Help! Orpington lethargic won't eat and has red poop

[6sablehens]

Let us know how she goes!

 

[Ibabz2]

Let us know how she goes!

Thank you for all the help!! SunnyD stayed with the vet all day yesterday for fluid injections, gavage feeding, and monitoring; back home today but awaiting lab results. Vet thinks parasite like cocci so gave her panacur yesterday and shes now on pyrantel but waiting for results to confirm. They also have me giving her clavamox antibiotic and sucralfate to undo any gut damage basically. She hates the meds but is a lot more active today so hoping she'll make a full recovery!

 

[Ibabz2]

I think that may be intestinal lining, but honestly I’m not sure what causes that. There would beno harm in treating g her for coccidiosis and I would if she were mine. Good luck with your sweetie.

Vet thinks her poop did have intestinal lining but because of other systems sent to the lab to check. Thank you again for the advice!

 

[Ibabz2]

I personally would treat them all. Amprolium is pretty safe stuff, so no risk even if they don't have it. Depending on where you are, Corid is the same medication, and widely available also. Normally when one bird in a flock gets it they are all treated. It's spread through the droppings, so all have been exposed. If you try to treat one at a time you may end up treating one, and then another, and then another and so on. Easier to do all at once.

Their food is medicated with amprolium and notes to not give any additional amprolium. I could switch them to unmedicated feed though to then give them amprolium via water. Not sure the difference in intake of it between their starter feed and corid?

 

[coach723]

Medicated feed has a very low dose of amprolium. Intended to be a 'preventative'. The amount in feed will not treat an actual outbreak, for that you need the higher dose in Corid. So in that case switch to unmedicated feed while treating. The usual meds for coccidiosis are amprolium (in Corid- available over the counter) or sulfadimethoxine (prescription). Panacur and pyrantel are worming meds, for other parasites.

 

[rebrascora]

I agree with @coach723 It doesn't seem to me that the vet has prescribed anything for coccidiosis but has run up a lot of expensive tests and treatments and given you medications which are not likely to be affective against coccidia. I hope you have just misunderstood what the vet says. The chances of such a young chick having worms and needing Panacur and pyrantel seem remote, but I may be wrong. It just sounds a little bit to me like a licence to print money from your visit or at best, stabbing in the dark. I appreciate that Corid is not registered for use in chickens so a vet might be reticent and the recent legislation in the states has some vets extremely wary of prescribing antibiotics (sulfadimethoxine is an antibiotic used to treat coccidiosis) to them as well so I wonder if the vet has been at a loss as o what to prescribe and gone with any anti parasitic treatment in the hope it will help. Of course we don't know for sure it is coccidiosis yet, but just very much doubt it is worms.

 

[Ibabz2]

I agree with @coach723 It doesn't seem to me that the vet has prescribed anything for coccidiosis but has run up a lot of expensive tests and treatments and given you medications which are not likely to be affective against coccidia. I hope you have just misunderstood what the vet says. The chances of such a young chick having worms and needing Panacur and pyrantel seem remote, but I may be wrong. It just sounds a little bit to me like a licence to print money from your visit or at best, stabbing in the dark. I appreciate that Corid is not registered for use in chickens so a vet might be reticent and the recent legislation in the states has some vets extremely wary of prescribing antibiotics (sulfadimethoxine is an antibiotic used to treat coccidiosis) to them as well so I wonder if the vet has been at a loss as o what to prescribe and gone with any anti parasitic treatment in the hope it will help. Of course we don't know for sure it is coccidiosis yet, but just very much doubt it is worms.

Lab results came back negative - not parasites or cocci but now not really sure what it was/ is. She seems to be doing better but not fully recovered yet.