and they made a good recovery. Apparently Baycox is better, but you can only get that from the vet.

As jody says, get some plain yogurt, as that will help, apparently oregano is also supposed to help (don't know how true that one is), but you really must get them treated as fast as you can because coccidiosis is very debilitating, and even if they recover they may be permanently weakened if they're not treated quickly enough.

Good luck!

 

[ninejw]

Thanks everyone!

I did get Sulmet today and I do think it may be cocci. After I posted I did extra research on Coccidia and found on a website that sometimes it presents first with a respiratory infection. Then after treated with antibiotics it seems to resolve but if not wiped out my the meds the first time it can come back worse and often with the bloody stool. To answer one of your questions the chick was on Aureomycin for two weeks via water, probiotics, and I had the chicks all on medicated starter since I got them. About a week ago I transitioned them non medicated since most of them are older now. I also lost another chick overnight with what i thought was the respitory infection. Fortunately, when I got home today after looking for the anitbiotics there was no more blood coming out with the chicks poop. I don't know if that will hold but I'm going to run all the chicks through the Sulmet because I'm sure they all probably have it. I'm so happy I found some Sulmet and I had to call all over the state to find it. Thanks for all the help guys... I will keep everyone posted.

I hope that he will finally kick this infection!

 

[Heather J]

Quote:
Oregano has a lot of benefits and probably would help, but most oregano you buy at the grocery store is mixed with Mexican oregano, which has a great flavor, but isn't the same plant, actually. If you go to the health food store you can get the real stuff. Check this link for great info!

http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/arr_html?Origanum+vulgare

 

[ninejw]

Thanks that info about oregano is interesting! I definitely want to pick up some and try it. My chick has still got diarrhea but there is no visible blood in it. I'm concerned about dehydration and am pushing the water on him. I tried putting whole plain yogurt and mixed it with his chick crumble and he loved it! I usually just supplement the probiotic powder dry on the food. I read online that old timers put fresh goat milk or cow milk and feed it to chicks that have coccidiosis to give both immune support and to coat the intestinal lining with mucus. Unfortunately I don't have any fresh goat milk. I think I read that cottage cheese works too but that sounds about the same as using yogurt. Does anyone know how much yogurt I should feed him a day? I gave him about 1 tbs. today already.

 

[hinkjc]

A tbsp should be plenty for a single bird per day. I hope he makes a full recovery. Sounds like it's going well.

Jody

 

[ninejw]

Thanks Jody! I hope he makes it through too. I'm concerned he's going to get really dehydrated with 2 days of liquid droppings. He doesn't seem to be feeling better even though his poop isnt bloody. To bad they do make kaopectate for chickens...