Late night thoughts and worries :(

[Chickmgnet]

I'm always worries about my babies but I'm trying not to worry too much and mess something up on purpose. Recently I've been reading about coccidiosis. I terrified beyond belief but I need some opinions. If pictures are provided would you be able to tell. Or if someone can contacte so I can send pics of them through otheream. Just let me know chicken fam

 

[Northwest_Wannabe]

What specifically are you worried about? What would you be taking pictures of? :O is anyone acting weird, are you seeing signs of coccidiosis ?

 

[Chickmgnet]

I'm just worried about the poop at the moment so I jumped down this rabbit hole and now I need help getting out pretty much haha

 

[Northwest_Wannabe]

I'm sure if you posted some pictures either myself or another member here who knows more about poop could help out

 

[Chickmgnet]

Sure thing how about a small description for now? Pretty much a little runny but doesn't seem to have any blood .orenof a brown color

 

[Northwest_Wannabe]

I'm not sure what the technical name for it is, I think it might be called "Cecal"? at my house we call them "#10"'s cause about one in every 10 turds seems to be a runny little gross poop, its totally normal though! any chance it could be that? or is it something different?

 

[DobieLover]

Sure thing how about a small description for now? Pretty much a little runny but doesn't seem to have any blood .orenof a brown color

Please post pictures of the poop that concerns you as well as the chicks and their brooder.
How old are your chicks?

 

[Ridgerunner]

First relax if you can. You sound like my mother, when she reads about some strange exotic disease she automatically has the symptoms even though she was fine before she read about it. The main thing is that if they are acting normally they are probably fine.

Coccidiosis is a serious disease. It can kill. I'm not trying to downplay it. If your chicks have it you need to act. So lets talk about it a bit. At the end on my post I'll attach something I wrote about Cocci and medicated feed. It doesn't totally apply to you but it has more detail than I plan to type up today.

Coccidiosis is caused when a certain parasite gets out of control. Having a few of those "bugs" in their intestines is not a problem, I actually consider it a good thing if it is present in your property. If they are exposed to those bugs for two to three weeks they develop an immunity to them. I consider immunity a good thing. As long as the numbers of those bugs inside them do not get huge they will not get sick, they will develop immunity. They are not really "bugs" they are protozoa but I'll call them bugs as that is easier to type and you should get tie idea.

The life cycle of that bug includes some time out of the chicken's body. If your brooder is dry that bug is not likely to thrive. It thrives best in wet soil with chicken manure in it or in a dirty waterer. It can still happen but if you keep your brooder dry and the water clean Cocci is usually not a problem. A wet brooder, cop, or run can be a big problem. This is more likely to be a problem with Cornish X chicks because they poop so much it's hard to keep their quarters cleaned up. It can still be a problem with out chicks but ours are easier to keep dry.

There is a myth that chickens with Cocci will poop blood. Some will but a lot don't. Just because you don't see blood in their poop doesn't mean they do not have Cocci. Don't fall for that trap. There are many things that can cause a chicken's poop to be runny. Cocci can too but usually it is something else.

A story. One time when I was canning beets I fed cooked beet skins to the flock. The next morning when I went down there I saw bright red runny poop all over. It freaked me out until I remembered I had fed then beet skins.

What are symptoms of cocci in chickens? I copied this from somewhere else.

The most common symptoms of cocci are: diarrhea and/or blood and/or mucous in droppings. lethargy, listlessness. pale skin color. loss of appetite. weight loss in older chickens. failure of chicks to grow/thrive.

The main thing I look for is if they are standing around sort of fluffed up and hunched up. They look like they don't feel good. Lethargic and listless. If they are running around, active, eating and drinking normally they are probably fine. If I were looking I'd be more interested in how they are acting than what the poop looks like, but if yo do see blood start treatment immediately.

Now I'll copy what I wrote. It was targeted at medicated feed but it does have a lot of details that might help you.


First you need to know what the "medicated" is in the medicated feed. It should be on the label. Usually it is Amprolium, Amprol, some such product, but until you read the label, you really don't know. Most "medicated' feed from major brands for chicks that will be layers uses Amprolium, but there are a few out there mostly for broilers that use other medicines. I'll assume yours is an Amprolium product, but if it is not, then realize everything I say about it may not apply. And it is possible that the "medicated" is Amprolium AND something else.

