Pooping Blood

[ardagh23]

Hello,

I'm new to chickens and my small flock is in need of some help. I have at least one bird that has blood in it's excrement. I've looked at it and can't see any worms, but perhaps they're too small for the naked eye. I have 1 rooster and 4 hens right now. They're were all raised together from week old chicks. None of the hens are laying eggs yet because they're too young but should start soon. The average age of the 5 birds living together is about 4 months. The rooster just started crowing about 3 weeks ago. Also I've noticed that recently the rooster will sometimes pin down the hens by grabbing their necks with his beak and then he has intercourse with them. I'm wondering if this intercourse is causing the blood in their excrement? I inspected all of their vents and the back of their necks, including the rooster, and non appear to have massive abrasions/cuts.

I also have 2 pullets that were just purchased but they're living in quarantine for the time being because I read when introducing new hens they need to be kept separate for at least two weeks. I got these new birds because I read that 4 hens are not enough for one rooster and that he may over sex them.

Please help as I'm really worried about the health of my chickens.

Thanks.

 

[ten chicks]

Hello,

I'm new to chickens and my small flock is in need of some help. I have at least one bird that has blood in it's excrement. I've looked at it and can't see any worms, but perhaps they're too small for the naked eye. I have 1 rooster and 4 hens right now. They're were all raised together from week old chicks. None of the hens are laying eggs yet because they're too young but should start soon. The average age of the 5 birds living together is about 4 months. The rooster just started crowing about 3 weeks ago. Also I've noticed that recently the rooster will sometimes pin down the hens by grabbing their necks with his beak and then he has intercourse with them. I'm wondering if this intercourse is causing the blood in their excrement? I inspected all of their vents and the back of their necks, including the rooster, and non appear to have massive abrasions/cuts.

I also have to pullets that were just purchased but they're living in quarantine for the time being because I read when introducing new hens they need to be kept separate for at least two weeks. I got these new birds because I read that 4 hens are not enough for one rooster and that he may over sex them.

Please help as I'm really worried about the health of my chickens.

Thanks.

Look up info on Coccidiosis. Cocci is an parasitic infection of the intestinal tract. Some symptoms are runny/watery poop(may or may not contain blood)fluffed feathers,lethargic. If symptoms match,purchase Corid(amprolium) Dosage for Corid powder is 1/2 tsp per gallon of water. Dosage for Corid liquid is 2 tsp per gallon of water,treat all chickens for 5 days,do not give vitamins during treatment(interferes with medication)give vitamins after treatment. There are 9 species of Coccidiosis,so it is possible new girls may have introduced a different strain that what your girls have immunity to. Very common for chickens to have an overload of cocci. Coccidiosis does kill very fast.

 

[ardagh23]

Look up info on Coccidiosis. Cocci is an parasitic infection of the intestinal tract. Some symptoms are runny/watery poop(may or may not contain blood)fluffed feathers,lethargic. If symptoms match,purchase Corid(amprolium) Dosage for Corid powder is 1/2 tsp per gallon of water. Dosage for Corid liquid is 2 tsp per gallon of water,treat all chickens for 5 days,do not give vitamins during treatment(interferes with medication)give vitamins after treatment. There are 9 species of Coccidiosis,so it is possible new girls may have introduced a different strain that what your girls have immunity to. Very common for chickens to have an overload of cocci. Coccidiosis does kill very fast.

One minor point of clarification. The new gals have not been introduced yet to the existing flock. They're in my garage in a temporary, makeshift, coop until I know they don't have any issues. I just got the new hens last night.

Is it possible that Coccidiosis could be introduced by wild birds? Wild birds hangout on top of the run my small flock uses because it's an elevated grapevine.

Thanks for the tips. I'm going to research cocci. If I treat them how can I still eat their eggs when they start laying?

 

[ten chicks]

One minor point of clarification. The new gals have not been introduced yet to the existing flock. They're in my garage in a temporary, makeshift, coop until I know they don't have any issues. I just got the new hens last night.

Is it possible that Coccidiosis could be introduced by wild birds? Wild birds hangout on top of the run my small flock uses because it's an elevated grapevine.

Thanks for the tips. I'm going to research cocci. If I treat them how can I still eat their eggs when they start laying?

Yes, i realize this but,cocci is spread by droppings,can be carried on your clothes,shoes,hands,etc. so it does not matter that they are separated.

 

[ardagh23]

Yes, i realize this but,cocci is spread by droppings,can be carried on your clothes,shoes,hands,etc. so it does not matter that they are separated.

Yes you're right. I didn't think about it that way. I really think it is cocci. I'm going to the feed store today and hopefully they have the liquid solution to treat their water.

Thanks again!

 

[ten chicks]

Yes you're right. I didn't think about it that way. I really think it is cocci. I'm going to the feed store today and hopefully they have the liquid solution to treat their water.

Thanks again!

I see in above post you just brought new hens home,in this case your original gals just came down with an overload of cocci. Make sure you treat all chickens.

 

[ardagh23]

In the pursuit of possibly helping others I would like to share my experiences and information gathered.

This video is amazing at explaining what Cocci is, how it affects the birds, and general practices to safeguard against the Cocci overload.


The day before I made this post is when I first discovered the the bloody excrement. I observed that the feeder and waterer both were dirty and had excrement on them. I noticed that the feeder and waterer were below a branch. Normally the chickens were not using this branch but obviously they had started using it for a perch at night. I immediately cleaned both of them with disinfectant and then rinsed them with a lot of water from the hose. The next step I took was to move them to a better location not under any perch or potential perch. The final step I took was to add Apple Cider Vinegar (3 tablespoons to 3 gallons) to their water.

I did consider using a medication I purchased at the feed store however I declined because I was worried about eating the eggs after using the medication. I learned from my research that Cocci can kill the birds but sometime it does not and that birds that survive the disease are immune to it going forward. Likewise chicks that are started on medicated chick feed and then get exposed to Cocci at an early age become immune to that variant of Cocci. I've learned that there are 9 strains of Cocci which can infect chickens.

At this point my bird seems to be on the recovery trend. I did notice that on Tuesday/Wednesday she was listless, lethargic, and wouldn't eat. She also wasn't foraging anymore either. She would only drink. As of today she's drinking, eating, and foraging. None of the other birds ever showed any signs of being sick. They were all started on medicated chick feed but over the course of the last few days I didn't use any additional medication.

I believe were "out of the woods". They're all still alive, appear to be thriving, and the video is saying that if they're going to die it's around the 4th-6th day of infection.

Well that is my newbie story.

What do you all think? Will I be able to eat the eggs from this bird? Would it be possible to use her as a meat bird ever?

 

[Chickery Chick]

Cocci is bacteria not a infectious disease or virus such as Marecks disease in chickens, parvo in dogs, or flu/cold in humans.
Becoming immune to a certain virus by pre exposure to it is true, but cocci is not a virus.

Cocci usually shows up in the very young or animals that have compromised immune systems.

Immunity comes from the animal getting older and their own immune system functioning at optimal levels, not from pre exposure.
A 2nd time cocci outbreak in a puppy reoccurring (getting it again) is very common if it is re-exposed to the bacteria prior to the puppies immune system functioning at optimal levels (usually under 4mo.)

 

[bugglesmommy]

http://pluckandfeather.com/chicken-poo-chart-graphic.html

 

[Fancychooklady]

If you have been giving them chick starter then you have been medicating them . Amprolium is the active constituent in the feed or if you choose to , you can give them corrid in their water for 5-7 days. Amprolium is only a vitamin B inhibitor and there is no withholding period.