Still have Bloody Poop after Corid treatment - Now What??

[HidingInTheHenHouse]

So I've been fighting Cocci for about a month now. I had it first in the hens, and successfully treated them for it with Corid. Not too long after the hens were doing so much better, I noticed bloody poo in my then 3 1/2 week old meat birds. This didn't make much sense because they are on medicated feed, but as I just kept an eye on it, the bloody poos increased, so I decided to treat them with Corid too.

Now I've just finished the initial 7 day treatment at 10 cc per gallon, and some of the birds continue to have the bloody poops. Not as many as before, and not as runny, but definitely still bloody. What should I do? Continue treatment at the 10 cc per gallon? Until when? Get another test done by a vet? (maybe it's not really cocci this time.)

Thanks for the advice all. Cocci has been a real pain this year.

Sarah

 

[tiki244]

First How long have they been off the meds and did you give probiotic?

 

[HidingInTheHenHouse]

Yesterday was their last day of the treatment at 10 cc per gallon. The treatment period continues at a lower dose of 2.5 cc per gallon for 2 more weeks. They are getting the lower dose as of today.

No, I didn't give any probiotics. Can I get those at the feed store, or do I have to go to a health food store?

 

[Andora]

You can just give them some plain yogurt! Kefir (in a bottle near the milk at health food stores) is a strong probiotic drink...mine love it, especially if I drop something like cooked corn down it it to encourage them to peck and drink. My whole family likes to drink kefir in smoothies, it's great with fruit...

 

[tiki244]

Yeah I dont want to give the wrong advice

 

[silkiechicken]

Interesting. If you could get a fecal float test done to see if it really is cocci, that would be ideal before treating again or with somethig new. Stopping treatment or treating with the wrong drug can often do more harm than good. Since you are treating meat birds, do be wary of sulfa based drugs, as there is a withdrawl time if I remember right as people with sulfa drug alergies can react to it in their food.

Medicated feeds often only contain amprolium and acts by inhibiting the reproduction of cocci in the gut of the birds. However, if the concentration of cocci is so high in the litter/soil, doesn't matter if the cocci reproduces in the gut or not, because they eat so many from the ground that it over loads their body.

There is also a small chance, that the paticular cocci in your soil has become resistant to the cocci meds and have found a way to circumvent the metabolic pathway ordinarly blocked.

 

[HidingInTheHenHouse]

I really hope it is not a resistant strain. I had a fecal float test done to confirm the Cocci in the hens; the vet said the concentration was not high, but it was there. The meat birds have never been in the area where the hens are, and they are on wire about 2 inches off the ground, but their poop looked very much like the infected hens, so I assumed Cocci in them as well.

I will go ahead and get a sample to the vet today to see if it really is Cocci. Maybe I am dealing with a worm or something else.

I am avoiding the Sulmet type drugs because of the withdrawal time and because I read the Amprol/Corid was a better drug for it anyway.

Thanks for the advice.