Amprol is not an antibiotic. It does not kill anything. It inhibits the protozoa that cause coccidiosis (often called Cocci on this forum) from multiplying in the chicken's system. It does not prevent the protozoa from multiplying; it just slows that multiplication down. There are several different strains of protozoa that can cause Cocci, some more severe than others. Chickens can develop immunity to a specific strain of the protozoa, but that does not give them immunity to all protozoa that cause Cocci. Little bitty tiny baby chicks can develop that immunity easier than older chickens.

It is not a big deal for the chicken’s intestines to contain some of the protozoa that cause Cocci. The problem comes in when the number of those protozoa gets huge. The protozoa can multiply in the chicken’s intestines but also in wet manure. Different protozoa strains have different strengths, but for almost all cases, if you keep the brooder dry, you will not have a problem.

To develop immunity to a specific strain, that protozoa needs to be in the chicks intestines for two or three weeks. The normal sequence is that a chick has the protozoa. It poops and some of the cysts that develop the protozoa come out in the poop. If the poop is slightly damp, those cysts develop and will then develop in the chick's intestines when the chicks eat that poop. This cycle needs go on for a few weeks so all chicks are exposed and they are exposed long enough to develop immunity. A couple of important points here. You do need to watch them to see if they are getting sick. And the key is to keep the brooder dry yet allow some of the poop to stay damp. Not soaking wet, just barely damp. Wet poop can lead to serious problems.

What sometimes happens is that people keep chicks in a brooder and feed them medicated feed while they are in the brooder. Those chicks are never exposed to the Cocci protozoa that lives in the dirt in their run, so they never develop the immunity to it. Then, they are switched to non-medicated feed and put on the ground where they are for the first time exposed to the protozoa. They do not have immunity, they do not have the protection of the medicated feed, so they get sick. Feeding medicated feed while in the brooder was a complete waste.

I do not feed medicated feed. I keep the brooder dry to not allow the protozoa to breed uncontrollably. The third day that they are in the brooder, I take a scoop of dirt from the run and feed it to them so I can introduce the protozoa and they can develop the immunity they need to the strain they need to develop an immunity to. To provide a place for that slightly damp poop, I keep a square of plywood in the dry brooder and let the poop build up on that. I don't lose chicks to Cocci when they hit the ground.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with feeding medicated feed to chicks, whether the protozoa are present or not. It will not hurt them. They can still develop the immunity they need. But unless the protozoa are present, it also does no good.

If you get your chicks vaccinated for Cocci, do not feed medicated feed. It can negate the vaccinations.

 

[Chickmgnet]

I'm not sure what the technical name for it is, I think it might be called "Cecal"? at my house we call them "#10"'s cause about one in every 10 turds seems to be a runny little gross poop, its totally normal though! any chance it could be that? or is it something different?

Thats a good one haha but it's quite possible. I mean she's eating fine and has lots of energy. The only other thing that also had me worriem guy 65

 

[Chickmgnet]

First relax if you can. You sound like my mother, when she reads about some strange exotic disease she automatically has the symptoms even though she was fine before she read about it. The main thing is that if they are acting normally they are probably fine.

Coccidiosis is a serious disease. It can kill. I'm not trying to downplay it. If your chicks have it you need to act. So lets talk about it a bit. At the end on my post I'll attach something I wrote about Cocci and medicated feed. It doesn't totally apply to you but it has more detail than I plan to type up today.

Coccidiosis is caused when a certain parasite gets out of control. Having a few of those "bugs" in their intestines is not a problem, I actually consider it a good thing if it is present in your property. If they are exposed to those bugs for two to three weeks they develop an immunity to them. I consider immunity a good thing. As long as the numbers of those bugs inside them do not get huge they will not get sick, they will develop immunity. They are not really "bugs" they are protozoa but I'll call them bugs as that is easier to type and you should get tie idea.

The life cycle of that bug includes some time out of the chicken's body. If your brooder is dry that bug is not likely to thrive. It thrives best in wet soil with chicken manure in it or in a dirty waterer. It can still happen but if you keep your brooder dry and the water clean Cocci is usually not a problem. A wet brooder, cop, or run can be a big problem. This is more likely to be a problem with Cornish X chicks because they poop so much it's hard to keep their quarters cleaned up. It can still be a problem with out chicks but ours are easier to keep dry.

