Help, Coccidia!

[britsbantams]

Over the holiday and weekend, my silkie rooster became very ill and started having horrible diarrhea. When I was finally able to get him to the vet on Monday, they said it appeared to be coccidia. Then told me he probably wouldn't even make it through the day, even with meds and IV, so we had to put him down. The testing afterwards showed coccidia. My concern now is with my 15 other chickens. I know they need to be treated because they all share the same area. My vet gave me orders to buy medicated chick feed and provide it to the others. I have not seen any other suggestions to do this so I am now 2nd guessing my vet. The feed says for young chicks and all of my are older than 4 months? Which is the recommended age on the bag. I know it does have the active ingredient but I don't know if its enough to stop an outbreak... I know coccidia kills fast and I don't want to waste time or money on a method that won't work. Should I just buy corid (because I did my research right away!) or stick with what my vet recommended?

 

[Wyandottes7]

Over the holiday and weekend, my silkie rooster became very ill and started having horrible diarrhea. When I was finally able to get him to the vet on Monday, they said it appeared to be coccidia. Then told me he probably wouldn't even make it through the day, even with meds and IV, so we had to put him down. The testing afterwards showed coccidia. My concern now is with my 15 other chickens. I know they need to be treated because they all share the same area. My vet gave me orders to buy medicated chick feed and provide it to the others. I have not seen any other suggestions to do this so I am now 2nd guessing my vet. The feed says for young chicks and all of my are older than 4 months? Which is the recommended age on the bag. I know it does have the active ingredient but I don't know if its enough to stop an outbreak... I know coccidia kills fast and I don't want to waste time or money on a method that won't work. Should I just buy corid (because I did my research right away!) or stick with what my vet recommended?

All chickens have small amounts of Coccidia in their digestive tracts. Only when those amounts grow too large, or the chicken is weakened for some other reason, do the Coccidia become harmful. Even though your other birds lived in the same place as your Silkie, they may not get the disease.

Medicated feed can help prevent Coccidiosis in birds of all ages but is usually used for only the first 16 weeks or so. After that, most chickens will have built up a resistance to Coccidiosis. It won't harm your chickens to give them the medicated feed even though they are older, but it may not help.

What I would do would be to get Corid. If you begin to see signs of Coccidosis in your birds (droopiness, diarrhea, lethargy, lack of appetite, ruffled feathers, etc), treat them. Otherwise, if your chickens appear healthy, don't treat with the Corid. Keep their area clean and dry, and this will help prevent Coccidosis.

 

[britsbantams]

Thanks, I really wasn't sure what to do! I'm going to buy some corid while I'm in town today, just to have in case someone starts showing symptoms. I cleaned the coop first thing after losing my rooster and started them on the medicated feed. I guess all I can do now is keep an eye on them.

 

[britsbantams]

Ok, when I got home from work I noticed my other silkie, Molly, beginning to show the same symptoms. Lethargic, full crop but not eating, she just sat in the coop all day. She has diarrhea but it isn't green/yellow/red. Should I now switch to dosing all of them with corid or only her? I'm assuming she is suffering from the same thing as my rooster... Chicken diseases/parasites are hard to confirm, there are sooo many! I definitely don't want to lose another one.

 

[Wyandottes7]

Ok, when I got home from work I noticed my other silkie, Molly, beginning to show the same symptoms. Lethargic, full crop but not eating, she just sat in the coop all day. She has diarrhea but it isn't green/yellow/red. Should I now switch to dosing all of them with corid or only her? I'm assuming she is suffering from the same thing as my rooster... Chicken diseases/parasites are hard to confirm, there are sooo many! I definitely don't want to lose another one.

Yes, I'd start them on the Corid now, since Molly's symptoms do match some Coccidosis symptoms.