One Dead, more sick! Urgent!

[UrbanHomesteadTX]

I'm hoping for advice on how to treat my birds, I have no clue what's going on, but it's come on pretty sudden and I need to do what I can to keep from losing more birds!

I went out this evening for the evening routine of feeding and watering my flock, and upon entering my pullet run I immediately noticed one of my pullets laying dead. She was ten weeks old, and I'm already seeing signs of illness in the cockerel that was in the same enclosure. The ten-week-old cockerel's comb is completely flopped over and is a very dark color, his tail is drooped to the ground, and he appears very lethargic. He's usually quite skittish but did not react to my picking him up and examining him at all. I hadn't seen any signs of illness up until finding the dead pullet.

The dead pullet, the cockerel, and a second pullet were in a small, fenced off section of the run to separate them from the older pullets (4 month olds). I have no way at the moment to fully separate them from the flock, and while I'm not noticing any symptoms in the rest of the pullets, I did notice all of their combs have flopped over, though weather related or not I can't gauge.

My concerns other than cotangent illness relates to water and environmental factors. Their water had gotten very clogged and nasty, a detail I missed this morning in my rush, and they likely may not have been drinking enough through the day. (I immediately cleaned and gave fresh) The temps have been in the 90s over a week and is a likely factor. We've also had a hella ton of rain these past months and are having mold problems all over the place (but the feed is perfectly dry and safe)

No matter the case, what can I do to treat my flock, especially the sick Cockerel and Pullet? I've read people suggesting use of terramycin and Aureomycin to treat, but I'm at a dead end trying to find any, local or online.
And no, I am unable to take them to the vet. No vet around will touch poultry.

Any advice, please, would be great!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

The ten-week-old cockerel's comb is completely flopped over and is a very dark color, his tail is drooped to the ground, and he appears very lethargic.

My concerns other than cotangent illness relates to water and environmental factors. Their water had gotten very clogged and nasty, a detail I missed this morning in my rush, and they likely may not have been drinking enough through the day.

We've also had a hella ton of rain these past months and are having mold problems all over the place

Can you please post photos of the sick cockerel and his poop?

You mention that there's mold - where? On the ground, in housing, etc.? Photos of the location of the mold may be helpful.

Have you treated for Coccidiosis? If not, then that's where I would start. Corid can be found at stores like TSC it's the cattle section.

Liquid Corid dose is 2tsp or Powdered Corid Dose is 1 1/2tsp per gallon of water given for 5-7 days as the only source of drinking water.
Do not add any extra vitamins/electrolytes that contain B1(Thiamine) to food or water during the course of treatment.

 

[azygous]

This is scary for sure. But there are several possibilities. The most obvious would be heat stroke and dehydration. The early symptoms would be imbalance, stumbling, and collapse. The treatment must be administered as soon as you notice these symptoms as death can occur quickly. The treatment is sugar water with electrolytes or add a pinch of salt and baking soda to the sugar water.

Mold exposure cause similar symptoms, imbalance and lameness and death.

Was there diarrhea involved? That would point to bacterial infection or coccidiosis.

There is also the possibility of an avian virus.

The only way to know what killed the pullet is to send her body to a lab for a necropsy. University of Texas conducts these.

Other than that, cleaning everything up, starting Corid treatment for coccidiosis, and hoping no more chickens sicken and die is all you can do.

 

[UrbanHomesteadTX]

Can you please post photos of the sick cockerel and his poop?

You mention that there's mold - where? On the ground, in housing, etc.? Photos of the location of the mold may be helpful.

Have you treated for Coccidiosis? If not, then that's where I would start. Corid can be found at stores like TSC it's the cattle section.

Liquid Corid dose is 2tsp or Powdered Corid Dose is 1 1/2tsp per gallon of water given for 5-7 days as the only source of drinking water.
Do not add any extra vitamins/electrolytes that contain B1(Thiamine) to food or water during the course of treatment.

The Cockerel was dead by morning, oddly enough in the same spot and position as the pullet was. I'll add pictures below.
The remaining Pullet of the trio looks to be doing okay so far, but she will still be treated.

I wasnt able to get any photos last night, but the color still remains after death, though I think last night it looked a little darker, yet more pale if that makes any sense.

I spotted this this morning, real liquidy with blood in it.

I havent noticed any mold in their space specifically, but wouldnt be surprised if there was. We've had mold pop up in some of the flood zones around the yard and house. And since the chicken runs occasionally were included in the flood zones, I wouldnt be surprised if there was some somewhere I havent seen.

I have not treated for Coccidiosis yet, but fully intend to now.
I'll head straight over to TSC and grab some Corrid! Thank you for the suggestion!

