Please help, my chickens have bloody stools!!

[stormylady]

My girls were all ok yesterday it seemed and this morning when I came home from work and went to go feed and water them there was bloody stools in the pen, mostly thick blood, went into the house and 3 of the girls are all fluffed up 2 EEs and my salmon fav. girl. and all stooped over the 2 EEs are still moving around but Alma is hunched and sitting down and doesnt want to move!! What do I do??? please I think I might loose them, what could have happened so quickly! Thankyou for your responses!

 

[RedRoosterFarm]

coccidiosis? I use amprol for it if thats what it is? good luck!

 

[stormylady]

Can I get that a feed store or a farm store??
thanks again! sandy

 

[kelar]

You need to treat them immediately for coccidiosis - it can kill them very fast. Start treatment with Corid amprollium liquid , available at most farm stores. It is usually found in the livestock section. Dose at the rate of 2 tsp. per gallon for 5 days. Do not give them additional high protein treats during the time you are medicating as the cocci multiply more quickly with a high protein source. After the Corid treatment, I start treatment with Sulmet, also available at a farm store. Dosage is on the bottle. Sulmet is a 6 day treatment. I use the Corid first because I've read that starting treatment with the sulmet can cause internal bleeding. The important thing with cocci is to treat quickly as the protozoa multiply very quickly. Clean and disinfect their living quarters with something that will kill cocci and keep it very clean. Best to keep them off the dirt until they have recovered. Good luck with your girls.

 

[stormylady]

Quote:
Thank you, I ran out the same day and got the amprollium but had to get it in the powder form the day all this started, before I got back from the store I had lost Alma Salmon Fav. girl and Hiedi a barred cochin, I started the meds right away and the next morning I had lost 2 more girls, Pearl BSL Blue an Orpington/EE mix, today all are looking better but found 2 more dead that were really looking rough yesterday Sunny a yellow and white EE, and Garnett a red brown EE, So I have lost 6 birds in 3 days, but the med seems to have most of them perked up some today, I only have one that looks like she may not make it, Cheyanne a huge Splash Orpington broody, Im hoping she will be ok I haven't seen any blood in her stool but she looks paler in her cheaks an crown than normal, but she keeps pretty much to herself and stays on her nest most of the time, she has no eggs all were taken away from her but she still wants to nest. I did find her outside in the pen today which is incouraging. drinking some of the medicated water, I just want to say thankyou to the ones that have helped me in this time of need. Also I would like to Add Rest In Peace Alma my beautiful little gimpy girl, sassy Hiedi, sweet pearl, blue my spirited girl, Sunny The Bossy lady, And my super sweet Garnette. I have great hope that the rest of my girls and boys will make it. Its Amazing that you can have so many, and when you loose even one it can almost seem empty out there! Uno was Almas best bud and Uno (speckled sussex) seems lost without her, Im sure in time she will take up with someone else but until then I feel for her, when I was out in the pen with them she stood underfoot the whole time just talking to me. It made me feel so sad. Anyway thanks for your help and listening! Sandy

 

[EweSheep]

Dang! I saw this and I am so sorry that you lost a few birds!

 

[stormylady]

Quote:
Thank you Robin, It was so sudden! seemed like they were fine the day before, no symtoms that I could see. then the next morning blood in the coop, I thought something had got in there and killed some of them, but It was in there stools, I came in a posted and went straight out to Rural King and came back and by then Little Alma and Hiedi were gone, they were very sick when I left ,since then I have lost 4 more, Poor Uno is lost without Alma. I don't know but it sure looks empty out there! Im so used to going out there and having those two come running for there cuddles and treats. Im almost scared to walk out there and open the coop door for fear I'll find more of my girls dead or dying, cheyanne is the most seriously sick looking right now, she is not bleeding out, but she looks puffy and tired, but stil running around some and trying to stay on her nest but the bleeding isn't there and that makes me have some hope for her. Thank God I didn't put the young ones in the coop with them yet! so they are safe i think. Thanks again, Sandy
Robin Do you think that I should start putting the younger chicks on Med. feed so when they do have to go out there they will have some immunity to any of the cocci germs that may be lingering??

 

[EweSheep]

I always had my chicks on medicated feeds because it does seems to help and I haven't had any issues with Cocci YET in the last six years. Since you have not introduced any new birds, I am very certain it is the wild birds that brought them in.

Keep your little ones separate until everything clears and you would need to strip out your coop and runs to the best you can.

 

[Schultz]

Quote:
YES YES. Most certainly you need to clean out their coop and run very very well. Do you have very moist conditions in your coop and or run? If so this needs to be addressed as well. Find any leaks and patch them, if your coop and or run is in a low spot that is prone to flooding you should consider a way to either move the whole set up or get both coop and run higher. Cocci thrives in moist conditions. Having said that, also know that this could come up any time in the future now because once your chickens have been infected they will always carry it. It isn't the end of the world but from here on out you need to make sure your coop and run is as dry as possible and as clean as you can keep it. So sorry you lost your birds.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

As a short-term help UNTIL YOU CAN GET THE CORRECT MEDS, a heavy dose of apple cider vinegar in the water will help. Think of it as holding illness at bay, though, not actually treating it.