I think it's happening again! ( possible cocci )

[JesBarthel]

I'm so frustrated right now. I bought five new 2 day old chicks this past Saturday to replace the ones I lost to cocci 2 weeks ago. When they were 5 days old, I decided to use corid in the their water as a preventative. Everyone looked active, happy, and healthy. This morning I went to check on them and my new hampshire chick standing alone, fluffed out, and drooping. I've put her in a separate box with heat, corid water, and her regular food so she could get some rest without getting bumped or stepped on by the others. I tried syringe feeding her some pedialyte, but she wasn't interested and I wasn't able to get much into her

Is there anything else I can do for her? Are there any other diseases/illness that have these symptoms? Could it be cocci?

Thanks

 

[Haunted55]

What feed are you giving them? If it is a medicated feed you need to stop that and switch to a nonmedicated feed while you are using Corid. Also, no vitamins or treats, etc., that would have added vitamins in them.

Can you explain what the symptoms are that are making you think it is coccidiosis? Pictures if you can.

 

[JesBarthel]

This is her about 5 minutes ago. If you look on the bottom right corner of the pic you can see what her poop looks like. No blood ( yet ) just looks a little greyish to me.

I was wondering if it could still be cocci because she's acting just the way my other chicks that passed did, a day or two before they started having the bloody poop. I'm feeding them Dumor chick starter,no medicated. Just the corid in the water. Can I still do electrolytes for the sick one while she's on the corid, or will that also be counterproductive?

 

[Haunted55]

If you are giving Corid, give nothing else. No vitamins, no extra protein feed or treats. Have you offered any chick grit to your babies? After the Corid treatment, swith them to the medicated feed. This helps them by keeping the coccidia in check so they can build up resistance to the ones they will be exposed to.

 

[Michael Apple]

Some strains of coccidia are resistant to Amprolium. Go with medicated feed like Haunted said, or use Corid powder (1/2 tsp. per gallon of water) or Corid 9.6% liquid (1 tsp per gallon) for 5 days in a row. If you see no improvement, you'll have to use Sulfadimethoxine powder ( Durvet brand is1/2 tsp. per gallon of water) for 3 days only. Then run vitamins-electrolytes and Probios soluble powder in the water. It's a crap shoot sometimes as it could be the brand of feed that is causing problems. Of course, if that were the case, all of your chicks would be showing symptoms. Change the feed daily so it doesn't get rancid or lose vitamin quality. I prefer to use a high quality organic start and grow formula and use Corid in the water.

 

[Michael Apple]

Just a note:
Don't get Sulmet (sodium sulfamethazine) confused with Sulfadimethoxine. Sodium sulfamethazine is very hard on a chicken's, especially a chick's, intestinal tract, and some average feed store cashier may try to recommend it since the label states treatment for coccidiosis. Sulfadimethoxine is much safer if directions are followed.

 

[JesBarthel]

Thanks for the tips, everyone

I started putting corid 1/2 tsp of the powder a few days ago before I saw any symptoms, hoping it would act as a preventative. The chicks have not been outdoors, but their 6/7 week old brooder mate has been out. He was the only one who survived the last outbreak of cocci I'm hoping the poor dear will hang in there, and make through since she's not showing any signs of bloody stool yet. She did get a few hours of un-interrupted rest this afternoon in a separate box, but once she got up and around again the poor thing was peeping so loudly I figured she needed to be with the rest of her flock. No one else is showing any symptoms, but she doesn't seem to be improving as of yet.

Can I continue to use corid in the water for a few weeks instead of switching to medicated feed?

 

[yo burrill]

Coccidiosis doesnt typically affect birds under three weeks of age... If you bought the second birds from the same place as the first do not buy from there again!! I dont think it is cocci. It takes time for the protozoa to build up enough in the system to kill them. They would have to be be force fed poo the day they were born to be that infected at five days old.

 

[yo burrill]

Pullorum sounds like a likely culprit too... and is typical to that age chick. http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044 this page has info on many chicken issues and there is a chart on the bottom tracking likely symptoms of each to compare to.

 

[Michael Apple]

Coccidiosis doesnt typically affect birds under three weeks of age... If you bought the second birds from the same place as the first do not buy from there again!! I dont think it is cocci. It takes time for the protozoa to build up enough in the system to kill them. They would have to be be force fed poo the day they were born to be that infected at five days old.

That's debatable. E. tenelia is a cecal strain of coccidiosis which only takes two days to sporulate, and three days of ingestion to show symptoms. It is commonly seen in young chicks. Salmonella stops appetite, causes white diarrhea, labored breathing, and chicks huddle under heat lamps without leaving. If it were Salmonella, the treatment for chicks should be LS-50 soluble powder at 1/2 tsp. per gallon of water. The brooder area would have to be cleaned and sanitized with something like Oxine AH or Biophene, new shavings added, and the chicks put back in the brooder.