Help Please- Bloody Stool

[Kezzie]

Hi, all- I know many of you have experienced this before but this is new for me and scaring me a little bit. At least one of my hens has bloody diarrhea- not sure which one. I lost a hen yesterday- she hadn't looked sick that I had noticed but was just dead in the afternoon. No trauma and I couldn't tell if she was eggbound (and can't bring myself to autopsy). Not even sure if she was laying yet.

The bloody poop is new today so it's from someone else. I'm taking a sample in to the vet this morning for testing for cocci. They don't deal with farm animals and don't have Sulmet but are there other medicines I can treat with? I can go to TSC today but it's about an hour drive.

Should I give ACV in the meantime? Anything else I should be doing? I have about 20 hens and less than half are laying so far. They're about six months old.

 

[daps2000]

ya know ... I did the same thing ... ran around town trying to find someone that would look at my chickens poop! Ended up being nothing but normal! Are your chickens getting close to laying? Could just be a mucus sac ... that is what the lab tech told me ... and said it was nothing to worry about. Does is look like a reddish mucus sac?

Don't panic! Could just be normal! I just started with my baby's this year, so not a professional, but I look for this website for a lot of help!

Anyone else have an idea?

 

[Kezzie]

It looks just like bloody diarrhea- no sac or mucus at all...

 

[BarkerChickens]

I"d think cocci too. Is their a feed store or vet supply that may carry sulmet. Usually wherever they carry chicken feed, they carry sulmet. I wouldn't take any chances and definitely get her on sulmet (or anything similar that treats cocci). I think having the fecal done at the vet was a very smart move!

 

[Kezzie]

I've taken the sample to the vet but they're going to send it out to a lab because they don't feel they know enough about chickens. Won't get results until Monday at the earliest but I feel like I should treat in the meantime if it might be cocci. So far, I can't get the vet to give me Albon (they don't have Sulmet) without the lab results. Grrrrr..... I'll try TSC next.

 

[Judy]

Speckledhen in the cocci guru and recommends Corid (amprolium) ove Sulmet as it hits all the strains, which Sulmet does not, plus it is much easier on the birds.