One of my young silkies died yesterday - Suspecting cocci

[AngieChick]

We moved a week and a half ago, so things got a bit chaotic. The chickens all seemed to be fine, then my youngest (and most sensitive) son found one of the silkies dead yesterday. I looked the rooster over and found bloody stool. We have clay earth, so I didn't see it on the ground at any point, though I am sure it's there. When I cleaned out and disinfected the coop I found some bloody stool. After giving my silkies the once over, most of them had a bit on their rears.

The chicks are about 14 weeks old and I suspect that I switched them from the medicated feed too soon.

What I have done so far:

Yesterday, immediately after finding the dead roo, I:
- Disinfected their coop with bleach, I will look for Oxine (?) today at the feed store
- Gave them Sulmet in their water, which I thankfully had on hand in my emergency kit. They do not carry Corrid anywhere locally that I have seen, but I will order it to have on hand as well.
- Gave them probiotics
- picked up medicated feed and switched them back to it

This morning (they all made it through the night)
- continued with Sulmet and probiotics
- I sprinkled stall dry liberally in their run, I figured it wouldn't hurt anything and could possibly help with any moisture issues.
- wiped their bottoms as much as possible without a full fledged bath. I would love to bathe them, but I'm worried that it will stress them out.

They all seem fairly perky at the moment. I'm trying very hard to not hover over them all day, fretting. I know that bloody stool can be caused by other factors, but because of their age and our recent move I felt that cocci was the most likely culprit. However, I am certainly open to other ideas.

When I was handling them, they felt like they were a normal weight. They are eating and drinking well. To top the situation off, we are expecting temps close to 100 degrees today, very unusual for us.

Right now they are fluffed up & cuddling around their big boy silkie rooster, who is standing guard over them. The poor little guy didn't even crow this morning. So, he is feeling off, even if he's not showing it.

Is there anything here that I'm not doing that could help? Or does anyone want to chime in on my course of action? I know I veered from the form, but I was trying to give as much information that is specific to our situation as possible.

Thanks - Angie

 

[faykokoWV]

I'm no expert, but sounds like you've done a lot to contain this and prevent further infection. Sorry for your loss. I hope the rest are fine.


I've got to get some Sulmet for my emergency kit

 

[AngieChick]

Thank you for the well wishes. Definitely get Sulmet for in your emergency kit, it has a very long shelf life so it will keep for a long time.

All of my remaining silkies came through. My little splash girls took longer, I ended up bringing them in and dribbling water in their beaks. But, even they were perky and flitting around today. What a relief, the splashes are my favorites.

 

[numamahen]

sorry to hear of your troubles and loss. We had a similar incident with my Golden Laced Wyandottes. They are 24 weeks and I was watching for cocci with the little Cornish Rock we got about 4 weeks ago. My DH didn't want to use medicated feed.... I am not certain if the problem stemmed from them and got passed to the big girls. The meaties seem ok but we lost one of the big girls, have one confined and am looking for a couple others in the flock who seem to have the bloody poops... started on amprolium 9.6% as I couldn't get Sulmet. I had treatments that stated using amrolium or Sulmet in the same process with a wet mash. It really helped the one yesterday that was so lethargic. Hope she can make it - the poop was better this morning tho so I just keep her clean and on clean bedding. Do you know how stable the medication is? If I did water treatment last night and it is cool, can it set out over night to mid day and still be effective? also how long do we avoid using the eggs? Never did this before - Best wishes to you & family.