Help! Chicks dying like flies .... :(

[czarinapl]

Cord is a thiamine blocker...I'm mobile right now and and not good at navigating mobile otherwise I would paste a link to the product.
Cord dosing: mix two teaspoons of cord in a gallon of water. Offer only this water. Mix a new batch each day
Do this for 7 days straight.

For the very sick looking ones do this in addition to the above: mix .5 teaspoons Cord with 2 teaspoons of water and give each chick 4 drops twice a day for three days in addition to the water mixture above.

Do I need to worry about my dogs / us humans getting cocci?

 

[czarinapl]

Found this http://www.poultryshowcentral.com/Coccidiosis.html

It's Corid

 

[Kiki]

Yes Corid sorry...My darn auto correct on my phone kills me!

 

[Kiki]

I think they meant 'Corid' http://www.allivet.com/p-8321-corid...W_J4xHZSBNOlLEbmPpCiYLEPdkT2gEYEaApqfEALw_wcB

Yes that is it!
Most feed stores keep it in stock.
They also sell a liquid.
Either one will work.

 

[3riverschick]

No cedar block. Use maple or oak instead. Lose the honey. Use sugar instead.
Karen

 

[PD-Riverman]

Feed is a mix of ground up oat groats and seeds, with a sprinkle of grit.

Sorry to read about your troubles------you might be got more than one thing going on with them----I do not feel this feed is good for brooded chicks. They should not be fed things that will not dissolve in water until they are on the dirt----a sprinkle of grit is probably not enough to get it ground/digested. I would be feeding them chick starter/grower.

 

[rebrascora]

The thing with coccidiosis is that there are different strains in different areas and whilst chicks may have acclimatised to the cocci in their area, as soon as you move them, they are vulnerable to new strains and coccidiosis can be a fast killer.

Medicated feed contains an anticoccidiostat.... a medicine that helps the chicks cope with coccidia whilst their body builds up resistance to it. It is not an antibiotic or hormone or anything like that and chicks that are incubator hatched and reared need that medication particularly if they are moved to a new home. Chicks that are raised by a broody hen pick up immunity from the hen via her poop and are exposed to coccidia from day one, so their body learns to deal with it without the need for medication, but hatchery chicks come from a fairly sterile hatching and brooder environment and are therefore more vulnerable when they are eventually exposed to the organism in the environment.
It was probably a mistake not to give them medicated feed for this reason and now you are having to give a stronger dose of the medication ie Corid.(amprolium) which as KikisGirls explained, acts to block thiamine from being absorbed, resulting in the coccidia being unable to thrive in the chicks gut. Amprolium(Corid) is considered a medicine as far as I am aware..... hence "medicated feed" It's just that many people assume "medicated" means antibiotics or hormones and it doesn't.
I hope the Corid works fast enough to save the other chicks. It's a good idea to follow the treatment up with a vitamin supplement like Save a Chick or Nutri Drench once you have finished using the Corid.

 

[rebrascora]

We don't generally get coccidiosis because we practice good hygiene but I believe dogs can get it, particularly young stock like puppies. That said, they are probably acclimatised to the strain you have, which is causing the chicks such a problem.

 

[Kiki]

The thing with coccidiosis is that there are different strains in different areas and whilst chicks may have acclimatised to the cocci in their area, as soon as you move them, they are vulnerable to new strains and coccidiosis can be a fast killer.

Medicated feed contains an anticoccidiostat.... a medicine that helps the chicks cope with coccidia whilst their body builds up resistance to it. It is not an antibiotic or hormone or anything like that and chicks that are incubator hatched and reared need that medication particularly if they are moved to a new home. Chicks that are raised by a broody hen pick up immunity from the hen via her poop and are exposed to coccidia from day one, so their body learns to deal with it without the need for medication, but hatchery chicks come from a fairly sterile hatching and brooder environment and are therefore more vulnerable when they are eventually exposed to the organism in the environment.
It was probably a mistake not to give them medicated feed for this reason and now you are having to give a stronger dose of the medication ie Corid.(amprolium) which as KikisGirls explained, acts to block thiamine from being absorbed, resulting in the coccidia being unable to thrive in the chicks gut. Amprolium(Corid) is considered a medicine as far as I am aware..... hence "medicated feed" It's just that many people assume "medicated" means antibiotics or hormones and it doesn't.
I hope the Corid works fast enough to save the other chicks. It's a good idea to follow the treatment up with a vitamin supplement like Save a Chick or Nutri Drench once you have finished using the Corid.

Well explained THANK YOU!

 

[lazy gardener]

To OP: First, welcome to BYC, second, I'm so sorry you are loosing your chicks. At 4 weeks of age, they should be almost completely feathered, and should not need a heat lamp, especially in the summer! Too much heat can be more lethal and kill quicker than not enough heat. Do you have them in your house?

The fact that one of them "could not move her legs" makes me wonder if you have something more sinister than coccidiosis going on. I'm questioning Marek's disease. A quick net search stated that the earliest it would show up would be at 3 - 4 weeks old. If your chicks do have Marek's dz. that does not bode well for bringing in any new birds. It persists in the environment for a very long time.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq.66077/

I don't want to be an alarmist, but you might as well do some homework to rule out this possibility.