HELP! 6 more chicks died today. Is it coccidiosis?

Pheonix Rising

In the Brooder
9 Years
Apr 9, 2010
22
0
22
Our chickens and turkeys all run together. We have three coops set up. A 0-2 week old brooder in the house, a 2-5 weeks off the ground coop outside(middle coop), and a 5+ week old large on the ground coop/aviary. If I remember right this all started about 2+ weeks ago when we had placed some 5+ week old chicks and turkeys in the outside large coop. Some were not looking so good after 6-12 hours and were moved back into the middle coop. Some of those got better some didn't. We have a lot of birds so its hard to keep track. In the past 5 days we have been loosing 2 to 4 chicks out of the middle coop a day. Please any suggestions would be great. Thank you.

1) What type of bird, age and weight.-2 to 5 week chicks and baby turkeys dieing. Mixed breeds.
2) What is the behavior, exactly.--They start acting very weak and stop eating and drinking. They stand in one place, usually a corner, hunched over with feathers ruffled up and eyes closed. Their wings drooping to the ground and usually shivering also. And in some cases their eyes may turn gray after they get sick. They can move around so show no paralysis when pushed to but seem to just be too weak to move.
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms? -They usually die after 12 to 18 hours. If we force feed them they last longer.
4) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma. -No
5) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.-Not sure. No apparent cause except maybe a food change.
6) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all. -We always used a medicated chick starter but switched to a Poulin chick starter with MOS. The deaths started after the grain switch we think. We have since switched back to the medicated grain, 4 or 5 days ago, but there has been no improvement.
7) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc. -Not totally sure except one bird pooped on my leg a few hours before he started acting sick and it was normal looking. The sick birds poop very little and when we find the dead birds they have clean bottoms. I did notice blood spots in the coop one day but looked for a wounded chick not for bloody stool.
8) What has been the treatment you have administered so far? - Started Sulmet last night but 6 more died since then.
9) Describe the housing/bedding in use. -They are all housed together in the middle coop, about 30+ birds and the bedding was cedar or pine shavings, but has been leaves for the past week.
 
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Really? I didn't know cedar is bad for them. That's good to know though. Do you know why it's bad?
 
Well it is bad for young ones .. the aroma and there acids that are toxic in both cedar and pine shavings. This bothers there respiratory system. I have never had a problem with pine shavings and young chicks but I did do cedar and lost a few when I first started in 2008 with my first chicks. This may only be a problem if they don't have a well ventilated area.
 
As for it being Coccidiosis, I am not sure. Usually, there stools are really watery diarrhea. Maybe someone else will answer on that. Sorry I can't help ya there.
 
I found this:
Cedar chips have been known to harbor bacteria that are harmful to chickens. Cedar also gives off fumes that could weaken the chickens' respiratory systems,leaving them more susceptible to respiratory problems. Cedar should be avoided.

Well the cedar shavings have been gone for a week and they will never be used again that's for sure.

The coop is well ventilated.

So since cedar will weaken them and carry a greater number of bacteria but not directly cause the deaths, any suggestions on a direct cause of death? As I mentioned I'm thinking Coccidiosis? I did notice one turkey that I moved inside as a last ditch effort to save him did have a clear watery and slightly green stool. We also considered Merek's as a possibility.
 
Now that I think about it I did see blood in the coop one day. There were spots here and there like a bird was injured but we checked and couldn't find any injured birds. I never looked to see if it was in the droppings and forgot about it.
 
Do these chicks have any access to the outdoors or to other chickens' poop?

If they go outside and have been for about 2 weeks, then cocci is very likely.
 
The chicks in the middle coop, the ones that are dieing, are outside but are off the ground. When this started it was with birds that did have access to the ground and other chicken poop. They had only been on the ground a few days at most before they started having symptoms and we moved them back to the middle coop to keep a better eye on them. They must of infected the middle coop. How long do symptoms show after birds are exposed to cocci? We are loosing an equal number of turkeys and chicks. Do they have the same strain of cocci? Did you read we had also been using pure cedar shavings at the time?
 

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