Pullet keeps getting sick after I take her off of medicine...please help. I don't know what to do...

[tlouiselle]

I have a 4 month old silkie pullet who can't seem to shake her illness. She and another one came down with a mild case of coccidosis at the same time. There was no blood in the stool but they were both losing weight, fluffed up, droopy wings, and heads were close to their bodies. I seperated them from the flock and began treatment with sulmet. They perked up quickly and my husband finished the treatment when I left town for the holidays. They were doing great and when he left town to meet me, a friend of his came to watch the critters while we were away.

Just to be on the safe side, we decided to keep the two seperated from the flock while we were away. My husband changed their shavings before he left.

When we came home one of the pullets was VERY sick again. This time she had lost a lot of weight, there was blood in her stool, she was very weak, fluffed up. I immediately started treatment again and cleaned their pen. I discovered that the friend who had watched them while we were away had spilled a TON of water in the shavings and did NOT clean it. There was a lot of mold under the shavings from the spilled water that the chicks had been living on. (I was VERY angry).

With clean shavings and treatment she perked up again. I treated her for the 6 days that is advised on the bottle. She was doing GREAT. No more blood. Running around. Putting weight on.

Now, 2 days after treatment ended, she is back to sleeping a lot, tail is slightly droopy, and her head stays down, almost parallel with the ground. She is definately not feeling well and getting sick again. She just can't seem to shake it.

I don't know what to do? Should I treat her again for cocci? I have a vita-pro b concentrate with electrolytes? An antibiotic?

 

[Eggcessive]

Sulmet will treat the 2 worst strains of coccidiosis. Corid (amprollium) treats all 9 or more strains. I would try to take in a stool (or a couple) sample today to a vet, and have them examine it for coccidia, worms, and do a gram stain for bacteria. Enteritis is an illness that can follow coccidiosis, and it needs to be treated with antibiotics, such as Tylan, amoxicillin, oxytetracycline, doxycycline, Gallimycin and others. She also may have one of the chronic strains of cocci that the Sulmet would not completely treat. Here is some reading about coccidiosis and enteritis:
http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/poultry/coccidiosis/overview_of_coccidiosis_in_poultry.html
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/12/coccidiosis-what-backyard-chicken.html
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseaseinfo/101/necrotic-enteritis/
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/publications/6/diseases-of-poultry/184/necrotic-enteritis/

 

[tlouiselle]

Thank you. Good to know about Sulmet. This is all so new to me. I don't want to make the wrong choice. I do have amprol-128 that first state vet supply recommended...

Okay, off to find a vet...

Thank you so much

 

[Eggcessive]

Please let us know what happens, and good luck.

 

[tlouiselle]

Thank you I will Fingers crossed.

 

[tlouiselle]

UPDATE: I will probably post a new thread now. She was very still and sleeping this morning. I knew she had not eaten. Her crop felt very doughy...so I googled it. So many different opinions on what to do...

I ended up giving her warm water and olive oil with a syringe, massaging it, then halping her throw it up. I did this twice. She was MUCH more alert afterwards...I read to give soft food so I gave her scrambled eggs. She HOOVERED them. I have homeopathics in her water...I may force her to take water with a syringe because she doesnt seem to be drinking much.

Her poop is normal/dry

Something odd...she is still holding her head funny. I don't know if this is just her, or from illness?

 

[Eggcessive]

She may be having symptoms of wry neck. Is she still holding it that way? Be very careful making her vomit--if done wrong, it can cause her to aspirate. If she aspirates oil, then that can cause lipid pneumonia. Massage her crop often and give her water as much as she will take. Put some vitamins in her water, or give her 1-2 ml of Poultry Nutri-drench which contains vitamin E and selenium, good for wry neck.

 

[tlouiselle]

It is like she has symptoms of both. After we emptied her crop this morning she was active and willingly ate scrambled eggs. Keeps holding her neck like this though. Now she wont eat/drink willingly at the moment. Her crop has not emptied since she ate this morning either. I keep massaging it. She has vitamin E and selenium in her water that I am giving her too.