Listless, feet lighter in color, ruffled feathers, death

[Billylynn]

Don't know what is wrong with my CornishX. At 4 weeks the first one died after about four days of increasing listlessness. A week later a 2nd one is behaving the same way. Color of comb and area surrounding eyes seems slightly lighter, but not always. They get increased "rounder", rarely extending their wings or necks, and the feed lose some color. A third one is beginning to exhibit the same symptoms. Because of the weather they were inside a week longer than usual. There's no diabetes, maybe constipation or less poop. I isolated this last one trying to determine this.
I tractor them and am concerned parasites possibly gaining a foothold in the ground, as well as the continuing health of the rest of the flock.
Anybody know what's happening?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

What does the poop look like? Photos of poop and birds are always welcome.

If they are new to being outside or being moved to new ground, then the first thing that comes to mind is Coccidiosis. You can find Corid at TSC in the cattle section.
Liquid Corid dose is 2tsp per gallon of water and Powdered Corid is 1 1/2 tsp per gallon of water. Give for 5-7 days as the only source of drinking water.

For the worst one(s) I would also direct oral drench them for a few days. This is in addition to them drinking the mixed Corid water as well. https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/corid-oral-drench-instructions.1211991/

 

[Billylynn]

What does the poop look like? Photos of poop and birds are always welcome.

If they are new to being outside or being moved to new ground, then the first thing that comes to mind is Coccidiosis. You can find Corid at TSC in the cattle section.
Liquid Corid dose is 2tsp per gallon of water and Powdered Corid is 1 1/2 tsp per gallon of water. Give for 5-7 days as the only source of drinking water.

For the worst one(s) I would also direct oral drench them for a few days. This is in addition to them drinking the mixed Corid water as well. https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/corid-oral-drench-instructions.1211991/

I thought about that, but there is no blood in the poop. There was almost no poop yesterday and what there was looked pretty normal...Just checked on chicken again ...seems to be more alert and more poop. I don't normally give them any grit and just rely on what they might get from the ground. Could it be possible that it just needs some grit?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I thought about that, but there is no blood in the poop. There was almost no poop yesterday and what there was looked pretty normal...Just checked on chicken again ...seems to be more alert and more poop. I don't normally give them any grit and just rely on what they might get from the ground. Could it be possible that it just needs some grit?

I would provide grit free choice regardless.

fwiw - there are 9 strains of Coccidia that affect poultry. Only 2 present with blood in the poop. Symptoms of Coccidiosis include, ruffled/unkempt appearance, lethargy, not eating/drinking, huddling and loose stool with mucous or blood.

 

[Billylynn]

Off to TSC for Corid.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Just in case - what are you feeding them too?

 

[Billylynn]

Just in case - what are you feeding them too?

Organic crumbles. Started treatment too late. Lost one this morning.
I did some research on Corid last night and one of the things that came up was cider vinegar as being helpful as a preventive. I gave my chickens very little this time around and used a different kind of bedding in the brooder that most likely wasn't dry enough. I had read The Small!-Scale Poultry Flock by Harvey Ussery and he recommended using oak leaves as a possibility for bedding, which I did in week 3. What I didn't take into account is that he was talking about an open coop where there would be a lot of ventilation and I had to return my chicks to the brooder for several days in the 4th week because of windy 20degree temps. So, oddly enough, researching the medication gave me much more specific information.

Thanks for your help and steering me that direction. I'm continuing to add Corid to the water as a preventive to any more birds becoming sick.

 

[Billylynn]

Update.....The Corid made no significant impact. It finally occurred to me to call the hatchery where I purchased the birds, which is Chickens for Backyards. They were extremely helpful. They considered possibility that it may be a respiratory infection because of the difficult Spring we have been having and that I had moved the birds back into the barn from outside a couple of times due to harsh storms with storm winds and cold temps (I tractor my birds). They suggested that the birds would have been able to handle it. However, that was only for future reference. Meanwhile, the cause could have been from any number of things and they said that by the time chickens show symptoms they are often very sick

SOLUTION: Probably a respiratory infection, in particular because of the consistent symptom of fast breathing, bacterial in origin. Add 1/3 cup cider vinegar to each Quart of water they get for 5 days to clean out their gut.

☺. It worked! All birds healthy and active. At 8 weeks my remaining CornishX come out of the tractor to eat and forage daily.

Just a note. Cannot recommend this hatchery high enough. Always have had healthy, energetic birds and they bent over backwards to help me on the phone, even calling back with more info. Chickens for backyards.com