How do i know if coccidiosis turns into necrotic entritis and if so how do you cure it?

It_is_I_Rae

Songster
Oct 30, 2019
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My 10 week old pullets have coccidiosis and have been on the highest dosage of Corid for 3 full days and are on their fourth day (still full dosage) today and still have some blood in their poop. It appears to have improved since when I first caught it but there's still some blood and shed intestinal lining. They're all acting fine but how would I know if it turned into necrotic entritis and if so how should it be treated? Should I give them preventative treatment for it just in case? Can they be on antibiotics and corid at the same time? How do you dose it? I really don't want them to die. How long should they be on corid? Do they need to have a second treatment? How long should they be on the highest dosage? Do they need to be weaned off of it? What do I do in the case that it causes a thiamine deficiency?

Nobody's really giving me clear answers.
 
In my experience, Corid should be all you need. Run it treatment strength (2 tsp per gallon) for 5 to 7 days in their drinking water. No, you don't need to wean them off of it. You shouldn't need to give them antibiotics. The coccidia get thiamne deficiency from ingesting the Amprolium (Corid), and that's what kills the Coccidia. DON'T give the chickens any vitamins while they are on Corid, as vitamins counteract the effects of the Corid. If you 're worried about Thiamine deficiency in your birds after treatment, just start them on poultry vitamins for a week or so after you've finished the Corid and the birds are not showing any more symptoms. Most poultry vitamins have Thiamine in them. Just watch them going forward, but you shouldn't need a second treatment. They should be ok.
 
In my experience, Corid should be all you need. Run it treatment strength (2 tsp per gallon) for 5 to 7 days in their drinking water. No, you don't need to wean them off of it. You shouldn't need to give them antibiotics. The coccidia get thiamne deficiency from ingesting the Amprolium (Corid), and that's what kills the Coccidia. DON'T give the chickens any vitamins while they are on Corid, as vitamins counteract the effects of the Corid. If you 're worried about Thiamine deficiency in your birds after treatment, just start them on poultry vitamins for a week or so after you've finished the Corid and the birds are not showing any more symptoms. Most poultry vitamins have Thiamine in them. Just watch them going forward, but you shouldn't need a second treatment. They should be ok.
Awesome, thank you
 
I do have to mention this though. We have had chickens for 16 years and normally never have a problem with cocci, we've had lots and lots of chicks. But this year is different. We've had lots of torrential rain, followed by extreme heat, followed by lots more rain, then heat, etc. This is ideal conditions for Cocci to thrive. I have lost two chicks and one pullet this summer due to cocci. The last pullet I lost yesterday. She was 9 weeks old. She had Coccidiosis at around 5 weeks, I caught it, treated it, and she recovered. Her hatchmate did not get sick, but I treated her anyway. I did not give vitamins afterwards, but this past week I gave the entire flock vitamins for a week. It's hot, they're molting, I have broodies, there's lots of chaos out there, and I like to give vitamins for a week at a time in conditions like that. Well, we surmised that that is what killed our pullet. I didn't notice that she was sick, she seemed fine...but they do free range so I didn't have her under close observation all the time. Anyway, we think she had a cocci infestation, and the vitamins for a week just caused them (the cocci) to breed like crazy. She got sick the night before last and despite my efforts to save her by force feeding her Corid, she died yesterday afternoon. I mean she went down extremely fast. So point being, you really need to watch it, because reinfestations are common in weather conditions like I described. I don't know what the answer is. I am just sick about losing my pullet. She was so beautiful and her remaining hatchmate has no friends now and is so lonely. :hit:hitBut THAT pullet seems healthy and of good weight. It is just too weird. And I don't know what the answer is besides just being vigilant.

Normally adult chickens don't get coccidiosis, because they develop immunity. But this year I had a five year old JG hen get it. I treated her, but she also developed a gut infection because of it, and I had to treat her for that, too. She did recover after a couple of weeks. They actually develop immunity, and keep it, by consuming their own poop. Which they will do naturally, like it or not, because they eat off the ground.

Lastly, they CAN develop a gut infection from either worms or cocci, and that's when you need antibiotics. But again, you just have to watch. If you have one that doesn't recover from treatment for internal parasites, that's the next step.
 
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I do have to mention this though. We have had chickens for 16 years and normally never have a problem with cocci, we've had lots and lots of chicks. But this year is different. We've had lots of torrential rain, followed by extreme heat, followed by lots more rain, then heat, etc. This is ideal conditions for Cocci to thrive. I have lost two chicks and one pullet this summer due to cocci. The last pullet I lost yesterday. She was 9 weeks old. She had Coccidiosis at around 5 weeks, I caught it, treated it, and she recovered. Her hatchmate did not get sick, but I treated her anyway. I did not give vitamins afterwards, but this past week I gave the entire flock vitamins for a week. It's hot, they're molting, I have broodies, there's lots of chaos out there, and I like to give vitamins for a week at a time in conditions like that. Well, we surmised that that is what killed our pullet. I didn't notice that she was sick, she seemed fine...but they do free range so I didn't have her under close observation all the time. Anyway, we think she had a cocci infestation, and the vitamins for a week just caused them (the cocci) to breed like crazy. She got sick the night before last and despite my efforts to save her by force feeding her Corid, she died yesterday afternoon. I mean she went down extremely fast. So point being, you really need to watch it, because reinfestations are common in weather conditions like I described. I don't know what the answer is. I am just sick about losing my pullet. She was so beautiful and her remaining hatchmate has no friends now and is so lonely. :hit:hitBut THAT pullet seems healthy and of good weight. It is just too weird. And I don't know what the answer is besides just being vigilant.

Normally adult chickens don't get coccidiosis, because they develop immunity. But this year I had a five year old JG hen get it. I treated her, but she also developed a gut infection because of it, and I had to treat her for that, too. She did recover after a couple of weeks. They actually develop immunity, and keep it, by consuming their own poop. Which they will do naturally, like it or not, because they eat off the ground.

Lastly, they CAN develop a gut infection from either worms or cocci, and that's when you need antibiotics. But again, you just have to watch. If you have one that doesn't recover from treatment for internal parasites, that's the next step.
I'm sorry for your loss, that's awful. What did you treat your chicken's gut infection with?
 
I'm sorry for your loss, that's awful. What did you treat your chicken's gut infection with?
Also how'd you know it was a gut infection vs coccidiosis? If I give the vet a stool sample can they test it for bacterial infection and prescribe medicine?
 
I had 4 pullets with coccidiosis when they were younger. They had bloody poop or intestinal lining but acted normal, I treated with Corid. They seemed better for a couple days, but then it was back, I gave them more Corid. They tested neg for coccidiosis at that point. I ended up deciding to treat with an antibiotic thinking it could be enteritis & they were good to go after that. So I assume it was enteritis, but I don't actually know. One now lays rippled eggs & one has had extremely (abnormally so) watery poop since the incident. That also leads me to believe it may have been enteritis.

Buuuut, with that said - finish the full treatment (5-7 days) & don't panic till that's done. It's probably just coccidia & they'll be fine after treatment. Give them a probiotic or vitamins after they finish the treatment, something with Thiamine in it (I think it's in the Vit B's?).

ETA: I think you can only test for enteritis with a necropsy or a gram stain - but that's only what I read, I'm no expert by any means.
 
Thank you. BMD Bacitracin & Oxytetracycline, both powder, 1 tsp each per gallon of water, as I remember it was for 7 days. I did it for 8 just to be sure.
Thanks. Did you mix them both in the water at the same time or was that 2 separate treatments?
 

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