Pullets dying ... need help

[jdsooner]

Hi,

I've got some young chics / pullets that are dying about 1 every other day. The syptoms are I will see a chicken being REALLY lethargic and it is only somewhat responsive if I touch it. It has its eyes shut and with in the next 1/2 day to day it's dead.

I'm wondering if this is some kind of parasite or bacterial infection?

Any help would greatly be appreciated. The chickens dying are between 2 to 4mo old. The mature chickens seem to be fine.

I've had this problem before with another batch of chickens(different kind of chicken and from different local person I bought from).

HELP ! Thank you.

 

[tweetr1979]

What is it's poop like? Are you doing quarantine each time you get new birds or do they all go in with each other?

 

[BantamLover21]

First of all, what are you feeding them? Next, are any of the droppings bloody? That is one sign of Coccidiosis which affects young birds. It most commonly occurs in chicks, but I had a 7-month pullet a few weeks ago who obviously has Coccidiosis. She, fortunately, responded with treatment.

Even if yours don't have bloody droppings, that doesn't mean that they don't have Coccidiosis. I'd would try treating treating them with Corid, which can be purchased from a livestock/farm supply store, or ordered online. The dosage is 1/2 teaspoon Corid liquid (that is what I used; there is a powdered version) per quart of drinking water for 5-7 days. You should see improvement about 3 days after beginning treatment. Change the Corid water daily. While treating, you can give probiotics, but do not give vitamins, as they can interfere with the Corid's effect.

If Corid doesn't work, you could try putting your chicks on an antibiotic in case it is a bacterial infection. Some good antibiotics include Tetracycline and Terramycin (also known as Oxytetracycline). The Terramycin dosage is 1/8 teaspoon powdered Terraymcin per cup of drinking water for 7-14 days. I don't know what the Tetracycline dosage is, but you can probably find it by searching the Internet or looking on BYC.

Best of luck! Its always hard when you lose birds.

 

[Eggcessive]

The liquid Corid dose is 2 tsp per gallon of water, 1/2 tsp powder Corid to 1 gallon water. Yes it sounds like you may have coccidiosis in your flock. There does not have to be blood in the poop. Treat all chickens for 5-7 days, change water every day.

 

[jdsooner]

 

[jdsooner]

Above is pic of one I just found in the very non responsive state

 

[Eggcessive]

Until you get corid, you can give them butter milk or regular milk with some corn meal or feed made in a slurry. This will coat the gut until you get the med. You need to get it ASAP.

 

[jdsooner]

Ok thanks for info. Going to feed store first thing in the morning.

 

[jdsooner]

What cause it by the way?

 

[BantamLover21]

Coccidia are protozoan parasites found everywhere in the environment. If they are gradually exposed to Coccidia after leaving the egg, chickens can build immunity to Coccidiosis. However, there are nine different species of Coccidia, and birds usually only develop resistance to the Coccidia in their specific area. If a bird is moved to another location, where other birds are living and the type of Coccidia is possibly different, the bird can get overloaded with this new type of Coccidia. When this happens, birds becomes droopy and weak, and lacks appetite. If not treated, the Coccidia will almost always kill the bird.