My chicks have cocci what do I do now.

[kelar]

Reminds me of the time a friend of mine said she ordered some Red Star chicks from the feed store because the lady taking the chick orders told her they would lay three eggs a day!

As someone said, do your own research & take an employee's advice with a large grain of salt.

 

[ultasol]

Sulmet used long term or at a higher dosage not only irritates the intestine it causes liver damage. You might lose some or all of these chicks soon or at some point down the line due to this.

The most cost effective and safest treatment is to buy a bag of powdered amprol. Same stuff as corid, but in powder form and more concentrated. Unlike sulmet/sulfa drugs, it has a high margin of safety and birds can be on it long term with minimal problems.

 

[bibliophile birds]

also, you don't HAVE to medicate at all. i raise all my birds naturally- no vaccines, no preventative medications (including medicated feed), and only treat with medication if it's completely necessary. only once have i had a chick die, and i'm pretty certain it wasn't from cocci. i use the deep litter method to slowly build up the chicks tolerance to cocci- they are going to be exposed to it regardless of what you do, and as long as it's a gradual build up, then their systems can handle it.

what i do is stir the litter every other day to keep it from getting really messy. i throw a handful or two of fresh litter in the mix at that time. then, every 5-6 days, i add about another 2 inches of litter on top of what was already there. i continue this the whole time they are in the brooder. my brooder is a big watering tub (3 ft deep), so it can take a lot of litter, but you may have to clean yours and start over at some point if it's more shallow.

also, introduce your chicks to the outside world slowly- take them out for an hr to start and build up. you can also bring a little bit of grass into them when they are 2-3 weeks old. slow introduction to the parasite builds up a natural tolerance of the parasite. also, giving them live culture, plain yogurt (i'd say about a tablespoon/ chick every 3-4 days- try putting some Cheerios in it if they won't eat it plain) will help keep their digestive systems healthy, which will decrease the likelihood of the parasites becoming a problem. greek yogurt is a really good option.

here's a good place to read about holistic, natural prevention and treatment of cocci.

don't let this setback stop you from keeping chickens. all of us have received bad advice at one time or another. but, you're in the right place now!

 

[speckledhen]

Quote:
Agreed. Even with medicated feed, they still get cocci, especially chicks who have only been in a brooder then hit the ground at a month old. Wet climates are worse for it than dry ones. I can't get non-medicated feed here so have no choice, but they still get cocci. The only ones who never get cocci are chicks raised by a broody who are on the ground from a few days old.

 

[Sillystunt]

i feel as if you should go back and let the manager know your loss and the bad advise you got from the feed store. Hopefully they might replace your chicks or even re-educate the employee. Sorry your chicks are dying! If yu were closer , i 'd give you some of mine. Lord knows i am on overload with fluffy butts!!! LMAO

 

[MattalynsBarn]