how long before i should see an improvement?

[spish]

started treating the chickens today with ESB-3 for cocci (have lost 4 turkey poults and 4 chickens over 6 days- everything points to coccidiose)
the treatment is only for 2 days (2.5mg powder per liter water for 2 days)
does it really work so fast that they only need it for 2 days? how do i know each chicken is getting the right dosage (there 40 chickens in that field!!)

 

[MotherJean]

Novartis (the maker of ESB-3) recommends:

"Treat for 3 consecutive days and repeat after a 2 days break if necessary..."

There are also cautions about under-dosing/over-dosing because this is a drug added to the water supply:

* For use in drinking water of poultry. Prepare fresh water daily.
* Avoid underdosing. Sick birds may drink less water than normal. When such birds can be isolated the proportion of ESB 3 in the water can be proportionally increased.
* Avoid overdosing. At high ambient temperatures birds drink more water than usual, and thus the concentration of ESB 3 in the water should be decreased.

I think the key is in being able to accurately judge how much medicated water your 40 birds will fully consume in one day.

Assuming your birds are suffering from Cocci infection, you should notice improvement by the third day. If not, then Novartis says to wait 2 days and give another 3 days of treatment. If you don't see marked improvement after the second treatment, you might consider some other disease is responsible for your losses and you may wish to have a postmortem exam on one or two birds for a definite diagnosis.