Treating a severe case of coccidiosis

[Beau plus penny]

On August 2nd 2020 we noticed my silkie hen acting lethargic with her feathers puffed and not necessarily tending to her then 4ish week old chick. We treated the whole flock with Corid as we suspected coccidiosis and after 48 hours there were no improvements with her conditions so we stopped treatment. As time progressed her symptoms got worse and at the same time we were also dealing with a possible mite infestation so we thought that she was actually anemic from the mites. We made sure to syringe feed her high protein/high iron foods (egg yolks, blended chicken thighs and molasses) as well as monitoring her. August 7th/8th her condition quickly declined. Now she could barely walk and if she did she was stumbling constantly, she barely could open her eyes, she wouldn’t eat on her own and she had green poops which I was quickly informed was a sign of nutrient malabsorption. We continued syringe feeding her water with electrolytes, egg yolk and other high protein/high iron blends. After calling 4 vet clinics (2 of which could only take chickens) we were able to see a vet on August 10th. We were grateful that the hen gave us a fecal specimen in the box in the car on the way over as the vet thought he found a possible nematode egg but he was also convinced that she was suffering from a bad case of coccidiosis. There, they treated her with a single dose dewormer and we were given three syringes of 0.4ml Baycox coccidiocide to treat her for three days as well as continuing syringe feeding her glucose, iron and protein. He said that there was only so much we could do to treat her as her intestines were probably severely damaged and that’s why she had green poops and is so lifeless.

We were also told she’s malnourished and weighs around the same as her now 6 week old chick (around 565g if I’m remembering correctly) which makes sense because she lost an absurd amount of weight during her brood off of her already small and likely underweight body. It also seems now she is developing some kind of wry neck as well as she had a slightly impacted crop a few days ago which we resolved with olive oil and massages. From my understanding the vet doesn’t think it’s the end of the line for her and with proper supportive care she’ll make a full recovery. It’s certainly been a roller coaster of emotions and a will-she-won’t-she situation but I am so grateful we’ve gotten the help we so desperately need.

Right now she and her chick are in a dog kennel in the house. Her condition hasn’t improved but we didn’t expect her to “come back from the dead” overnight. Her supportive care right now consists of being syringe fed ~1ml water with electrolytes and ~1ml of various protein/glucose/iron rich foods every 1 hour or so from 6am-7pm. We don’t want to asphyxiate her because her neck is weird so we don’t give it all at once but she licks it up quickly. Her poops are small and green still, I don’t know how long it’ll take before we start our uphill journey back to normalcy.

Corrid can take days to weeks to fully recover coccidiosis is very destructive to there inner intestinal lining it breaks it down like a parasite so recovery is very gradual but worth it

 

[Debbie292d]

10 mg enrofloxacin/kg bodyweight per day for 3-5 consecutive days.

or 10mg per two pounds body weight.

I'm disappointed in your vet for not giving you the information you legitimately requested. That isn't a sign of a professional.

On a different thread, the OP told me liquid Baytril, so I found what Wyorp said and posted it.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...or-a-five-pound-rooster.1398314/post-22948121

And btw, this is the same vet that not only told OP to stop the Baytril after only two days, but when the OP asked about their having some calcium +D3 at home, the vet said no, to just give the Tums. I do not like this vet!

 

[Ccort]

10 mg enrofloxacin/kg bodyweight per day for 3-5 consecutive days.

or 10mg per two pounds body weight.

I'm disappointed in your vet for not giving you the information you legitimately requested. That isn't a sign of a professional.

I meant to say I'm giving her .1 cc, twice a day. Is that correct? The hen it was for is actually bigger than this one and that was her dose.
I wish she would have instead of leaving me guessing, which is really all I've been doing since all this started.

 

[Debbie292d]

I meant to say I'm giving her .1 cc, twice a day. Is that correct? The hen it was for is actually bigger than this one and that was her dose.
I wish she would have instead of leaving me guessing, which is really all I've been doing since all this started.

Whew! I thought you were majorly overdosing her! Now you're underdosing. That's okay. If you want to finish her up, do a few more days of doubling that each time.

 

[azygous]

@Debbie292d thanks for that clarification. I'm not really up on Baytril.

Could you state the dosage per pound and the length of time it should be given so we all have the correct information?

 

[Perris]

@Debbie292d thanks for that clarification. I'm not really up on Baytril.

Could you state the dosage per pound and the length of time it should be given so we all have the correct information?

See @Eggcessive 's post here
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/please-give-advice-with-baytril.1489845/#post-24842157