Pale comb and lethargic

[subbie80]

Hi there! I have some 5 1/2 month old chickens.We live on 15 arces. We have 22 other chickens. Coop is a good size. We use poultry netting to give them a nice size run. Last night when checking in on them I notice a girl that had a really pale comb and was a little slow moving. She didn’t make it through the night. I really new to this. I tried to looked for mites or signs that she was egg bound being the issue. She wasn’t missing any feathers nor did the vents look dirty. I felt her abdomen for an egg but couldn’t feel anything out of the norm. Maybe I wasn’t feeling in the right place. I don’t want to lose another chicken. Any other suggestions on what could have happen to our young girl? Or what else to be on the look out for?

 

[coach723]

Have you seen what the droppings look like? For young birds, coccidiosis is very common, symptoms are most often lethargy, sitting fluffed up, going off feed/water, runny, mucousy, or bloody droppings. I would go ahead and treat them for it, the treatment is very safe regardless. It can progress quickly to death, so the sooner you start treatment the better. I don't see your location in your profile, assuming you are in the US, the most common treatment is Corid, available at most livestock supply stores, tractor supply, etc.
Either powder or liquid is fine. Dosing chart is below, use the severe outbreak dosing on the right. In addition to the treated water below you can give any very sick birds an oral dose to get the medication into them quickly, dosing for that is here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/corid-oral-drench-instructions.1211991/
Medicated water needs to be the only water available during treatment, and do not give vitamins during treatment as it may reduce the effectiveness of treatment.
I would treat the entire flock, all birds together on the same ground, it's very safe to do so.

 

[subbie80]

Thank you. I will give that a shot. They are in a chicken tractor so they are moved around. Maybe exposed in the new area.