In Serious Need Of Opinions! Help!

[Clay Valley Farmer]

Cocci can leave the digestive system open to other enteritis bacteria some of which are naturally present. If these get started losses can be high and very quick. I am not sure if corrid will catch it, esp if the chickens go off water and don't take the meds in. I recently had a major loss in a flock of broilers and think it was the combo of cocci and a secondary infection. I treated with sodium sulfa but still lost alot of birds.

Advice I got was to wait on cleaning out the bedding until 3 doses of meds were given 4-5 days apart. Then clean out. I guess the thinking here is let most of the infection shed then redo the bedding, if the bedding is changed right away the new bedding just gets reinfected so end up a wasted effort.

 

[remuda1]

Call your county extension agent. They can help you a lot with sending the bird off for necropsy. May even be able to supply the packing boxes. That's your best bet. They'll be happy to help you through this.

 

[Reyvaughn]

Thanks everyone. I did originally think that maybe they were getting gut rot. Everything fits except their living conditions are not filthy. But, maybe with all the rain and flooding, maybe that's the cause? I was going to just go get some penicillin and dose everyone I saw that was sick and get it over with. I do have Tylan 50 that i used on the last SS before she passed and she did improve but I couldn't catch her to dose her again.

 

[Clay Valley Farmer]

Necrotic enteritis clostridium perfringens AKA "gut rot"? might be a possibility. If you open up a dead bird it is pretty easy to identify as it virtually disolves the intestines. It does not require dirty bedding either as colostridium is pretty much everywhere and could well be in normal gut flora. The key piece of the puzzle is something like a cocci infection that sets up conditions for the colostidium to grow out of control and attack the intestines.

 

[Reyvaughn]

Quote:
Yep, necrotic enteritis is also known as gut rot. I have not seen blood in Peaches' poop, but everything else fits the early symptoms. She's now refusing to eat and her diarrhea is even more watery and very dark green/black. It's always smelled bad - really bad - like change the puppy pad in the carrier 2x a day, at least. I started her on tetracycline and I guess we shall see. My Silkie pullet had the bad, icky diarrhea, but I never noticed it because she was, I thought, broody and never got up from the area of the nest of eggs....

Shoot. Would necrotic enteritis cause an issue to my hatching eggs?! I swear, if I lose this batch after being so careful, I am going to get very mad. Mad enough to throw in the towel on these birds.

 

[Clay Valley Farmer]

Just a guess but i would not think hatching eggs would be affected. No question though I would be putting any hatched chicks on medicated starter and keeping them on it even well after they hit dirt.

 

[Reyvaughn]

I lost my SpLRW pullet last night. My EE is not doing well. I am pretty sure they both had/have enteritis, but... Peaches hasn't eaten in days and is still pooping green/black sticky and stinky watery goop. She's only been on tetracycline for two days and I think it took to long for me to diagnose and start treatment to help her at this point. I'm going to give her one more day and then I believe I will have to euthanize her.

On a side note, a neighbor over the hill told me they are losing their animals to listeriosis. The symptoms are very much like what I am fighting here. Tetracycline treats both, so...
I have Oxine AH on the way to help stop whatever this is on all levels. I will be spraying my grounds, cleaning and spraying the shed and whatever I have to do to stop losing my girls. Sadly, I have lost 5 so far this week (one was processed, one was euthanized for a leg problem and the other three were sick) and now I have to replace them.

 

[Beekissed]

I'd definitely get rid of the rusty waterer and fast. I'd also quit feeding them medicated feeds...the amprollium in the medicated feeds is a thiamine inhibitor and that thiamine is needed for good immune system health. It sounds as if your whole flock have compromised immune systems, an indication that they were never allowed to develop immunities naturally which is always the best way.

You should have culled your very first sick chicken and all the sick ones thereafter, should never have fed medicated feeds and, if you vaccinated, shouldn't have done that either. If this were my flock I'd kill the whole bunch and start fresh. I'd not sanitize the coop, bedding, blah, blah, blah. The next bunch of chicks I got would go right in the coop and on the ground as soon as possible and get exposed to these bugs. They would be eating nonmedicated starter, have UP/ACV in their water and they would be free ranged as soon as possible.

Pennsylvania isn't any wetter than WV, so the wet weather conditions have little to do with it, IMO. It's more to do with starting with hardy breeds, good immune systems, good husbandry practices, strict culling of undesirable traits.

At least, that's my opinion and you DID ask.

 

[Ksane]

ASAP check into e coli. The green poo is starvation poo. Tylan 50 will treat e coli, but it can wipe out your entire flock.
(I just got it diagnosed in my youngsters today, I'm still in shock).

 

[Reyvaughn]

Quote:
Waterer has been gone for 2 days, thanks.

My sick chickens have been quarantined - I have only had serious, non-cocci issues in the last month. My birds are not vaccinated. I didn't feed medicated feed until they were already outside (at 6wks) and I had my first cocci incident around 12wks. I did start the all natural, not babying way. I didn't and don't do the ACV, either. And has WV gotten 20 inches of rain in the last two months? We have gotten over 50 inches all year. This is our 2nd most wet year on record. Yeah, I personally think the rain does have a bit to do with it all. I don't feel I should cull healthy birds over this, though. I am not happy with what's happening, but still. I have considered culling and starting over, though.

@Ksane: If it was e. coli, wouldn't it be passed to the eggs? I've eaten eggs from my girls for months now and none of us have gotten sick.

I have 8 young birds on the ground that are not/have not been sick in the 11wks I've had them. I have fed them medicated feed for two weeks of their life. I have three older birds I bought in June that have been on the ground who have not gotten sick (besides the cockerel getting pneumonia during hurricane Irene). I have two others that have been on the ground and is also healthy at 16wks. It seems like it's only the ones in the hen shed that free range daily. I'm keeping an eye on any others that seem sick so I can get them away from the rest of the flock asap.