There is a myth that chickens with Cocci will poop blood. Some will but a lot don't. Just because you don't see blood in their poop doesn't mean they do not have Cocci. Don't fall for that trap. There are many things that can cause a chicken's poop to be runny. Cocci can too but usually it is something else.

A story. One time when I was canning beets I fed cooked beet skins to the flock. The next morning when I went down there I saw bright red runny poop all over. It freaked me out until I remembered I had fed then beet skins.

What are symptoms of cocci in chickens? I copied this from somewhere else.

The most common symptoms of cocci are: diarrhea and/or blood and/or mucous in droppings. lethargy, listlessness. pale skin color. loss of appetite. weight loss in older chickens. failure of chicks to grow/thrive.

The main thing I look for is if they are standing around sort of fluffed up and hunched up. They look like they don't feel good. Lethargic and listless. If they are running around, active, eating and drinking normally they are probably fine. If I were looking I'd be more interested in how they are acting than what the poop looks like, but if yo do see blood start treatment immediately.

Now I'll copy what I wrote. It was targeted at medicated feed but it does have a lot of details that might help you.


First you need to know what the "medicated" is in the medicated feed. It should be on the label. Usually it is Amprolium, Amprol, some such product, but until you read the label, you really don't know. Most "medicated' feed from major brands for chicks that will be layers uses Amprolium, but there are a few out there mostly for broilers that use other medicines. I'll assume yours is an Amprolium product, but if it is not, then realize everything I say about it may not apply. And it is possible that the "medicated" is Amprolium AND something else.

Amprol is not an antibiotic. It does not kill anything. It inhibits the protozoa that cause coccidiosis (often called Cocci on this forum) from multiplying in the chicken's system. It does not prevent the protozoa from multiplying; it just slows that multiplication down. There are several different strains of protozoa that can cause Cocci, some more severe than others. Chickens can develop immunity to a specific strain of the protozoa, but that does not give them immunity to all protozoa that cause Cocci. Little bitty tiny baby chicks can develop that immunity easier than older chickens.

It is not a big deal for the chicken’s intestines to contain some of the protozoa that cause Cocci. The problem comes in when the number of those protozoa gets huge. The protozoa can multiply in the chicken’s intestines but also in wet manure. Different protozoa strains have different strengths, but for almost all cases, if you keep the brooder dry, you will not have a problem.

To develop immunity to a specific strain, that protozoa needs to be in the chicks intestines for two or three weeks. The normal sequence is that a chick has the protozoa. It poops and some of the cysts that develop the protozoa come out in the poop. If the poop is slightly damp, those cysts develop and will then develop in the chick's intestines when the chicks eat that poop. This cycle needs go on for a few weeks so all chicks are exposed and they are exposed long enough to develop immunity. A couple of important points here. You do need to watch them to see if they are getting sick. And the key is to keep the brooder dry yet allow some of the poop to stay damp. Not soaking wet, just barely damp. Wet poop can lead to serious problems.

What sometimes happens is that people keep chicks in a brooder and feed them medicated feed while they are in the brooder. Those chicks are never exposed to the Cocci protozoa that lives in the dirt in their run, so they never develop the immunity to it. Then, they are switched to non-medicated feed and put on the ground where they are for the first time exposed to the protozoa. They do not have immunity, they do not have the protection of the medicated feed, so they get sick. Feeding medicated feed while in the brooder was a complete waste.

I do not feed medicated feed. I keep the brooder dry to not allow the protozoa to breed uncontrollably. The third day that they are in the brooder, I take a scoop of dirt from the run and feed it to them so I can introduce the protozoa and they can develop the immunity they need to the strain they need to develop an immunity to. To provide a place for that slightly damp poop, I keep a square of plywood in the dry brooder and let the poop build up on that. I don't lose chicks to Cocci when they hit the ground.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with feeding medicated feed to chicks, whether the protozoa are present or not. It will not hurt them. They can still develop the immunity they need. But unless the protozoa are present, it also does no good.

If you get your chicks vaccinated for Cocci, do not feed medicated feed. It can negate the vaccinations.

Thank you haha it's like trying to diagnose yourself w WebMD but I'm just being a helicopter hen . Yoummbetter safe than sorry but thank you for the info great help