TONS of rain here in Texas... Corid as preventative?

[kiraboo]

Hi guys... we are lucky enough not to suffer from flooding, but we've gotten an CRAZY amount of rain. My chicks are 2 months old and have been out in their coop for about a month now and are doing great. It's a huge covered run and I was going to let them eat all the grass first before laying down sand. Even though it doesn't directly rain in there, the clay ground is saturated and it's a now a huge stinky, squishy mess with standing water at times when it really pours. It drains out eventually but I'm really worried- no, paranoid about coccidiosis. Would there be any harm in treating them all with Corid as a preventative? They are no longer on medicated feed. I see them drink from the poopy brown puddles and cringe. I see the occasional red-tinged pieces in their droppings, but nothing consistent and nothing that screams coccidia. Thoughts? I've never used the stuff so I'm just not sure if I should use it strictly when necessary. When it all dries, I'm going to lay down sand as I heard you shouldn't do it while wet.

On another note... any fellow southeast Texas being affected by all the rain/flooding? Thinking of y'all...

 

[aldarita]

Hello there!
I am in the same boat you are (literally speaking) I'm in south central Texas and got tons of rain too. There is standing water everywhere. My 5 chicks are 9 weeks old and have been in the coop since they were almost three weeks old. I am also very concerned about them getting coccidiosis so I am watching them like a hawk every day. Several times a day I go to the coop-run area and check on their poop and their behavior. If their poop is healthy looking and they behave like healthy chicks, then they are OK. I do not want to give them Corid as a preventative, I try to give my chickens the minimum amount of meds as possible. I also have 2 hens living with them so I don't want to cage the chicks to give them corid unless it is absolutely necessary. They have free access to the yard and yes I also cringe when I see them drinking from those pools of rain water and eating the wet grass.

I usually give my chicks medicated feed, but this time I opted not to since they were going to be moved to the coop-run at a very early age (trying integration at three weeks old). I have been giving them nutrena Nature Wise starter/grower which has probiotics and prebiotics, also I add probiotics every day in their water. I started giving them grass and mixing sand from the hen dirt box when they turn 2 weeks old.

I have corid on the side just in case but I don't plan to give them anything unless I see a problem. This is a big concern of mine and I worry a lot about it but when I see them running around and doing all the things chicks normally do, I feel better but I am not turning my back to this, I continue to watch them and hoping that they survive with no problems.

My big yard has 19 adult chickens and they went thru the awful storms we had last May-June, I also had chicks then and thankfully they did not get sick.

I recommend you buy a bottle of corid and keep it handy in case you see an outbreak. Be very watchful, watch for loose droppings and unusual behavior like droopyness, not eating, not drinking, not being active.

I wish you the best of luck and hopefully we have seen the worst of the rain and we will dry out from here on

 

[kiraboo]

Thanks so much for replying back! It's comforting to hear that I'm not the only one with similar concerns. I do have my bottle of Corid on hand if needed (yay for Amazon!) and will continue to watch for off droppings and behavior. It's time for yet another bag of feed... I'm wondering if should put them back on medicated for the rainy season. What probiotics do you use? I have a couple of those Save-a-chick probiotic packets but it makes a whole gallon at a time and needs to be changed daily.

 

[aldarita]

I have read many posts on BYC about coccidiosis and there are many different opinions. Everybody speaks of their experience and what they do with their flock, some of them I trust because they are very experienced and use common sense. I am giving you my personal opinion based on what I have concluded after spending plenty a time reading posts about this topic. I also have to admit that it is very confusing because the opinions are so diverse.
I would not give your chicks medicated feed because the amount of amprolium in the feed is not enough to prevent an outbreak, medicated feed works fine under normal circumstances when the chicks are out in the yard and are developing immunity but in our case, I believe we are beyond "normal circumstances" to prevent coccidiosis you will have to add corid to the water in the preventative dose for chicks which is 1/2 a teaspoon per gallon for 5 or 6 days and repeat after three weeks. It is also recommended to give probiotics and vitamins after each treatment.
I have decided not to give the preventative dose to my chicks since I see they are fine (knock on wood) any med we give them will do some harm to their body so unless I see the symptoms appear, there is not corid for them and hopefully I can catch it soon enough to start treatment right away. This is why I am so paranoid and check on them several times a day.
Regarding the probiotics in the water, I use save-a-chick and divide the package into four (it doesn't have to be that exact, just look at the powder and figure out how you can divide it in 4) I use the one liter waterers they sell everywhere (the plastic ones with a red tray) and change the water every day.

 

[aart]

Problem I see with dosing water based meds during a flood is that they will be drinking water from other sources than the medicated water.
When you are using water based meds, it should be the only water available to them or the meds will not be applied in sufficient dosages.

Red tinges/pieces in feces is pretty common, pieces of intestinal linings slough off on occasion and is not necessarily a sign of cocci.

 

[aldarita]

That is a good point, the preventative dose wouldn't work as long as the chicks are out and about in the yard and there are pools of water, if the pools dry out then the dose will work.
As far as giving them a regular dose in case of an outbreak, I plan to keep them in their cage which I would hate to do but this way, for sure they will be drinking from only one source of water.

Another point to address is the loose poop, mine have loose poop every now and then (this is where I start panicking) but their behavior is normal, very active, drinking and eating right so since the heat has started (reaching 90 this week) they are drinking more water therefore loose poop. Not all the stripes of coccidia cause bloody stools, but if there is blood in them, like Aart said, it could be intestinal lining which you could easily see the tissue rather than just plain blood covering the stool.

Now, how are you doing with mosquitos?