HelP am i TREATING for Cocci Right?...Urgent!!!!

[Jerry09]

Despite the fact that my chicks are feed medicated feed ...they have fallen ill with cocci...well at least thats the conclusion i came to when i saw there poop was red and bloody with gel like sustance in it....they have displayed all the synthoms....diareah...blood...ruffled feather etc...at first i thought it was worms because of corse...the feed was medicated...so i dewormed them but nothing happen ...there wasnt a single worm in there poop...once the first victim died....(silkie) i open him up to check his intestins...all the coccci specialist say that the chicks have dark areas in there intestines....to my surprise...silkies are all black inside:

...im giving my chicks sulpha drugs in a gallon waterer....but the dosing is so hard so im trying not to put to much...how am i suppose to know when the water is .05 % sulpha...any how i read that cocci thrives on protein ...so i removed there chick feed and im feeding them a lower protein feed (scrath grains)

....am i doing the right things?...i quite new to chickens...so im on my own

 

[d.k]

* Jerry- Hey. I have my Sulmet btl. (Ft.Dodge) in front of me and have been doing some calculations. *How old are your chicks, *how many are there and *how much do they weigh? Also, Are you using the 16 oz. bottle, or what?

 

[arlee453]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=69588

that's another thread that covers dosages for Sulmet/cocci. Hope it helps.

Good luck with your birds!

 

[adoptedbyachicken]

Cocci thrive, and reproduce on B vitamins. Not sure why you were told that protein has anything to do with it. All the cocci medications partially block them from getting Vit B out of the feed. That gives the chick time to grow up in the immune system and become resistant to the cocci. The idea is not to kill the cocci with that feed, it's just to control the numbers such that the bird is exposed but never so much that it gets sick. Like all things it's not perfect and they still can come down with Cocci.

You might be interested to know that the old time cure for cocci is milk powder, so that really throws out the protein theory. Before all these drugs were developed they gave the chicks milk powder or milk straight from the cow. Modern research shows that what this does is tip the pH of the gut away from a favorable enviroment for the cocci and thus the chick wins. It's all I use now, trying to do the non-medicated routine, and so far, touch wood, always worked for me. For prevention you just add about a cup to each feeder full (have the small ones in the brooder) and for treatment you mix it up half and half.

If any of these chicks are meat birds you need to know that the withdrawal time on Sulmet is very long. If they are commercial layers depending on their age the withdrawal time for eggs could be into the start of lay. You will have to look that up, sorry I'm at work so my books are not with me.

Hope that helps.

 

[sugarbush]

One mistake livestock owners frequently make is feed medicated feeds and/or use antibiotics too frequently. Cocci and other bacteria can build up resistance to drugs if they are exposed to them over time. This is how we get the really dangerous bugs like MRSA ( Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) and Escherichia Coli 0157 H7.

Medicated feed is medicated to promote faster growth, not to prevent illness. Best thing you can do for your birds and your family's safety is to stop using the stuff. If congress would listen to the microbioligists and not the corperate purses medicated feeds would be illegal already.

 

[Jerry09]

d.k :

* Jerry- Hey. I have my Sulmet btl. (Ft.Dodge) in front of me and have been doing some calculations. *How old are your chicks, *how many are there and *how much do they weigh? Also, Are you using the 16 oz. bottle, or what?

well there about 7 to 8 weeks....they are 39.....of that age.... i am using gallon waterers....the white ones with the red bottom....​

 

[d.k]

* O.K.. Speckled's instructions in the old thread (Post #3) are correct for your age birds. 2 Tbsp./1 oz to a gallon for 2 days, followed by 1 Tbsp./ 1/2 oz. to a gallon for 4 more days. The industry considers them "full grown" at 5-7 wks. of age, BTW!! To assure full dosage you may want to use just 2 waterers during treatment and your birds should be drinking enough to empty both daily (avg'g 6.4 ozs drinking per bird). That will make it easy to mix fresh solution each day. Best wishes for them. PS: I don't blame you for worrying!! IME, med instuctions/conversions for poultry suk!! Why is that??? They don't even list mg. per oz. on the bottle of this stuff!!! :[