Thank you for any help, this has just been a major stress that has added on to a pile of other stresses.

 

[azygous]

These things do tend to come along and hammer us when we already have more than enough to cope with. Life can be merciless.

The blood is a strong indicator that you're dealing with coccidiosis. Get the Corid liquid and give an undiluted dose (drench) to any chicken showing signs of being sick. About .5ml for adult chickens and half that for half grown ones. Do it for three days in addition to the Corid water (Two teaspoons per gallon of water). The Corid water should be mioxed fresh daily for five days. Give the flock a week off, then do another five days of Corid water.

Here's how to give a dose of medicine to a chicken without getting it in the airway.

 

[UrbanHomesteadTX]

These things do tend to come along and hammer us when we already have more than enough to cope with. Life can be merciless.

The blood is a strong indicator that you're dealing with coccidiosis. Get the Corid liquid and give an undiluted dose (drench) to any chicken showing signs of being sick. About .5ml for adult chickens and half that for half grown ones. Do it for three days in addition to the Corid water (Two teaspoons per gallon of water). The Corid water should be mioxed fresh daily for five days. Give the flock a week off, then do another five days of Corid water.

Here's how to give a dose of medicine to a chicken without getting it in the airway.View attachment 3864170

Thank you for the advice! I fully intend to pick some up as soon as Tractor Supply opens this morning.


I'm assuming so, but would it beneficial to treat my chickens that are separate from the ill birds? I have two runs outdoors and younger chicks in the house, and though they don't have contact with the affected birds, I'm worried for possibly spreading it/having had spread it when moving between runs. I'm practicing much stricter biosecurity measures since the dead Pullet's discovery last night, but I'm not sure how long she was sick and could have likely spread it prior.

 

[azygous]

The coccidia parasites are in the soil everywhere. The other group should be assumed to have some in their intestines also. No need to wait until those birds start getting sick.

Corid isn't a "medicine" so to speak. It merely blocks thiamine, a B -vitamin the coccidia feed on. Blocking it prevent the coccidia from completing their life cycle in the chickens' intestines and helps them acquire resistance to future infestations.

 

[UrbanHomesteadTX]

The coccidia parasites are in the soil everywhere. The other group should be assumed to have some in their intestines also. No need to wait until those birds start getting sick.

Corid isn't a "medicine" so to speak. It merely blocks thiamine, a B -vitamin the coccidia feed on. Blocking it prevent the coccidia from completing their life cycle in the chickens' intestines and helps them acquire resistance to future infestations.

Thank you for the information! Should I also treat my chicks that are indoors? They have not had contact with soil from outdoors, should they be fine? Should I have any concern for my quail? They are outdoors, but in stacking cages off the ground, also not in contact with soil.

I've treated all my birds in the outdoor runs with 2 TSPs Corrid per gallon in their water, and gave the remaining Pullet 0.5mL of Corrid directly, as shes now showing signs of lethargy.

I truly thank you for your insight! I can handle traumatic injuries all day long, but medical emergencies have always been difficult... especially when they're not human

 

[azygous]

And chickens do have their share of medical emergencies requiring us to be on the alert constantly. If we see an individual suddenly showing divergent behavior, we need to jump in and intervene, often having no clues where to start. That's why you're here.

Cocciciosis is picked up from the soil when chickens scratch for bugs and consume grit. It's spread by exposure to feces from chickens carrying coccidia in their intestines. So there is usually no need to treat chicks inside in a brooder or your quail that are not directly on the soil.

There is always an outside chance these isolated birds could pick up coccidia from you handling them with dirty hands if you've been working in the soil. It also can be spread on the soles of your shoes and anything that has soil remnants on them. When in doubt, treat the birds. It's perfectly safe. The only thing to be concerned about would be the small chicks having a thiamine deficiency after the Corid treatment. But giving them B-complex for several days following Corid should solve that issue.

 

[UrbanHomesteadTX]

And chickens do have their share of medical emergencies requiring us to be on the alert constantly. If we see an individual suddenly showing divergent behavior, we need to jump in and intervene, often having no clues where to start. That's why you're here.

Cocciciosis is picked up from the soil when chickens scratch for bugs and consume grit. It's spread by exposure to feces from chickens carrying coccidia in their intestines. So there is usually no need to treat chicks inside in a brooder or your quail that are not directly on the soil.

There is always an outside chance these isolated birds could pick up coccidia from you handling them with dirty hands if you've been working in the soil. It also can be spread on the soles of your shoes and anything that has soil remnants on them. When in doubt, treat the birds. It's perfectly safe. The only thing to be concerned about would be the small chicks having a thiamine deficiency after the Corid treatment. But giving them B-complex for several days following Corid should solve that issue.

Thank you for all the information!