On Monday I just put them in the outside coop. I did have them in my garage. On Monday I came out to let them out of garage and I had a dead chick. ( I think the home I had them in must have been too small. I wasn't sure when i could let them outside). So I googled things and thought cocci according to my research. I gave them a 5 day treatment of corid in their water (ended Friday) as well as medicated feed for a week and put them outside in the coop hoping that would help. New coop has lots of space and I have been cleaning out water and feed buckets with dawn and hot water everyday. I have also been scooping through the pine shavings in the coop every day and scooping out poop every morning when I let them out. The bag of corid said treat for 5 days the retreat in two weeks for 5 days. I started putting apple cider vineager in water once corid dosage was to stop. Poop has went from having some bloody show to looking normal. Do you think I still need to treat them again for cocci? These pictures were taken earlier in the week. Weather has drop from 70s to 45 in a matter of days so I assumed that wAs why they were huddled.
Thank you so very much to take the time to let me know the chicks were sick. You did not have to do that. Very kind of you and you have some amazing eyes! That is impressive.
You are most welcome. I'm sorry I was right as it means you are struggling with a health issue.
The Coccidia is now in the birds, who must develop an immunity to it slowly. Anything that stresses their immune system will get them behind the overgrowth.
A sudden drop in weather is such a stressor, so is another move from indoors to outdoors (were they under heat lamp in the garage? Did you "harden" them off so they are now at ambient temperature?).
Once you have it in the crowd, it can be hard to get rid of if you don't stay on top of it....every new stress can bring it on again. (Sometimes it is maddening).
If it were my birds, I would do a round of Sulmet since the Corrid hasn't eliminated the overgrowth yet. I save birds faster with the Sulmet as it is fast acting. Then I put them on medicated (Amprolium based) chick feed and leave them on it until about 16 to 18 weeks of age.
If you have Corrid on hand still, and prefer that (it is milder and less harsh on the system than Sulmet), I would personally put them back on it for another round now. I've read that Amprolium powder (Corid) should be used for 10-14 days straight (not 5 days with a break then another 5 days...see link below). Then after that finishes, if they look good, put them on medicated chick feed and leave them on that for a month, maybe two, until they have reached maturity around 16 to 18 weeks.
Coccidia can literally scar up the intestines of a bird preventing it from ever digesting food properly, so you want to eradicate an overgrowth as quickly as possible, and prevent "flash backs" if at all possible. On the other hand, you don't want to eliminate it completely as the bird has to develop an immunity to it keeping it in balance in their system. That just becomes trickier after you've had a dangerous overgrowth with often resultant damage.
Apple Cider Vinegar, raw with the mother, non-metal water dispenser, is excellent and should remain in their water. Adding yogurt as a treat, or probiotics to the water as well, is also excellent to help develop the good flora to keep the coccidia in check.
It sounds like you are doing the right things...just continue to do so. It is a pain, but once you get over this hurdle, you'll have some really nice, healthy birds.
LofMc
http://web.uconn.edu/poultry/poultrypages/diseasefactsheet.html
PS: After the acute phase is over, you can slow down the cleaning and disinfecting. During acute phase, clean and toss litter regularly (as you are doing). Once you have symptoms abated (no more huddling, no more bloody or runny poo), then you can give one more really good cleaning, and clean frequently (never letting poo build up), but you do not have to be so diligent as to clean and disinfect every day as you did with the acute phase....since you'll be placing them on management for a month or two. You have the cold working for you now. Just be sure their water/feeder isn't underneath a warm lamp as spillage can produce coccidia, when spillage is underneath heat lamps the coccidia grow very quickly.
