Life after cocci.... Advice please from those with more experience?

[ChickenPox]

I have 11 brooder babies between the ages of 3-6 weeks. I had 21, but lost 8 before I figured out I had cocci and treated with Sulmet. I treated exactly what it said to on the bottle, but when I finished treatment, I lost 2 more so I started treatment again. They are almost done with the second round of treatment, and I am very worried....

Most of the remaining 11 are pretty skinny, even though they have a good appetite and have constant food in front of them. (Medicated Chick Starter) They also seem to not be as active as normal chick and don't seem to be growing AT ALL. My 3 week olds look exactly like the chicks I just hatched out of the same parent eggs. (They are kept in a completely separate part of the house...) I am just worried that they may never really perk up and be healthy and am contemplating just culling them.

I have heard a very rare few sneezes out of them occasionally, and there are a few very rare sneezes from a few of my adult birds, but no other symptoms....no wheezing, no discharge, their eyes are bright and clear, etc.

I suppose my questions are:

1. Can cocci cause them to be skinny and runty, or might there be something else going on?
2. Is it normal to lose more of them after the treatment of Sulmet?
3. Should I follow up with Corrid (will have to get some) just in case, or wait until they are acting sick again?
4. Should I just cull all 11 babies? (Don't really want to do this!)
5. If I keep them, how long would I have to keep them separate from the others so they don't infect anyone else. Or will they always be "carriers" of cocci?

Advice???

 

[Aj1911]

Quote:
ok first of all when you treat with a med never have any other meds given to them, medicated feed has a mild from of corrid in it and should not be mixed with sulmet

i also dont like using sulmet as its harder on the birds

yes they will always have cocci but all chickens do, most are just immune to it after a go around or 2 so nothing to worry about

right now i would after the second round of sulmet get them on plain yogurt with like cultures and some ACV in their water (organic unfiltered) and give them some cooked egg and some good for them treats

also i would stop all medicated feed as thats prolly whats over doing it big time

after all that they should be fine

and btw all chickens sneeze just like humans nothing wrong with it unless they do it ALOT or have other symptoms.

 

[ChickenPox]

Thank you for your response AJ! I know that Sulmet is hard on them....I hated to have to use it, but the only feed store that carried Corrid had a HUGE bottle of it for $100! I couldn't afford that and didn't need a ton of it anyway, so I went with the $10 Sulmet. I have given them eggs and plan on getting them yogurt.

Some of these chicks are actually supposed to go to a friend of mine, and I don't want to get her chickens sick either. Although all of hers are much older.

Thanks for the help! I just want to make sure I give these little guys the best chance.....unless they are not going to be healthy. No point in making them suffer.

 

[Aj1911]

Quote:
they should recover fine and most older birds are immune to cocci unless its a new strain which they would fight off well and be immune to that

just keep up with the yogurt and egg, maybe switch them to non-medicated game birds food for a little while for extra protein and give their little systems a break

and any vitamins you can add to their water would be great after a day or 2 of ACV (i prefer rooster booster poultry cell, just add enough to make the water a ice tea color)

that should get them up and going in no time and you should have very healthy chicks

 

[TwoCrows]

It never hurts to add probiotics to the water as a healthy gut improves the over all health of the chick. Last year I raised a large batch of quail and one of the girls got cocci really bad. She went off her feed for sometime and didn't grow as fast as the others. But as has been said, if it doesn't kill them they become immune. She grew up to be a healthy big girl, eventually growing as big as her siblings and she is a good layer of eggs. Take care of that little one and she will be fine. And yes, get them off the medicated feed so that she can become immune.

 

[ChickenPox]

I picked up gamebird feed today at TSC because of the non-medicated, high protein content! Glad I did right, haha.

Thanks for the advice and hope! I also bought a wire bottom cage. I really hope they will be ok!