on going cocci.......what to do next??

[spish]

it seems every week cocci is rearing its ugly head in our flock, and i cant get it under control

we're losing on average 1 chicken per week, so far all younger birds between 10 and 18 weeks old (no older birds lost, some have shown symptoms but quickly recovered after 3 day meds)


we have been treating with ESB-3 (only cocci med we can get here) its one capsuale per 1 litre water for three days, then repeat after 5 days if symptoms still showing. well we've been treating with it now for 2 months on and off as we are losing all our younger chickens.

we also have a bad red mite infestation in the 2 houses which house the younger chickens which i guess isnt helping but all houses have been treated this weekend so that should be undercontrol now.


i just dont know what else to try on the cocci problem.

symptoms are.... chickens starts being inactive, hangs around, 'sleeps' in the day. eyes closed hunched up, blood in the poo, some have bright yellow coloured poo, others pooped pure 'red' (blood?) after a day or two the chicken loses ability to stand, is laying around, then total loss of movement in the legs shortly followed by death

all chickens that have died so far have been under 18 weeks old, and it seems to be chickens all from the same side of the field (4 houses, two on each side of the field, younger chickens in 2 houses, older chickens in the other 2.


what else can i try? we're cleaning the houses daily at the moment, treating ALL chickens with the meds, but it keeps coming back?

 

[speckledhen]

Maybe they have a heavy worm load and not cocci. Cocci isn't usually a huge issue with birds that age if they've been raised on your soil. Yellow and bloody poop can be worms, not just coccidiosis. I have no idea what that med is, never heard of it, but you're in Belgium, so that isn't surprising.

 

[spish]

how often should they be wormed? they've been done twice this year, with pellets in the food but cant be guaranteed every chicken ate the required amount of pellets
what are signs of worms? (would gaping be one? ive noticed two young chickens gaping lately?)
would worms kill a chicken???

 

[WallTenters]

I would definitely add apple cider vinegar to their drinking water. Make sure they're still drinking - some birds love it, others will go off water and so you'll need to slowly increase the dosage, starting with only a tiny bit so they get used to the taste.

It won't totally take care of a cocci infestation, but will greatly reduce the problem, and may be the boost that your medication needs to get the upper hand.

I would also take in a stool sample to a local vet - getting this checked is pretty cheap, especially compared to the losses you're getting. They will also be able to get you prescription medication that would help, and/or at least tell you if there's anything other than cocci at play.

ETA: diatomaceous (did I spell that right? I think not) can help with a host of parasites, including worms. This should not be your only treatment, but it's a great daily dewormer for any animal to help keep parasite loads low.

 

[speckledhen]

Well, some worm once a year, no matter what. Some only worm when they see signs of worms. I can't tell if your birds have worms or cocci or are anemic due to mites/lice, but if you could find Ivomec Eprinex Pour On for cattle, that gets external and internal parasites at the same time. Would worm and fix your mite issue simultaneously.

I agree that a stool sample test would be a good idea at this point.

 

[WallTenters]

I should have added... I don't know about Belgium, but here in the US, you can take stool samples (or anything else, it's awesome!) to a local veterinary school, they usually have labs. Call and check. It's about half the cost of the vet, and 9/10 times the vets are just sending the samples to the school, so it's really cutting out the middle man. The universities are also great because many vets don't know much about poultry, vs. at the university there will always be someone studying poultry, so there's lots of staff to use as your resource.

In fact, I would try calling a veterinary university just to check. I call Purdue University all the time if I have strange animal illness/injury questions. They're in Washington state. Not sure what your international calling rates are, but worth a shot

.

 

[BWKatz]

Definitely sounds like something other than cocci. Take samples to vet/university for testing. Good luck.

 

[spish]

i currently cannot afford a vet visit and have spent the morning searching for vet universitys but have found nothing in my area. so im going to try a differzent wormer. the more i read up on worms andf symptoms, the more it sounds like worms..a bad infestation at that, yet ive seen nothing in the poop yet?
what would cause a dewormer not to work properely?

 

[spish]

the 'dewormer' i use is not a dewormer..its a preventative

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)))teach me to read up on it before i use it(((((