HELP!, coccidia treatment not working-if that's what it is ?????

[my8hens]

I'm a new chicken owner but do work in the veterinary field for the past 35 years (I work in small animal medicine unfortunatly we don't treat chickens)
I have 8 chickens, raised since 1 week old?, 4 were purchased from TSC (don't worry won't do that again :-((), and the rest from a breeder (NPIP tested)
We have had several bouts of diarrhea, 3 separate fecals tested positive for coccidia. Eimeria sp. oocysts present, many (>30)
Two hens are sick, still eating, drinking, free range with spervision, access to clean run and go in the coop at night but noticeably depressed, pale comb (leghorn), they are 1lb under the weight of thier siblings
I have done CORID in the water as sole source, they are fed a good diet, I keep the coop and run as clean as possible and recently read about doing oral CORID dosing @ .1ml/1lb so I did the whole flock on Saturday and then have treated just the two sick ones once daily sunday and not yet today (Monday), I will dose them tonight but should I be doing it twice daily?, and for how long?, could the anemia be form something else?, I just ordered the poultry dewormer 5X (fenbendazole) to try that as well, any and all thoughts would be MUCH APPRECIATED!!, I know they're just chickens but I really want to give them the best chance of survivng this, thank you!!!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

It is a shame your firm doesn't treat chickens, but luckily, they did a fecal float test. You probably already realize that coccidia is everywhere in the world, likely several different species. That means that a fecal float will always present oocysts whether that is the problem or not unless the chickens are in an indoor sterile environment.
Your chickens look old enough to me that they have long become resistant to the species of coccidia present on your property.
I'll wager, the problem isn't coccidiosis. The initial Corid treatment would have already resolved the issue by this time in almost all cases.
Are you seeing blood in the stool?
I will further wager the problem is bacterial, not protozoan or helminthic.
I once had serious diarrhea in one of my flocks. I thought about worming them but I decided to have a fecal read instead. Hoping to discover what type of worms were causing the problem. I tried about 25 vets around me. Most wouldn't do it even though any vet CAN do a fecal for worms, they just wouldn't for a chicken. I found a large animal vet 40 miles away in Illinois who agreed to do so. He didn't treat chickens normally but as a farm vet he saw more than dogs, cats and parrots.
The chickens had no worms but a severe case of clostridial bacteria that tetracycline fixed.
In all the fecals that you did, what kind of worms did they show?

By the way, there really isn't anything wrong with getting chickens from TSC.
NPIP isn't a magic bullet. It only means the flock has tested Pullorum/Typhoid clean. All the hatcheries that supply Tractor Supply are NPIP as well.
An NPIP breeder's flocks could just as easily be harboring any of dozens of bacteria or viruses.

 

[my8hens]

Thank you for the reply!, the fecal results >Eimeria sp. oocysts present, many (>30)
no blood but loose dark mustard color stool with some but not all. What would you recomend trying?, tetracycline?, do you know a dose?, I can order through my practice but my vets don't treat any large animal or chickens

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I wouldn't recommend any form of treatment till you know exactly what you are treating. In my one flock's case, tetracycline was appropriate because we knew they had a bacterial infection that was treatable by tetracycline.
I never recommend antibiotics unless a treatable bacteria was at fault, just as I wouldn't recommend prophylactically using anthelminthics, even though many people do so on a schedule. I might think differently if I lived in Florida but we get cold and worms are not as pervasive year round here.
Have them look at the fecal again, they may not recognize the type of bacteria but they would be able to tell if it was a bacteria they were looking at. It could just as easily be a virus which tetracycline couldn't help but rather be problematic.
Does anyone in your veterinary practice preach antibiotic resistance?
The problem could even be feed. What protein percentage are you feeding?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I have done CORID in the water as sole source, they are fed a good diet, I keep the coop and run as clean as possible and recently read about doing oral CORID dosing @ .1ml/1lb so I did the whole flock on Saturday and then have treated just the two sick ones once daily sunday and not yet today (Monday), I will dose them tonight but should I be doing it twice daily?, and for how long?, could the anemia be form something else?, I just ordered the poultry dewormer 5X (fenbendazole) to try that as well, any and all thoughts would be MUCH APPRECIATED!!,

How old are they?

Photos of the poop?
What do you feed, including treats?

Liquid Corid dose is 2tsp or Powdered Corid Dose is 1 1/2tsp per gallon of water given for 5-7 days as the only source of drinking water.
Do not add any extra vitamins/electrolytes that contain B1(Thiamine) to food or water during the course of treatment.

The direct oral dose of liquid Corid at a rate of 0.10ml per pound of weight is a drench that is given in addition to the bird drinking the mixed Corid water for 5-7 days days. The direct drench is to "jumpstart" the bird if Coccidiosis is severe.

