PLEASE HELP! A couple of problems with my new girls!!

[casportpony]

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SOO, I've not been giving them medicated feed from the get go. I used what the woman at TS suggested.
I have noticed this morning, that the other girls are getting bigger, but Candy doesn't seem to be.
I so don't want to lose her!!

Funny looking poop, lack of weight gain, that would be enough for me to put them all on Corid. Chicks should gain weight daily, might not be much, but it should be a gain.

Because I don't have proper hospital cages, I've had to bring some of my sicker ones inside and often they don't stay in their box, so I then I spend the day following them around and picking up their poop up off the hardwood floor. Let's just say that I have learned a lot about poop doing this.

Like many here, I saw the poo page and it brought me some comfort, albeit short lived... The poo page is wrong!
For example, this one is listed as normal cecal poop, but I had three birds necropsied that had poop like this. Those three birds had coccidiosis and visceral gout.

If the chicks are getting mostly chick crumbles, their poop should look like this ~95% of the time. It should be well formed with a white cap and the color of what they've been eating.

 

[dmacdo1]

Funny looking poop, lack of weight gain, that would be enough for me to put them all on Corid. Chicks should gain weight daily, might not be much, but it should be a gain.

If the chicks are getting mostly chick crumbles, their poop should look like this ~95% of the time. It should be well formed with a white cap and the color of what they've been eating.

This is what all the girls (or at least...all the poo) looks like in the brooder. Candy only had that one bad one right after the good one in the pics.
They've been on the CORID since Monday.
I'm going to now incorperate a "hospital" section into our coop plans. So...maybe idea has sparked from my tragedy?
I walked away long enough to do dishes this morning & heard VERY loud cherping...one of them had gotten out of & on top of the brooding box using the waterer! Scary, but funny. Time to move up to a bigger one!! LOL!! When I bend into the box, they jump up & grab my hair, too funny!! They're so much fun!

 

[Haunted55]

I agree Casportpony, with the symptoms, it is a good idea to do the Corid as the amount in the medicated feed [the amprolium] is slightly less. It still comes back to where....where was the cocci introduced and then why this one affected and the other dying. The others are thriving, is it because these two are maybe a little weaker to begin with? Did the lady at the PO have chickens as well and maybe carried something on her clothing? And no....I am not blaming that poor soul or even trying to say she in fact did it! [Just posing a question trying to figure something out.] Which one of us could possibly withstand the temptation to peek and then cuddle. Not I, that's for sure!

The question here and in so many other threads is where did it come from? Is it possible that it is from unwashed eggs going into the incubator? I know the oocytes can live through some pretty good temperature extremes. While it isn't passed through the egg, could it be passed on the egg? Let's face it, an incubator is a pretty good enviroment for things like this to grow. Something is being missed and it just bugs me no end. How does a chick get something like this when more than reasonable care has been given and they haven't hit the ground?

Dmacdo 1, I am so glad you did the pics and keep a journal! That is awesome! I started one a little late in the game but it is something I used all the time. I say used as my original one developed legs and I have since had to start again. So much info lost to me unless I can find the place it walked off to.

 

[Haunted55]

Casportpony, I wouldn't say the poo page is wrong. I too lost a lot of my birds with poops that looked the same as that, last year. The difference is it was like that most of the time. Not every so often. I've also had bird with a serious case of cocci that never showed the funny poo, ever. Yet I knew they had it from the other symptoms they showed. I think you and I also have some mitigating circumstances going on, that keep us a bit apart from ones that don't see what we do. I know you are not wrong either. These are the symptoms your bird showed and you learned the lessons. Here, for me, the poop is secondary to the over all appearance. Again though...we have other issues and I think we see more maybe?

 

[fogandcopper]

If I remember correctly the chicks can get it from their moms. That may be where they got it. We once lost 23 eggs out of 24 to cocci. 4 were chicks that didn't even get to leae the incubator when they died and 1 died when she was about 6 months.

 

[Haunted55]

If I remember correctly the chicks can get it from their moms. That may be where they got it. We once lost 23 eggs out of 24 to cocci. 4 were chicks that didn't even get to leae the incubator when they died and 1 died when she was about 6 months.

So what you saw was from the eggs? What I have been told is chicks that are hatched by their mothers usually do not have the problems with the coccidia the way chicks from an incubator would.

 

[casportpony]

So what you saw was from the eggs? What I have been told is chicks that are hatched by their mothers usually do not have the problems with the coccidia the way chicks from an incubator would.

I've only seen coccidiosis in chicks raised in brooders, never when their mother hatches them and free ranges with them.

 

[dmacdo1]

OK, so Candy is still eating/drinking fine & getting around to the best of her ability. Still doesn't seem to be getting any bigger though. I thought about seperating her from the others, but I think she may rest too much on her own & cause more problems for herself. As long as she's in with the others, they keep her on the move & using it. She's actually scratching now too! What are your thoughts on this??

While I was reading the CORID label, it basically says to cut the solution in half & continue to give for a preventative period (I'm guessing) for 2 more weeks, if there's posibility of new exposure? I have more chicks coming on May 1st (from the same hatchery) & don't want to risk any of the new girls getting contaminated or these girls getting re-contaminated (Does that make sence?). Should I continue half dosage, or should I not let these girls near the new girls? I really don't want to do that because of the introduction period for them all. I just think the younger, the better??

I want to thank you all for all your wonderful input & your willingness to help with the issues I've been experiencing!!
I would REALLY be lost without all of you!!
You are all FABULOUS!!

 

[Haunted55]

Okay, did you ever try to hobble her? It really might be worth your while to try it. Where these chicks are so young, after doing the Corid dosing, I would put them on medicated feed rather than doing the 1/2 dosing. I personally keep my birds on the medicated feed until they have been on the ground for a bit. This way they have the chance to build up resistance to the cocci in your ground. As for introducing the new birds to the older ones...no. Wait for 6-8 weeks at least. You need to see what is going on with your first ones and also let the new ones acclimate and see if there are issues with them. Use the medicated feed on the new ones from day 1 and there shouldn't be an issue.

Not the girl that is having the issues...if the Corid doesn't work, you may need to think about Sulmet. Finish the course with the corid and see how this one is doing. If there is no change this is the next step.

 

[dmacdo1]

Okay, did you ever try to hobble her? It really might be worth your while to try it.

How would I go about doing that? I've never heard of doing this before. Of course I've never had the need to look at leg issues in chickens...
Is there some instructions somewhere on here?? I'll look & do an internet search to see what I can find.

What did people ever do without the internet???