Help! Giardia and coccidia in pullet ( all flock?)

[Pompona]

Hi everyone,

I have a 10-month old pullet that has been having runny yellow poop but otherwise fine (maybe a little bit thin). She lays everyday. I took a sample of her poop to the vet and she says there seems to be giardia and coccidia. This hen lives in a mixed flock with 8 other hens and 2 roosters, and most of them are bantams (peking bantams, sebright, kriel, serama...). I have them as pets but also for their eggs.

The thing is, the vet suggests treating them all with metronidazole and baycox (tortrazuril), but I am not comfortable with that. For metronidazole, I haven't found a waiting period for the eggs and I read that it is a probable carcinogen (even if it's widely used to treat humans, including children, I know). I read that fenbendazole (SafeGuard in USA, I think) can also be used to treat giardia. Has anyone used fenbendazole for this? I am worried about ruining the eggs for a long period (forever???) if I use metronidazole.

For cocci, I have Coccivex (amprolium = Corid), so I can use that in their water.

Would giving them garlic/any natural remedy would help a bit with parasite overload?

And then, the vet said I need to clean everything after treatment to prevent reinfection. I can clean the coop (with Oxvirin - destroys coccidia cists), but how do you clean/disinfect the run? It's dirt/sand. Please, if anyone has been in this situation what have you done to clean the run?

Pictures of the run attached.

Additional info:

We have a Marek's positive flock, so immunity (in general) might be compromised in these chickens. No deaths for 2 months, or so (fingers crossed). Most of this flock were not vaccinated (neither for Marek's nor to prevent coccidia), including the pullet I'm talking about). Only three laying hens were vaccinated

 

[Eggcessive]

Can you just treat the bird with symptoms? Then, I would wait a long time to use the eggs of that bird. Some use the eggs after 3 weeks after the last dose of metronidazole, but that is up to you to decide after researching it. It is a drug used in humans. Here is a post about withdrawal:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...ople-vs-fishzole-metronidazole.1195285/page-2

Toltrazuril is now commonly used for coccidiosis treatment. I will try to find the egg withdrawal time. Some sources say 44 days, some as much as 70 days. FARAD is the source where egg withdrawals or the safety of a drug for chickens is the best place to look. Very few drugs are approved for chickens, but some are used off label. Here is sone study saying 44 days:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34020367/

 

[Pompona]

Thanks, Eggcesive. I just spoke again with the vet, we are going to try first with amprolium (Corid) and fenbendazole first. I'm going to treat them all and see if that takes care of the giardia and coccidia. If not, I can do what you suggest, treat that single hen and discard her eggs for at least a month.

I still don't know what to do about the run though. Any ideas on how to clean/ disinfect it? I could use boiling water on the dirtiest parts. But that would probably not be enough. It's a big run, 3x6 meters **Sigh**

 

[Eggcessive]

I am not an expert on giardia, but animals can still pass it in droppings for awhile after treatment. It is impossible to kill all coccidia, worms, or giardia after the illness. You may want to keep the droppings picked up daily to keep the chickens from reinfection. Keep all bedding dry, stirred and replace as needed. Sand might be a good type of bedding, since it can be sifted easily. Fill in any water puddles in the yard or ranging area. Here is some info about Giardia:
https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/giardia/prevention-control-pets.html#eleven