If the fecal float for Coccidia still shows high even after the drench and correct dosing, then you may need to use a different medication to treat Coccidiosis. Endocox or a Sulfa Antibiotic are often used to treat a Coccidiosis outbreak that is not responding to treatment with Amprolium.


I would recommend that you do a fecal float if possible before deworming, to see if it's necessary.
If you are wanting to deworm your pullets with Fenbendazole, then I highly recommend that you return the Poultry Dewormer 5X and get a bottle of Safeguard Liquid Goat Dewormer or Safeguard Equine Paste. The Poultry Dewormer 5X is going to be hard to dose, but it's doable - read this thread (both pages) https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/are-these-normal-poops.1553393/

Albendazole (Valbazen) is another good choice for deworming, dosing for it is 0.08ml per pound of weight given orally once, then repeat in 10 days.

 

[my8hens]

How old are they?

Photos of the poop?
What do you feed, including treats?

Liquid Corid dose is 2tsp or Powdered Corid Dose is 1 1/2tsp per gallon of water given for 5-7 days as the only source of drinking water.
Do not add any extra vitamins/electrolytes that contain B1(Thiamine) to food or water during the course of treatment.

The direct oral dose of liquid Corid at a rate of 0.10ml per pound of weight is a drench that is given in addition to the bird drinking the mixed Corid water for 5-7 days days. The direct drench is to "jumpstart" the bird if Coccidiosis is severe.

If the fecal float for Coccidia still shows high even after the drench and correct dosing, then you may need to use a different medication to treat Coccidiosis. Endocox or a Sulfa Antibiotic are often used to treat a Coccidiosis outbreak that is not responding to treatment with Amprolium.


I would recommend that you do a fecal float if possible before deworming, to see if it's necessary.
If you are wanting to deworm your pullets with Fenbendazole, then I highly recommend that you return the Poultry Dewormer 5X and get a bottle of Safeguard Liquid Goat Dewormer or Safeguard Equine Paste. The Poultry Dewormer 5X is going to be hard to dose, but it's doable - read this thread (both pages) https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/are-these-normal-poops.1553393/

Albendazole (Valbazen) is another good choice for deworming, dosing for it is 0.08ml per pound of weight given orally once, then repeat in 10 days.

Hi, thanks for the reply!, they are about 16 weeks, I have 8 total and only 2 are not feeling well :-(( I feed Poulin starter grain, dried mealworms, scraps ans they free range with supervision. fecals just show Coccidia many >30, no other parasites but it's not a chicken specific fecal (my vet, my job), just does small animal not farm animal. I will order the Valbazen. I can take pics of the poop and send

 

[my8hens]

I wouldn't recommend any form of treatment till you know exactly what you are treating. In my one flock's case, tetracycline was appropriate because we knew they had a bacterial infection that was treatable by tetracycline.
I never recommend antibiotics unless a treatable bacteria was at fault, just as I wouldn't recommend prophylactically using anthelminthics, even though many people do so on a schedule. I might think differently if I lived in Florida but we get cold and worms are not as pervasive year round here.
Have them look at the fecal again, they may not recognize the type of bacteria but they would be able to tell if it was a bacteria they were looking at. It could just as easily be a virus which tetracycline couldn't help but rather be problematic.
Does anyone in your veterinary practice preach antibiotic resistance?
The problem could even be feed. What protein percentage are you feeding?

The only parasite that is showing up is coccidia. My practice doesn't like to overuse antibiotics with the worry of resistance but I've not used ab's on these guys yet. Not sure the protein?

 

[dawg53]

The only parasite that is showing up is coccidia. My practice doesn't like to overuse antibiotics with the worry of resistance but I've not used ab's on these guys yet. Not sure the protein?

Toltrazuril will take care of Coccidiosis. Here's where you can purchase it, follow the directions on the package:
https://jedds.com/products/endocox-powder?_pos=1&_sid=8c7065534&_ss=r

 

[my8hens]

Toltrazuril will take care of Coccidiosis. Here's where you can purchase it, follow the directions on the package:
https://jedds.com/products/endocox-powder?_pos=1&_sid=8c7065534&_ss=r

do you know what the egg withdrawl time is?, have you used with sucess before?, thanks!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Hi, thanks for the reply!, they are about 16 weeks, I have 8 total and only 2 are not feeling well :-(( I feed Poulin starter grain, dried mealworms, scraps ans they free range with supervision. fecals just show Coccidia many >30, no other parasites but it's not a chicken specific fecal (my vet, my job), just does small animal not farm animal. I will order the Valbazen. I can take pics of the poop and send

I don't see anything wrong with what you are feeding.

Try the Toltrazuril as suggested and see how it goes.

Just curious, you have 2 that are not feeling well, are they the only 2 of the same breed you have or do you have others the same breed/age.