Help, please. Sort of urgent.

[gallopingfrog]

I've tried posting in the emergency section but no luck.

I have two 3-week-old poults that are ill - one is severely ill and is stretched out on their side with labored breathing. The other is way more alert, but unable to stand and falling back on their hocks. I've been giving them water with a dropper because they can't get up to water. Their abdomens aren't hard. Everyone else in the brooder (I have the two isolated) are acting normally.

I took fecal samples and did slide smears - one of which was from the general pop. The general pop one had nothing abnormal. But the other two had massive amounts of what could be coccidia or bacteria. It just doesn't make sense to me how two birds can have coccidious and everyone else (shown by the one normal slide) doesn't. Makes NO sense to me. I've attached a picture of what I'm talking about (excuse the poor light...my lamp is dying and I keep forgetting to order a new one).

Any thoughts?

 

[Island Roo]

Birds (if they are lucky) develop immunity to cocci. Sounds like some of your birds have been able to fight of the infection so far but other have not.

I would start them on Amprol (corrid) immediately.

 

[PeepsCA]

Just like with humans babies, some baby poultry just don't develop a strong immune system. Maybe the 2 sick poults eat more poop/ingest more cocci organisms than the others, or their systems are more supportive for the cocci, hard to say.

As Island Roo suggested, I'd get the 2 sick poults on Corrid ASAP and see if they improve, but it may be too late for the little guy that's on his side (if he is still hanging in there).

With the water you are giving them by dropper I'd mix in either poultry or baby vitamins (w/o iron) and electrolytes, and the juice from a clove of crushed fresh garlic (natural antibiotic). I'd also feed them small pieces of minced liver and scrambled/hard boiled eggs for a protein boost. You may even consider tube feeding the sickest little guy...

For the other poults, I'd just add Un-pasteurized Apple Cider Vinegar with the Mother in it to their water to change the pH in their gut so it's less hospitable for the cocci organisms (1-2TBS per gallon of water), and drop in a few crushed cloves of garlic too. You can find the UP-ACV at health food stores or in the health food section of some supermarkets too, if you don't already have any. Regular ACV will help change the gut pH too, but the Un-pasteurized with the Mother has beneficial enzymes and probiotics in it.

I'm sure others will have more/better advice to offer (and maybe even suggest and antibiotic to give), but this is the route I'd take f they were my poults... Best of luck.

 

[Island Roo]

Quote: I agree with this until you start to treat an active corrid infection with Amprol (corrid). Since amprol is a vitamin B1 uptake inhibitor it is not recommended to give additional vitamin B1.

 

[PeepsCA]

Quote: With the Amprolium being given at such a high dose for treatment, is the small amount of Vit B1 that's included in the baby or poultry vitamins really going to make that much of a difference on the effectiveness of the Amprolium?

 

[Island Roo]

With the Amprolium being given at such a high dose for treatment, is the small amount of Vit B1 that's included in the baby or poultry vitamins really going to make that much of a difference on the effectiveness of the Amprolium?

That's a good question - i tried to find the answer for that the first time I used amprol but could not find a definitive answer. So I've always gone with what I've been told by more experienced people - not to give vitamins at the same time.

 

[PeepsCA]

Quote: If Amprolium actually is affected that much by supplemental vitamins (Thiamine), then even the raw liver and scrambled/hard boiled eggs (that both provide Thiamine) could potentially cause a problem battling the cocci too. 2 things sick babies are more likely to peck at and eat vs. their starter feed when they really need a nutritional boost... ugh.