HELP! My chickens are sick and I don't know what to do! *PICS*

[ziggymoon]

Hey guys,
I have a flock of 16 birds, some of them are 3yo and others are just turning 1yo. I've hand raised them since babies all myself. I've never had any medical issues with them up until now and I don't know what is going on. They haven't had a change in environment or food. I've never wormed them with anything but have used Diatomaceous earth on their coop bedding and food a few times. Their coop is cleaned regularly and they have fresh bedding.

The past couple of days I noticed my birds were not finishing their food, which is very odd for them. When I come inside their coop and they always come running but yesterday all of them did except for a few birds, which was also kind of odd.
I kept an eye on them and noticed that my lavendar orpington was just laying in the chicken run and not really doing anything for most of the day. I went and checked on her and she was very lethargic, felt underweight and I noticed some vet feathers under her vent so I quarantined her immediately and went to check the rest of them. There were about 4-5 birds that looked like they were having diarrhea, but their weight was normal. I did not notice any sneezing or coughing in any of them. Their eyes and noses were clear and they were up and about as usual.

I went out to give the orpington some electrolytes this morning and she has a lot of watery/clear poo. Shes still very lethargic. I checked the coop and there are other birds who are having diarrhea, which is a normal brown color. Some of theirs looks mucusy. And some of the birds I noted were shaking their heads.

These are the only symptoms I've noticed: Diarrhea-brown and clear, not eating as much, lethargy in one chicken, and head shaking.

I've given the very sick one some electrolytes and cat food to try and get her energy up. I put some nutridrench for poultry in the water for the other birds in the coop.

What could this be and what do I need to do?? My vet isn't open until tomorrow but I do have a tractor supply close to me. Please help me help my babies!
Photos of watery diarrhea and the other diarrhea I found this morning in the coop are attached.

 

[Eggcessive]

I would get some Corid and treat for possible coccidiosis. There looks to be some blood in one of the poops. Symptoms include being lethargic or sleepy, weakness, standing around hunched or puffed up, not eating even though they want to, and runny poops with mucus and sometimes blood. Corid dosage is 10ml (2 tsp) per gallon of water for 5-7 days. Powder dosage is 1.5 tsp per gallon. Keep all bedding clean and dry. Tomorrow you can take in some fresh droppings to your vet for a fecal float to look for coccidiosis and for any worms. Worming with Valbazen or SafeGuard Liquid Goat Wormer would not be a bad idea if you can’t see a vet.

 

[nuthatched]

What do you feed them? Please don't use de around anything with lungs, ( including you) it's extremely irritating to the respiratory system.

 

[ziggymoon]

What do you feed them? Please don't use de around anything with lungs, ( including you) it's extremely irritating to the respiratory system.

I feed them Dumor Layer Crumble from Tractor supply. They've been on that since I switched them from chick starter. They've all done well on it. I've never switched their food since this one has been a winner.

 

[ziggymoon]

I would get some Corid and treat for possible coccidiosis. There looks to be some blood in one of the poops. Symptoms include being lethargic or sleepy, weakness, standing around hunched or puffed up, not eating even though they want to, and runny poops with mucus and sometimes blood. Corid dosage is 10ml (2 tsp) per gallon of water for 5-7 days. Powder dosage is 1.5 tsp per gallon. Keep all bedding clean and dry. Tomorrow you can take in some fresh droppings to your vet for a fecal float to look for coccidiosis and for any worms. Worming with Valbazen or SafeGuard Liquid Goat Wormer would not be a bad idea if you can’t see a vet.

Thank you! I picked up some corid in the meantime. The quarantined chicken is up and moving around now after her electrolytes this morning, so I have hope. I gave her some medicated water as well. Thank you for taking the time to respond.

 

[Gezellige_Poes]

What do you feed them? Please don't use de around anything with lungs, ( including you) it's extremely irritating to the respiratory system.

True, the DE dust is a health hazard. To circumvent this, I carefully stir DE into feed moistened with water. This eliminates DE dust completely.

 

[Gezellige_Poes]

I would get some Corid and treat for possible coccidiosis. There looks to be some blood in one of the poops. Symptoms include being lethargic or sleepy, weakness, standing around hunched or puffed up, not eating even though they want to, and runny poops with mucus and sometimes blood. Corid dosage is 10ml (2 tsp) per gallon of water for 5-7 days. Powder dosage is 1.5 tsp per gallon. Keep all bedding clean and dry. Tomorrow you can take in some fresh droppings to your vet for a fecal float to look for coccidiosis and for any worms. Worming with Valbazen or SafeGuard Liquid Goat Wormer would not be a bad idea if you can’t see a vet.

Please provide dosing for your deworming suggestions. Also, the SafeGuard dewormer for goats has fenbendazole, like the SafeGuard for dogs, right, so the dog dewormer can be used, and if so, at what strength...?

 

[Gezellige_Poes]

Hey guys,
I have a flock of 16 birds, some of them are 3yo and others are just turning 1yo. I've hand raised them since babies all myself. I've never had any medical issues with them up until now and I don't know what is going on. They haven't had a change in environment or food. I've never wormed them with anything but have used Diatomaceous earth on their coop bedding and food a few times. Their coop is cleaned regularly and they have fresh bedding.

The past couple of days I noticed my birds were not finishing their food, which is very odd for them. When I come inside their coop and they always come running but yesterday all of them did except for a few birds, which was also kind of odd.
I kept an eye on them and noticed that my lavendar orpington was just laying in the chicken run and not really doing anything for most of the day. I went and checked on her and she was very lethargic, felt underweight and I noticed some vet feathers under her vent so I quarantined her immediately and went to check the rest of them. There were about 4-5 birds that looked like they were having diarrhea, but their weight was normal. I did not notice any sneezing or coughing in any of them. Their eyes and noses were clear and they were up and about as usual.

I went out to give the orpington some electrolytes this morning and she has a lot of watery/clear poo. Shes still very lethargic. I checked the coop and there are other birds who are having diarrhea, which is a normal brown color. Some of theirs looks mucusy. And some of the birds I noted were shaking their heads.

These are the only symptoms I've noticed: Diarrhea-brown and clear, not eating as much, lethargy in one chicken, and head shaking.

I've given the very sick one some electrolytes and cat food to try and get her energy up. I put some nutridrench for poultry in the water for the other birds in the coop.

What could this be and what do I need to do?? My vet isn't open until tomorrow but I do have a tractor supply close to me. Please help me help my babies!
Photos of watery diarrhea and the other diarrhea I found this morning in the coop are attached.

Did you by chance add the nutri-drench to the cat food, and/or add water to the kibble to encourage drinking/help w dehydration?

 

[Eggcessive]

Valbazen dosage is 0.08 ml per pound given orally once and again in 10-14 days. Fenbendazole or SafeGuard/Panacur 10% dosage is 0.025 ml per pound of weight given once and in 10 days for roundworms, or for 5 consecutive days for most all worms except tapeworm.

 

[nuthatched]

True, the DE dust is a health hazard. To circumvent this, I carefully stir DE into feed moistened with water. This eliminates DE dust completely.

Which renders it completely useless. It wouldn't be of any effect for internal parasites to begin with, once damp, it's useless, which is why it rarely works on external parasites.