Rooster sick with Cocci?? Please help.

[cluckcluck42]

Well yesterday my one year old rooster was lethargic, tail down, puffed up, looking sick. He is still walking around okay, eating, and drinking. We went to the local feed store to buy some Clorid (I believe that is what it is called) or whatever they had for Cocci. It has been wet around here in the last few weeks so I assumed it was Cocci, as well I found some bloody poops in the past few days. No other birds are showing any sign of illness whatsoever.

The first feed store cannot legally sell any, so I go over to Ontario and their feed store only has "Neo-Chlor" which is Tetracycline and Neomycin Sulfate. It says on it to dissolve one whole pouch into 225 L of drinking water for 3-4 days. 225 Liters is a whole lot, so obviously this is for big farms or something. It says on it NOT for laying birds.

Is this the right medication? If not, where the heck do I find it?!?! I also got them powdered vitamins, should I give that to them now or after the medication?? I need to get something into my sick rooster. If these ARE the right meds what are the proper doses for a backyard flock? I have around 45 birds, from 2 month olds to adults.

Argh!

Edit: Changed topic title. I am not so sure it is Cocci anymore, I jumped to that because of the bloody poop. Any ideas?? And what about the bloody poop?? The bloody poop is always in a normal looking poop, in the white stuff, in a brightish red chunk. I originally thought it was shed intestinal lining. Do I treat for Cocci because of the bloody poop?? What could be wrong with my rooster?

 

[cluckcluck42]

I should also note the blood in the poop is at the center of the white part of the poop, and none of the bloody poops I have seen were diarhea or watery. All seemed very normal poops. If this rooster was not sick, I would have shrugged it off as shed intestinal lining.

 

[cluckcluck42]

Okay so apparently Tetracycline is not used to cure Cocci, what the heck do I do now?? Should I give them the antibiotics anyways? I dont really like that idea since only one bird is showing illness. Should I just give him the antibiotics or should I just give him the vitamin boosters in his water at this point? Should I give them ALL the vitamins in the water?

What to do! Argh. I hope I dont lose my rooster, he is a dear friend of ours.

 

[PunkinPeep]

The medication you're looking for is Corid - which is a brand name for Amprolium. I would call the store back and see if they have any form of Amprolium.

That said, your rooster may not have cocci. It is unlikely for older birds to have a problem with cocci after being on the same land for so long. I think i would look into other possibilities.

As to the vitamins, if you do treat for cocci, you should wait until the medication is done to give him the vitamins. Giving vitamins to the whole group won't hurt a thing.

If i were you, i would isolate that rooster, so you can watch him more carefully and get a more educated idea about what's bothering him. I would start by seeing if his crop is stopped up.

 

[cluckcluck42]

I am wondering that too, maybe he does not have Cocci after all. But there ARE bloody poops so someone is pooping out blood around the place. My Rooster seems to be 'okay' sometimes then he will be by himself puffed up. He pooped in front of me and I ran inside to take a pic. The things we do for our chickens! It had no blood in it but was a greeny colour. I am going to upload it

The feed store had nothing else, that was all they had in terms of medicine. I really have no idea where to buy Amprelium, I may have to find it online.

What could the bloody poops mean if it is not Cocci? Like I said none of the other birds appear sick and I have 2 month olds that I would assume would show symptoms before my one year old rooster. No one has diarhea and the blood in the poop is brightish red and seems to be in a chunk rather than all through the poop. They are free ranged, have lots of room and eat well.

We caught him last night from the roost and put him in our big isolation cage and he crowed and raised such a fuss we put him back out a few hours later. I thought that being that stressed would not help him at all so that is why I put him back. I can go catch him again if he lets me (he is still getting around fine and wont want me to catch him). I did not think to check his crop, I jumped to Cocci because of the bloody poop I had seen.


Here is a picture of Pedro... the only physical thing i can see is his comb seems to be a bit purple at the top, havent noticed that before. The white stuff on him is poop, not sure why but he got pooped on. I have seen him eating and drinking and he still seems pretty alert..

 

[PunkinPeep]

You said, earlier, that you would normally have passed off the bloody poop as intestinal lining? Is that still true?

If you can catch him (and if you can't, maybe he's not really that sick), you might just give his crop a very gentle massage in case something is lodged in there, making passage difficult.

Otherwise, maybe check him first thing in the morning, while he's still on the roost.

I hope he gets better quickly.

I know you can get Corid online at a couple of places; just google it. It's labeled for cattle, but it's the same ingredient we use.

 

[cluckcluck42]

Quote:
Well, now I am too worried to pass anything off. But yeah I was pretty confident it was just shed intestinal lining. I had googled some cocci poops right after I saw it and nothing sent off alarm bells and I am pretty prone to having alarm bells sent off. My understanding of Cocci is first it is the symptoms then it is the bloody poop. There are no birds showing any symptoms (besides the roo)

I read your blog on Cocci, and how you described is how all my birds are raised. They are exposed to the adults mess from an early age because that is one thing I had read before getting chickens and it stuck with me as something that made a lot of sense. THey will build resistances to it only if they are exposed to it in healthy conditions. All my birds are free ranged, healthy and eat very well. I did buy some new young birds over a month ago but they were quarantined, appeared very healthy and were let out with the group recently.

I'm going to have to get the Corid from a vet, or perhaps I will buy it online. Not sure if I will be able to since I am in Canada. In my province they will not sell any kind of antibiotic or anything over the counter. I had to go to Ontario to even get the Tetracycline. But the feed stores do not sell Corid or anything like that.

Thanks so much for posting, I appreciate it. I am off to try to catch a gigantic rooster.

 

[cluckcluck42]

The rooster was appalled at me picking him up. He loves to hang around me, so it wasnt hard grabbing him but there was almost no way I was going to be able to lift him up and feel his crop. Each time I had him he did a general freak out where I was pretty concerned about his spurs impaling me. I think he is feeling a lot better.

I guess now I just have to decide if I should medicate for Cocci. It won't hurt anybody right? Better safe than sorry??

If I see bloody poop but no symptoms, I should still medicate?

 

[cluckcluck42]

Spoke to the lady at the vets office, I am going to be getting the meds either tomorrow or the next day. First she wants to know how much water they drink which I am not quite sure since we regularly dump and redo the waters, and we have about 4 of them. How much water would 40 chickens go through in a day??

 

[PunkinPeep]

Quote:
I'm glad you read my cocci rant. I don't remember all of what it says, so let me explain another point that makes me think this is not cocci. If the chicks do not develop a gradual resistance to the protozoa in your area, then the overwhelming infestation, called coccidiosis, usually takes place 2 to 4 weeks after initial exposure. Then after they get over that infestation, they are resistant to those specific strains for life. Thus, a one year old rooster that has been on the same land for his entire life is very unlikely to develop an overwhelming infestation.

Now, if those new birds you brought in happened to have a different strain of cocci protozoa, and the rooster had access to their poop, to the extent that it overwhelmed his system, then it is possible that this is cocci. However, i would expect the hens his age to be suffering from the same trouble.

I'm not a doctor or a vet or a scientist, and i don't personally know your set-up; i'm just sharing with you my train of logic, based on what i have learned about coccidiosis. If he has poops that look like they could be intestinal shedding, and he is spry enough to threaten my safety when i try to feel his crop, and no other birds are looking ill, i would personally not medicate anyone. I would give him a couple of days to show me that whatever was bothering him has worked itself out.

I would personally not medicate. Corid works by blocking vitamins - vitamins that might otherwise help him recover. And i have never used an antibiotic - and wouldn't unless it was on a wounded animal. That's just me.

Hoping this is something that just works itself out.