Please Help!! Pullet Going Down Hill Fast!!!!!!!! UPDATE

[Reurra]

Vets are closed on the weekends. I did call the guy across and up the road, hes got cows, he said he would take a look and see what he has. Corrid still goes by the same name here. Many of the meds needed for chickens are regulated. It is very difficult to medicate poultry without going through a vet and the closest one to me is about 400 miles away. Since it is so rural here and conservative, very few places are open on weekends, so chances are I wont even get to talk to someone until monday. Ill cross my fingers the neighbor has something!

 

[Missa Chickabee]

Ok Reurra,

Before I knew about coccidiosis I had a small chick get it and survive (before I knew about the disease). The second time around it was more sever and the little one had stopped eating or drinking. Plain water with an eyedropper? for the dehydration. Maybe she will be a survivor, too.

 

[Peepsicle]

Just wondering, ( you may have already explained this), but what is coccidiosis caused by? I think i learned that apple seeds are bad for chickens, is that the problem? I just want to be ready if my chickens get it. I'd be so sad if any one them died

. And is it contagious?

 

[Reurra]

Cocci is a parasite that lives in the cecal thing of a chickens guy. If it gets out of hand they swell up and cause the chickens to get really sick and sometimes they bleed when they poop or get really lethargic. Its very painful for them.

 

[Missa Chickabee]

Just wondering, ( you may have already explained this), but what is coccidiosis caused by? I think i learned that apple seeds are bad for chickens, is that the problem? I just want to be ready if my chickens get it. I'd be so sad if any one them died

. And is it contagious?

The protozoa that presents as overgrowth of them in coccidiosis are always present in the soil in the form of oocytes and so also in the bird, which eat the soil. And so they are also in the poop, too. The birds eat poop! Usually they can handle it. But when conditions are warm and moist or if a particular soil carries a heavy load normally of the oocytes (eggs of the protozoa) then it can occur. Chick looks bunched up and fluffy in its feathers and seems very sleepy, lethargic, stops eating and drinking. That's how it has been explained to me.

This youtube site that explains it better than I can: (note that they say some survive this)

 

[Reurra]

This morning Dragon is fine. I offered her food and she ate like a horse!!

Whatever it was, its gone now!! What a relief!!

Im definitely going to see if I can get corrid though, just in case!!

 

[Missa Chickabee]

Reurra, that is wonderful. I would still try to get hold of some Corid. It is now a staple in my first aid kit. By the way, how long have you had chickens? This will be my first winter with my own chickens although I have done 'Chicken-Sitting" with somebody else's in the winter. There is a really good thread started with only three pages of it so far with lots of good info on winter care of our birds in the extemely cold climates. I don't know how cold it gets in NS in the winter....possibly warmer than Winnipeg or Minnesota.

here is the thread:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/700016/heat-lamp-or-no-heat-lamp-for-cold-weather

 

[leadwolf1]

Sometimes, chickens will gorge on something that they really love. I would pick up those apples or, not let the hens at them. One a day would be fine for all to share. She probably had one heck of a belly ache. I've had chickens do this a couple times. Corid certainly wouldn't hurt as a backup. You can also find and buy it online.

Good luck with your hens!

 

[Reurra]

I got my chickens for the first time in April. Im a new chicken mamma, but i do lots and lots of reading. I even get a chicken magazine!! Im thinkng that yes, it must have been the apple. Maybe she got a seed. The apples are really small, though ripe. They are about a size larger than a ping pong ball so the seeds are smaller than sunflowers.

 

[Missa Chickabee]

It's my understanding that it's the pesticides on the apples that are more a danger than the seeds. But I am going to cut out the seeds JIC...only takes a sec.

This youtube video is addressing humans and the apple seed issue. I have since heard that in small quantites they are beneficial to us.