HELP!! Don't know what to do, sick chicken?

[athalia17]

Background: I hatched out my own chicks (second time doing it). I did not feed them medicated food. This is my first year with chickens. They are about 7 weeks old. One was quite a bit smaller than the other 5 chicks in the same hatch. She still has little baby feathers at the tip of her big feathers and her frame is small. She always kept her head tucked in since I can remember. I took them off heat at 6 weeks, according to an article I read- that was what I was supposed to do.

Problems: I noticed the little one was moving slower. The next day after taking them off the heat- I found her in a little ball. She wasn't moving much so I put her under a gentle heat lamp. She wasn't eating, not drinking, and sleeping a lot. I gave her electrolytes and probiotics (sav-a-chick). Hours later she was opening her eyes a little more so I fried her up an egg. She ate it down over an hour or two. She started drinking a little more too (before I was giving it to her in an eye dropper. Her feces is very runny, smelly, and fairly bright green (green crumbles- food?)- with a lot of white thrown in. She is now not really wanting to drink again and only wants to eat eggs, no chick crumble. She is up and moving slowly now and for the last couple days. She does start to shiver as she falls asleep or stands too long- and breaths fairly heavily. I heard a click each time she would breath (not a rattle, just one click in and out).

The Twist: So I'm treating her with Duramycin (as told by the feed mill). I'm strongly leaning towards her issue being coccidiosis though. She hasn't gotten better (no increased energy or eating chick starter) on duramycin in the last 24 hours of treatment. Her click is gone though. The twist is, I noticed one of her siblings is starting to tuck her head in. Then one of the chicks pooped and it was runny and smelly. They went again and the second time it was runny blood.

Questions:
Do you think I should treat for respiratory (duramycin) or coccidiosis (corid 9.6)?
Should I treat for both? Isn't that a lot of medication?
Will the little one ever get bigger?
What should I feed her?
Should I give them vitamins or other probiotics with the medicine or after?
What should I do with the rest of my chickens, do I treat them too (these ones were in a pen inside the same coop)?

Thank you so much for your help and any input!!

 

[Wishing4Wings]

I would treat for coccidiosis first. The corid used to kill cocci does not really enter the bloodstream. It works within the gut to block vital nutrients to the cocci and they die off. Treat all of them.

I would hesitate using antibiotics unless you're sure they're needed. They don't kill viruses, which are what cause most of the respiratory problems.

At 7 weeks, the chicks should be mostly fledged and should not need a light. If it's cold where you are and they seem to be having problems, I would put a light back on them, especially at night. If they need it, they will stay close. If they don't need it, they will be as far away as possible. You do need to make sure that only one part of the brooder/cage is warm; the rest should be cool in case they get too hot.

Failure to thrive just happens sometimes. Survival strategy for chickens is quantity over quality. Kind of built into the system that not all the chicks will make it to adulthood, but enough do to perpetuate the species. That's how it works in wild populations, but we can help out our domesticated pets. Hard to say if your small chick was meant to survive. Keep trying!

 

[marneypoo]

I also would be giving the Corid. 9.6 liquid @ 2 teaspoons per gal of water or 1/2tsp. per quart for 5 days for a severe outbreak. Make fresh daily. Do not give anything else while treating for the cocci. After treating the 5 days, then you need to give them some vit/probiotics. I think unless you live where it is really warm, they still might need some heat. It doesn't have to be a heat bulb. If your lamp is close to the chicks a regular 60 watt bulb will work. As the other poster said, just have the heat where if they need it it's there. If not they can move away from it. Good luck.

 

[sunflower2]

Hello everyone, I'm dealing with a couple sick girls. The past couple days I noticed my girls(2) of them laying around not eating much at all. Just laying with eyes closed. Not active like my other 5 production reds. One sounds like a hacking, coughing noise. I put electrolytes in there water, still haven't noticed any change in them. At times it looks as if one eyes open and the other is open. We got our girls 13 days ago. I'm new to the chickens, so I'm trying to learn everything I can. Can someone please tell me what I should do!!! I love my girls so much already, I don't want to loose any!!! Thank you, Patricia

 

[athalia17]

Ok- so I gave them all duramycin last night- I didn't have a reply then so I did what I was told to. None of them have bloody poop now. In fact, it looks better in all of them. One of the did have runny stinky stuff. Really stinky. None of it was bright hunter green like this little hen. Can she get that colored poo from eating a fried egg? I remember when they hatch they have that color stuff, just wondering if it's the same deal.

So, do you think still treat for cocci, even though the poo looks normal now? I may have jumped the gun, but I did see blood in the stool of that one and it was runny blood- not like tissue. I saw what looked like tissue the day before. Can they have blood like that and it's normal? I DO live in a cold area, MN. It was close to freezing a few nights. They told me a 6 week old should be at 60 degrees all the time. So you guys think less is fine?

THANK YOU THANK YOU for your replies!!!

 

[Wishing4Wings]

The corid won't hurt them. I would treat.

 

[Wishing4Wings]

Hello everyone, I'm dealing with a couple sick girls. The past couple days I noticed my girls(2) of them laying around not eating much at all. Just laying with eyes closed. Not active like my other 5 production reds. One sounds like a hacking, coughing noise. I put electrolytes in there water, still haven't noticed any change in them. At times it looks as if one eyes open and the other is open. We got our girls 13 days ago. I'm new to the chickens, so I'm trying to learn everything I can. Can someone please tell me what I should do!!! I love my girls so much already, I don't want to loose any!!! Thank you, Patricia

You will get a better response if you start a new thread under the emergencies section. No one will see it here except for those few of us who responded to the original poster. You should include as much info as possible, including ages of the birds. There is a "sticky" thread at the beginning of the emergencies section that is helpful to read first.

When you got your chickens, did they all come fro the same place? The 2 that are sick should be isolated from the others to prevent spreading the illness. There are many respiratory diseases they can have, and you will have a better chance of getting help from someone more knowledgeable than me if you start your own thread. Try to word the problem into your title.

 

[athalia17]

Well, the little chick died today. She had fluidy clear slime running out of her mouth right before she died. Does that indicate anything, or just dying?

 

[Wishing4Wings]

Sorry about your chick. Not sure what the fluid indicates. This sounds like failure to thrive, which is pretty vague, I know. There was probably some internal malformation which prevented her from growing properly. The bright green poop you reported can be an indication of starvation, so either a faulty digestive system or metabolism could have caused the problem and made her more susceptible to viral or bacterial attacks. Doubt there was anything you could have done.

 

[athalia17]

Thank you for your response. I was so nervous it could spread that I was thinking of getting a necropsy done on her. Husband said no. I just don't want others to get sick. It seemed like she could never control her temp. She was always cold, so that would make sense. I even thought, can chickens have thyroid issues? They have to have a thyroid don't they? :/ I bought the chicken health handbook but it was overwhelming and everything seemed like it could be what she had... except parasites. Ugh.