Help Sick Chicken - Listless w/ Diarreah.

[chuckman23]

We have a young red star hed about 6 weeks or so. She has been fine but yesterday she started not being real active. She has orangish diarreah and is not eating. She is in with other chicks and we lost 2 young silkies that were in with her too. We are giving her Tylan so far. Any ideas on what this might be and what we can do to get her well?

Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[Mrs.Puff]

Get her away from your other ones. She could infect them also. Sorry, I'm not sure what might be wrong with her. Maybe you could mention some symptoms in your header/subject line to get more people to respond..

 

[Mrs.Puff]

How is your hen doing today?

Did the silkies you lost exhibit the same symptoms?

 

[chuckman23]

She is better today. We made sure she drank water w/ antibiotics in it all day yesterday and fed her oatmeal. Last night she was eating regular chicken food from my hand and today she is eating from the feeder and drinking normally. All 3 are on the antibiotic for now.

The silkies exhibited the same symptoms but went very quickly downhill.

 

[Mrs.Puff]

yahoo!! Hopefully she'll pull out of it okay! Good luck..

 

[Mrs MIA]

You might want to check the threads on coccidiosis... if it's cocci, low protein diet and Amprolium or Sulmet in their water will help. Antibiotics won't do anything but avert a secondary infection if it is cocci. Good luck with your babies...

 

[Mrs.Puff]

Yes-- Listen to Mrs. AK. She knows her stuff!

 

[chuckman23]

We tried to get Ampro yesterday but the feed store doesn't carry it so we got Sulmet and added that to the water. What should we use for a low protein diet?

Thanks

 

[silkiechicken]

It is likly cocci. Sulmet or amprol will work. Follow the bottle instructions and feed like normal.

Ideally, if you can get a fecal sample to the vet, any vet, and have a "fecal float" test done, they can tell you if the bird has cocci or worms, and tell you what kind, so you can get the right drug to take care of the problem.

Please, don't just use antibiotics at the first sign of something wrong, 95% of the time it is something not bacterial and you'll just make the antibiotic useless when they get an animal bite or injury (cases where it is good to use). It makes antibiotics useless on not only them but yourself if you need it in case of infection because good and bad bacteria can pass the resistance genes to each other and bacteria are everywhere.

 

[Mrs MIA]

I have to purchase Amprol liquid online from First State Vet supply and keep it on hand... our feed store only carries Sulmet. Amprol is easier on their systems, especially when they're young, than the sulfa-drugs like Sulmet.
The cocci feeds on the protein, so if you can use oatbran or ground up natural oats (the slow-cook/non-sugar kind) and mix 50/50 with their feed, it will help kick it. Use the Sulmet or Amprolium as directed, and get them separated and on wire, if you can, so they're not stepping in their droppings. Remove all the old beddiing material, and disinfect really well. It's transmitted through the droppings, which is why it will likely come back. It's an oocyte in the soil... there's really no way to get away from it. Just stay extra vigilent with the others, watch for signs of bloody poo or lethargy/non-responsiveness.