Help - Amprolium not clearing up Cocci. What to do next?

[hotheidishens]

I've been treating my 2 chickens, who are 9-11 weeks old, with amprolium for over 5 days, but it hasn't completely cleared up their bloody poop. Should I try Sulmet?

We purchased 3 chickens a couple weeks ago, but one died a week later, right before I noticed the Cocci. The 2 remaining birds have definitely become more active since treatment, but they are still having occasional runny poos and a touch of blood in the stools. Strangely though, mostly they have normal poos. I'm so confused.

advice warmly welcomed. thanks!
Heidi

 

[speckledhen]

I'd wait a week, then re-treat with Corid. I use 9-10 cc in a gallon waterer once a day for 5-7 days. Sulmet may continue intestinal bleeding and I no longer use it. Last case of cocci cleared up in one week. Also, clean everything with ammonia since bleach will NOT kill cocci.

 

[enola]

Corid and amprollium are the same thing aren't they ?

 

[speckledhen]

Corid is concentrated Amprolium, yes. Sulmet is not effective against one type of cocci, but Corid should get them all, if the dosage is high enough.

 

[enola]

I have always treated for 7 days with Corid and then gave them yogurt 2 times a day for 2 days. The blood usually disappears and you don't have to treat them for another 7 days.

 

[hotheidishens]

Thanks so much for the advice! I didn't realize that I would need to clean everything down with ammonia. I'll do that, try some yogurt, and re-treat again next week. Will let you know how it goes.

Thanks again! Heidi

 

[Andora]

I have never cleaned everything after cocci. I figure it lives in my soil, and I can't clean the dirt. The new chicks usually catch it and I am prepared now! But once they catch it and recover they are immune, so you don't have to worry about it anymore.

I was told that even when they have recovered from cocci they can still have some occasional bloody stools for a week or so as their intestines heal up. I continue the Corid for 7 days, then give them powdered milk in their food, ACV in their water, and set out some plain yogurt once a day for a couple days. If they start acting sickly again, you can give the Corid treatment over. Corid isn't the same as an antibiotic, and the avian research PhD guys at our university told me that you can give it for extended periods of time without major side effects. It does block the absorbtion of one vitamin, I forget which, so if you give it for several weeks then I would follow up with no iron added poly-vi-sol baby vitamins.

The first time my birds got cocci I used Sulmet because TSC didn't have Corid. I lost a lot of my chickens. The Sulmet didn't work. They got better, but then then it seemed to come back, over and over until they eventually got weak and died. Apparently Sulmet is also a lot harder on their systems. Now that I use Corid, I haven't lost a single chick! (I found that the only store in my area that carries Corid is Southern States...) I have also found that if you aren't giving enough Corid then it won't work. I give 10 cc per gallon and I have given a little more than that before if it doesn't seem like it's working fast enough. The avian research guy I called also told me that it takes a very high dose of Corid to harm a chick, so it's alright to give a little more than the recommended dose at first to really knock the cocci out.

If you have a university near you with an agriculture school I highly recommend calling them and asking questions in situations like this! I learned so much from the guys in our universities department, and they love to talk about birds, haha.

 

[threehorses]

Did you use any probiotics at all? They'll help get the digestive tract balanced back out, help with any issues of secondary bacterial infections.

Corid is more gentle on digestive systems than Sulmet, but because they had a digestive illness in the first place, I'd definitely make sure the living bacteria gets replaced.

Grocery store: plain yogurt; acidophilus tablets (also pharmacy or healthfood store) or caplets
Feed store: Probios (powder prefered, paste possible), fastrack, or other live-culture bacterial probiotics from the horse or cattle section.

 

[speckledhen]

The cleaning with ammonia is for the waterers, feeder and coop, not the soil. They will get over the cocci and become immune to the types in your soil and this will all be an unpleasant memory, LOL.

 

[dlhunicorn]

After any cocci challenge (and the specific type of cocci as well as how much intestinal damage has occured as a result of the challenge) you should provide a good general supplement like Avia Charge 2000 for a few months as malabsorption to one degree or another will occur with any challenge affecting the intestines (including worms )
Worms often go hand in hand with any illness or stress (think environmental/temperature stress) and your birds might have something like cappillaria (which will also present with bood in the faeces)
If it were me I would also add live culture yogurt (free choice) to their daily diet.