Possible Marek's?

[gypsyyrose]

Hi everyone! I have an almost eight month old silver laced wyandotte. She's been down for a few weeks. She was suspected to have coccidiosis. Her feces have been very runny, clear at times with a little bit of average feces in it. Our local vet proscribed her 5 cc's of Corid. I have been giving her the Corid straight, took her off it for a few days then gave her electrolytes, and eventually mixed in 1 cc of Corid. She eats periodically a mix of her regular feed and grounded up corn. The other day, I had her out in our basement yesterday to stretch her legs out and she's very tipsy. So tipsy that she rolled over head first! She can support herself for a little bit, but she always manages to topple over on her side. She can't hold her wings tight against her body either. She always stretches one out for support when she feels she is falling, and it's on her right side. She hasn't ate in the past 24 hours. For awhile, the color in her comb and wattles have changed color from light, pale pink to now medium red. I'm just at a loss. I feel like separating her from the rest of the flock (we have 12 layers, including her) and treating her with electrolytes and/or Corid isn't working. What would some of you suggest? Any advice is greatly appreciated!

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

When I dose my chickens for coccidiosis with Corid, I give 9.5 ml per gallon of drinking water for 5-7 days, mixing a new solution each day.

Have you been giving 5 ml of straight Corid per day or was it diluted with water and you gave 5 ml of the diluted Corid?

Corid is a thiamine blocker. Chickens after being on Corid for a long time at a high dose might be susceptible to a thiamine deficiency *I believe*. You might consider it, anyhow, since giving a poultry pack of vitamins is an easy way to determine whether that is the problem.

Thiamine deficiency can manifest as:
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/publications/6/diseases-of-poultry/216/vitamin-bi-deficiency

http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/206934.htm

My theory is that she may be now thiamine deficient after a large dose of Corid. I would start with giving her a poultry vitamin pack mixed in the water as the label states.

Some on here use baby vitamins (poly vi sol without iron) but I don't know the dose. You can search byc for it if interested.

Don't give vitamins with Corid at the same time, since Corid is a thiamine blocker and you would be feeding the cocci that you are trying to kill the thiamine.

If she still has diarrhea I would take her stool sample in to the vet (call first to see if they offer this service) to check for cocci and worms. A hen her age would get coccidiosis if immunocompromised from something else (like worms) or if exposed to different soil, from what I have read. She should be immune to the cocci in the soil at her age.

False negatives are possible with fecal float tests for worms.

In my experience, Corid clears up coccidiosis very quickly, with improvement noted within 24 hours. I would suspect worms or something else going on with continued diarrhea after Corid. A stool sample would be very helpful.

In addition, even considering worms, it doesn't explain the neurological problems you are seeing. I am sorry to say that I am not sure what is wrong. I hope this helps.

I would feed her scrambled eggs. If you can't get her to eat she will die very fast when she is ill. If you give her a worming medication while she is ill it could kill her. So it is important to consider worms but be very cautious if you do indeed intend to treat her. I would personally give vitamins first, check a stool sample with the vet, and then consider worming her if the result comes back negative for cocci and she has continued diarrhea.

Is there anyone else in the flock who has been losing weight or having diarrhea? Egglaying stopped?

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

In addition there are other causes of diarrhea, such as infection, so here is a chart:
(diagnosis charts at bottom):
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044


http://msucares.com/poultry/diseases/dissymp.htm
look here under digestive diseases if interested

 

[gypsyyrose]

Thanks for the advice! I dumped out the Corid/vita mix and gave her fresh electrolytes. Also, would giving her medicated feed work or am I better off getting her checked for worms? I failed to mention that her feces has/had a bit of green to it. We sent a sample to our vet a couple weeks ago and he did find a trace of cocci. Would it be dumb of me to take a second sample? As for the other ladies, none of them have had diarrhea. However, one did lose some weight. She was the first one to get cocci. We thought she broke her neck, so we took her to some Amish in the area to get slaughtered thinking that she was a lost cause. One of the daughters nursed her back to perfect health. Last month, we had about four come down with cocci. Egg production has been off. We put them on the Corid two weeks ago maybe? Before that, I would collect roughly 10 eggs every other day. Also, concerning the Corid, when are my eggs safe to eat?