Silkie chicks dying

[kimandmark3]

And coccidia didnt show up in their poop with mine either but after dosing with Corid, the rest lived.

 

[Folly's place]

It's just not possible for newly hatched chicks to die that soon because of coccidiosis. The life cycle of the parasite doesn't happen that fast.
Mary

 

[Blooie]

Well, my Silkies go outside to live on the dirt the rest of the flock is always on, just as all my chicks do, from almost Day 1 and I’ve never even seen Coccidia. I have never purchased a bag of medicated food. I bought a bottle of Corrid the first year I had chicks, and the seal is still intact - 7 years now. So it might depend on other factors as well. I don’t use a heat lamp, ever. I toss dried leaves in there for them to use as litter. They start getting treats at 3-4 days old, with a clump of sod for them to play with and to find their own grit. Temps outside are still in the teens and twenties. Yet the only Silkies I ever lost were shipped from a hatchery, and I never did put them outside because of the way they were dying. The ones I hatched myself went out at the usual day-and-a-half old and they thrived. I’m also not big on using any medication without a concrete reason for doing so, but that’s me.

I’m not trying to be argumentative. But there are tons of people on here who can tell you that I’m telling the 100% truth about my methods and results. Is it for everyone? Nope, absolutely not and I freely admit that. But if there was only one “right” way to raise chicks this entire website could be read in half an hour. Silkies are notoriously fragile in shipping. It stinks. None of us want to lose chicks for any reason.

To the OP, if you believe its coccidia, you should certainly treat for it. I don’t happen to think it is but I am not there and you are, and I‘d never diagnose and prescribe without a license and from long distance. We’re all just heartbroken for you and hope you can resolve the problems soon!

 

[Jdutton24]

Thanks so much. I don't think coccidia either. The 2 left seem great

 

[rlhagan56]

Corid is an anti-Cocci medication which blocks Thiamine to treat for Cocci. It is the same medication that is used in chick starter medicated feed, Amprolium, They are the same except medicated feed has a small amount for the intention to build up immunity in the new chicks to Cocci in their surroundings. You CAN use the medicated feed and Corid together.

Do not use Corid if your chicks were vaccinated against Cocci. They cancel each other out but medicated feed DOES NOT.

I advise withholding electrolytes or other vitamin supplements while using Corid since it blocks Thiamine, wait until treatment is over. There are also preventative treatment amounts and treating for Cocci amounts. You can research on here and find a lot of information.

Edited to say Corid is not an antibiotic. Medicated feed help chicks develop resistance to Cocci with small amounts of Corid .Corid blocks Thiamine so that Cocci cannot grow and cause illness and death. Some people like to use medicated feed, others do not like to use it. But it's a pretty safe bet that if your chicks are lethargic and dying, it's Cocci, just from my experience from 46 years of raising chickens. Only my Silkies were ever sick with it.

 

[rlhagan56]

I just went back and read posts. 88 degrees is not enough for chicks. Secondly here is some reliable information;

https://the-chicken-chick.com/coccidiosis-what-backyard-chicken/

 

[rascal66]

Corid is an anti-Cocci medication which blocks Thiamine to treat for Cocci. It is the same medication that is used in chick starter medicated feed, Amprolium, They are the same except medicated feed has a small amount for the intention to build up immunity in the new chicks to Cocci in their surroundings. You CAN use the medicated feed and Corid together.

Do not use Corid if your chicks were vaccinated against Cocci. They cancel each other out but medicated feed DOES NOT.

I advise withholding electrolytes or other vitamin supplements while using Corid since it blocks Thiamine, wait until treatment is over. There are also preventative treatment amounts and treating for Cocci amounts. You can research on here and find a lot of information.

Edited to say Corid is not an antibiotic. Medicated feed help chicks develop resistance to Cocci with small amounts of Corid .Corid blocks Thiamine so that Cocci cannot grow and cause illness and death. Some people like to use medicated feed, others do not like to use it. But it's a pretty safe bet that if your chicks are lethargic and dying, it's Cocci, just from my experience from 46 years of raising chickens. Only my Silkies were ever sick with it.

Darn, must be some misinformation out there about medicated feed and corid. I recalled the opposite, but because it is amprollium, its basically the same thing. Are there other 'medicines' used in medicated feed other than amprollium? I feel foolish.

 

[Blooie]

I feel foolish.

Why? We’re all here because once upon a time we didn’t know a something.....or many somethings! And no matter how long we’re here, we still don’t know every something!

 

[Folly's place]

Firstly, my understanding is that one meal of amprolium treated feed wipes out the coccidia 'vaccination', because it's actually a small dose of a weak strain of living coccidia, so the vaccine has no benefit then.
If there's not a big problem with coccidiosis in your chicks, then the medicated feed is likely not necessary. One year that might not be true any more, and coccidiosis can kill or severely weaken the chicks, if that's the year that treated feed should have been fed.
It's about assessing risk, and how risk adverse you are.
Years ago antibiotics might have been included in some feeds, mainly for commercial flocks. That's no longer legal in the USA. Amprolium is fine because it's NOT an antibiotic!
Mary

 

[rascal66]

Why? We’re all here because once upon a time we didn’t know a something.....or many somethings! And no matter how long we’re here, we still don’t know every something!

You're too kind! Thank you,
I genuinely remembered a member battling with coccidia and people saying something along those lines... Unless it was goats I was thinking of? I think medicated goat feed uses a different ingredient other than amprollium? Still, I should study a bit harder before recommending/stating something! But now I've learned something and might even consider using medicated feed in the future.