second_gen_chickens
In the Brooder
- Mar 25, 2021
- 7
- 6
- 11
Quick summary: I was seeing blood & other symptoms from chicks, treated them with Corid, thought they were doing better, and then started seeing a lot of blood again. 
Hi! *This is my first time raising chicks*, though I'm coming into it with some knowledge from friends and my mom's long experience, and a lot of obsessive reading over the winter.
I have three 4-week-old pullets (sex-linked -- "color pack" & "dominant copper"), which I got from a person who raises large batches from a local hatchery. They were on medicated starter with her, and she wasn't aware of any health issues, though she also wasn't confident about that. A day after I brought them home, I noticed one was *significantly* less peppy than the other three (hunching and fluffing in a corner most of the time, peeping insistently, though she was still eating and drinking some), and then started seeing blood (initially not a lot, then more and bright-to-dark red) in her stool, then some blood potentially from the other two.
Based on that, it seemed like the best explanation was coccidiosis, and I started them on Corid at the .0125% dosage (on the assumption that since their feed is also medicated at .0125% amprolium, the combination should take them to the .025% the manufacturer recommends for a serious infection across their intake). They all (especially the sickest one) became significantly more active and peppy after a day or two, and I stopped seeing any blood. So... I was feeling pretty reassured that this was coccidiosis *and* that they were doing better
As of today, they've been on it five days, and I was going to stop treatment and give them some additional nutrients to make up for the thiamine blockers.
But this morning when I went in to check on them, I saw a LOT of liquid, bright-to-dark red blood again (after several days without), and while they all seemed pretty peppy and active, the one who had been sickest had started doing her really insistent peep-peep-peep-PEEP again. (Another of the chicks had reddish stool, though I could be over-reading that based on worrying about them.) I'm hesitant to keep them on this dosage of Corid because of the thiamine issue -- but I genuinely don't know what to do, and I don't know why they'd suddenly start struggling again after doing so much better. The only thing that's changed in the last day or two is that they finally figured out how to eat the greens (bittercress, plus the last winter bok choi from my garden) that I was giving them as a treat, but they're also eating their grit, and I assume that an issue with a new strain of coccid would take way longer to show up.
What should I do? Is this likely to be a totally different health issue? If it *was* cocci, should I keep them on Corid longer despite the thiamine blocking? Is consistent blood ... not an issue...?? I'm really, really worried about them.
I can't take pictures at the moment, but can do so later if it's helpful.
Hi! *This is my first time raising chicks*, though I'm coming into it with some knowledge from friends and my mom's long experience, and a lot of obsessive reading over the winter.
I have three 4-week-old pullets (sex-linked -- "color pack" & "dominant copper"), which I got from a person who raises large batches from a local hatchery. They were on medicated starter with her, and she wasn't aware of any health issues, though she also wasn't confident about that. A day after I brought them home, I noticed one was *significantly* less peppy than the other three (hunching and fluffing in a corner most of the time, peeping insistently, though she was still eating and drinking some), and then started seeing blood (initially not a lot, then more and bright-to-dark red) in her stool, then some blood potentially from the other two.
Based on that, it seemed like the best explanation was coccidiosis, and I started them on Corid at the .0125% dosage (on the assumption that since their feed is also medicated at .0125% amprolium, the combination should take them to the .025% the manufacturer recommends for a serious infection across their intake). They all (especially the sickest one) became significantly more active and peppy after a day or two, and I stopped seeing any blood. So... I was feeling pretty reassured that this was coccidiosis *and* that they were doing better
As of today, they've been on it five days, and I was going to stop treatment and give them some additional nutrients to make up for the thiamine blockers.But this morning when I went in to check on them, I saw a LOT of liquid, bright-to-dark red blood again (after several days without), and while they all seemed pretty peppy and active, the one who had been sickest had started doing her really insistent peep-peep-peep-PEEP again. (Another of the chicks had reddish stool, though I could be over-reading that based on worrying about them.) I'm hesitant to keep them on this dosage of Corid because of the thiamine issue -- but I genuinely don't know what to do, and I don't know why they'd suddenly start struggling again after doing so much better. The only thing that's changed in the last day or two is that they finally figured out how to eat the greens (bittercress, plus the last winter bok choi from my garden) that I was giving them as a treat, but they're also eating their grit, and I assume that an issue with a new strain of coccid would take way longer to show up.
What should I do? Is this likely to be a totally different health issue? If it *was* cocci, should I keep them on Corid longer despite the thiamine blocking? Is consistent blood ... not an issue...?? I'm really, really worried about them.
I can't take pictures at the moment, but can do so later if it's helpful.
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