Sick hen, treated for coccidiosis, ups & downs - now what?

[PNW keeper]

A new chickenkeeper here..

I have a sick 14 week old cream legbar named Lizzo among my flock of 8 chickens. On Saturday, 6/11 here were the symptoms I noticed:

- pale comb and feet
- lethargic
- feathers looked unkempt
- wobbly on her feet and hunched
- diarhea present in the coop (couldn't determine who it was from, but Lizzo was the only one showing these other symptoms)
- no blood in the diarhea

After posting in another thread https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/possibly-sick-hen-please-help.1532387/#post-25843946
I began treating her and the rest of the flock for coccidiosis with Corid. 2 tsp of liquid Corid in a gallon of water.

Things did not improve. A couple days ago she would not stand up or come out of the coop. She started getting pecked at a little bit by another bird, so I decided to let her rest peacefully in a tote box in the garage with food and medicated water. I would dip her beak to make sure she was drinking. I thought she would soon pass.

But to my surprise, she has started drinking and eating on her own. She is now able to stand, still hunched, and generally unstable on her feet. But what do I do now? I've lowered the dose of Corid since day 5 of treatment. Do I continue as I'm doing? What should I expect? Anything else I should try?

Side question, if she is able to recover to the point where I can put her back out in the coop, do I need to reintroduce her to the flock in any way? Or should they remember her?

Saturday, 6/18

Sunday night, 6/19

 

[GermanKennhuhn]

I would continue the corid for a few more days, if she does not improve I would switch over to vitamins and electrolytes, keep her as warm and comfortable as possible. @azygous

 

[Idaho Chicken Bungalow]

She's beautiful

 

[azygous]

Give her a drench dose of the Corid. That would be undiluted Corid liquid .5ml directly into her beak for the next three days along with the Corid water.

There's a chance this is infection and she might need an antibiotic. It would be wise to try to locate one. Call your pet stores and ask for amoxicillin 250mg or 500mg. The dose is 250mg once a day for tn days.

Has it been hot? Did her trouble begin right after a hot spell by some chance? Your location is important. If it were up to me, everyone would be required to enter their general location in their profile as it would save us a lot of time asking the same questions over and over.

 

[Eggcessive]

When she is stronger and getting better, be slow about reintroducing her to the flock. Placing her in a wire dog crate covered on top with a towel and with food and water, is a good way to get her back with them, but keep her from being pecked. They may have attacked her because she seemed to be acting strange, losing balance and not being able to walk. The most time I have found for one to be out of the flock without pecking problems is about 5 days, but it depends on the chickens. Once she has been back, you can try some supervised free ranging.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

I began treating her and the rest of the flock for coccidiosis with Corid. 2 tsp of liquid Corid in a gallon of water.

Her crop looked swollen in that photo from your first thread.. did you ever check for crop function?

Was she vaccinated against Marek's?

 

[PNW keeper]

Give her a drench dose of the Corid. That would be undiluted Corid liquid .5ml directly into her beak for the next three days along with the Corid water.

There's a chance this is infection and she might need an antibiotic. It would be wise to try to locate one. Call your pet stores and ask for amoxicillin 250mg or 500mg. The dose is 250mg once a day for tn days.

Has it been hot? Did her trouble begin right after a hot spell by some chance? Your location is important. If it were up to me, everyone would be required to enter their general location in their profile as it would save us a lot of time asking the same questions over and over.

Thanks for the advice. We are in the Seattle area. I agree on knowing the location info (that's why it's in my username actually!) Things have not been hot, very mil.d

Would you suggest using a syringe to get that into her beak? Or another method?

I will look for an antibiotic as well. I may follow up with other questions.

 

[azygous]

Eye dropper or oral syringe. Questions, ask away.

 

[PNW keeper]

Eye dropper or oral syringe. Questions, ask away.

Is there a risk of overdosing the Corid? At one point I read the risk is low. But when I chatted with a vet they said to contact animal poison control to check if the diluted dosage is ok, but that may just have been misinformed advice.

Another commenter (@EggSighted4Life) mentioned checking the crop function. I don't know how to check this. What are your thoughts on this? My flock is not yet free ranging and they get minimal scraps from the kitchen (blueberries, yogurt, watermelon rinds.. nothing that require to be broken down really). Also, I do have chick grit mixed in with my birds' food.

My chicks have not been vaccinated for Marek's disease.

 

[PNW keeper]

When she is stronger and getting better, be slow about reintroducing her to the flock. Placing her in a wire dog crate covered on top with a towel and with food and water, is a good way to get her back with them, but keep her from being pecked. They may have attacked her because she seemed to be acting strange, losing balance and not being able to walk. The most time I have found for one to be out of the flock without pecking problems is about 5 days, but it depends on the chickens. Once she has been back, you can try some supervised free ranging.

The one time she was 'attacked' is when she fell from the ramp going up to the coop when she was coming out, so that understandably startled them. But it resolved quickly. Only my cockerel continued to curiously peck her in an exploratory way.