Possible Coccidiosis..Please Help!

[KayTee]

Did you treat all of the birds at the same time, and did you follow the dosing instructions on the pack?

The problem with sulfadimethoxine is that it is an antibiotic, which you don't want to keep giving to all your birds unnecessarily. The best thing to do would be to get a sample of the poop that is worrying you and ask a local vet to check it for coccidiosis. Even a vet that doesn't normally treat chickens should be able to do that, as puppies and kittens often get cocci as well.

I recently had a very similar situation to you - one two-month old chick that I thought hadn't got over the cocci after treating with sulfadimethoxine, even though all the others seemed to be fine. When the vet checked her poop (and he didn't even charge me for it) he said he couldn't find cocci, but he did see worm eggs, so I wormed them all and she's been fine since!

 

[GarnerZoo]

I did treat all the birds at the same time, and followed the instructions on the package.

Thank you so much for the input, I will watch her so I don't get the wrong poo sample. How much did it cost to get it tested??

 

[KayTee]

I've just seen your last post. Shaking her head could be a sign of mites - they cause irritation. Does she seem to be preening or scratching herself more than usual? There are two types of blood-sucking mites that can cause anemia in chickens - Northern Fowl Mites that live on the bird all the time, and Red Poultry Mites that live on the roosts, in the bedding and in cracks in the coop walls and come out at night to feed on the birds.

I would still take a poop sample to the vet to get it checked out, but also check your bird for mites; if it is northern fowl mites then they will be visible on the skin and at the base of the feathers, especially under her wings and on her belly. If it is red poultry mites then you need to check the roosts (especially the underneath of them) - last thing at night the mites will start to come out (they will be grey if they haven't fed recently), and in the morning if you rub a white tissue underneath the roost you will see red smears if there are mites there.

 

[KayTee]

It was a vet that I have used two or three times before, and he didn't charge me anything for the test. He did recommend a wormer, but I already had some so I didn't even need to buy any from him!

It's not too difficult for them to do - they just smear the poop on a slide and look at it under a microscope - so even if he does charge you it shouldn't be too much. If you think about it, even if he charges you a few dollars, it could save paying for a medicine that doesn't do any good, so you won't be any worse off!

 

[GarnerZoo]

Just checked for mites and didn't see any, will check again tonight just in case. Thanks again for the help

 

[GarnerZoo]

Checked again for mites and did not see any, she's a little tiny bit more active than the others when they were sick and when she pooped (I was glad to get a sample) it was so runny and watery I couldn't get any. Will try again tomorrow. The original chicken that was acting sick is acting that way again now making it my top priority to get a sample and into the vet.

 

[GarnerZoo]

Would it hurt to put it in just one more night?

 

[GarnerZoo]

She pooped but there was so little of it that I don't think it's going to be enough to sample it. Do you know how much they need? It's just liquid too

 

[KayTee]

They don't need much - they smear it across a slide - so half a teaspoonful would do. If you are still worried and don't have any other ideas or options then if you start treating again for cocci don't just do it for one day, do a full 5 or 6 day treatment (or until a vet tells you otherwise).

 

[GarnerZoo]

The only thing she eats is corn at the moment. We bought them as babies and that's what we've given them as a treat every day so I think it's comforting for her. Would a lot of corn make her sick? I want to make sure she eats but she's not eating her food or anything else.