Weak chick and worm-like poop

[darlingdarla]

These chicks have been one of the most stressful experiences of my life. This is my third time with baby chicks and I thought I would be able to handle anything, I was very wrong. Our shipment got lost in the mail, three chicks were dead on arrival and the two survivors were weak and lethargic. I managed to get one to seem better, but then, long story short, the second one fell about two feet onto wood floors and was sore from that. This is my original thread that details all their ordeals. https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...asting-and-swaying-on-her-feet.1395657/page-2
She was acting a lot better yesterday but today she became drowsy and weak seeming. I was keeping a close eye on her and this evening I found this in their brooder.

I don't know what this thing is. I thought it was an unusually light colored poop until I examined it closer and picked it apart.


It looks like a worm to me, it reminds me of a mealworm or maggot.
I have probiotics and electrolytes in their water but also had them on nutridrench two days ago. I change their paper towels, feed, and water daily and clean their brooder as best I can. They're on Dumor brand non-GMO non-medicated chick starter and they will only eat it readily if I mix it into a wet mash every few hours. One of them is a buff silky bantam who is acting perfectly normal and the other is a mille flure d'Uccle bantam, the d'Uccle is the one who fell and the one acting weak right now. She spends most of her time under the heat lamp standing with her head tucked in and her tail lowered and sleeps, or at least closes her eyes, very often. The way she's standing reminds me of coccidiosis, but there's no blood, diarrhea, or yellow color in their usual droppings.

I don't know what to do for her. I'm keeping her warm and making sure she's drinking and eating. I can't imagine this poop is actually a worm, they're only ten days old and haven't been outside yet, I've also been very careful about moving between them and my adult flock.
Any knowledge and advice anyone can give me is greatly appreciated, I feel way out of my depth.

 

[azygous]

It appears the chick may be pooping pus. It looks like the salpingitis pus poops older hen pus when they have a reproductive infection.

Have you called the place that sold you the chicks and shipped them? This shouldn't be happening with such a young chick.

 

[darlingdarla]

It appears the chick may be pooping pus. It looks like the salpingitis pus poops older hen pus when they have a reproductive infection.

Have you called the place that sold you the chicks and shipped them? This shouldn't be happening with such a young chick.

Okay, what can I do to help her now?
I've been in contact with the hatchery, if the d'Uccle dies they'll ship me new chicks, if she makes it I'll get a refund. They've been really great and are just waiting for me to make a decision.
As for the post office we are filling a complaint, the way they handled the chicks was so obviously wrong it's upsetting.

 

[Eggcessive]

It resembles cecal casing seen in cecal coccidiosis. Hopefully, it is just a weid poop, but you could compare it to those pics below. But she seems like she is a bit young for coccidiosis. See post 12 in this thread for pictures of possible caseous cecal core from Eimeria tenella coccidiosis:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...-cecal-core-excretion-coccidia.1270073/page-2

Here is some more info:
https://www.semanticscholar.org/pap...08038e8f5a6aad8588b3cafc0c99f4659518/figure/1

 

[darlingdarla]

It resembles cecal casing seen in cecal coccidiosis. Hopefully, it is just a weid poop, but you could compare it to those pics below. But she seems like she is a bit young for coccidiosis. See post 12 in this thread for pictures of possible caseous cecal core from Eimeria tenella coccidiosis:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...-cecal-core-excretion-coccidia.1270073/page-2

Here is some more info:
https://www.semanticscholar.org/pap...08038e8f5a6aad8588b3cafc0c99f4659518/figure/1

That's exactly what it looked like for ths most part, I had no idea these existed. I guess I'll treat them for coccidiosis, the way she's standing reminds me of when my first few chicks got it two years ago but it's weird she's only eleven days old as of today.

 

[azygous]

I went back to that thread that mentioned the cecal core coccidiosis, and this poop from your chick does resemble that. It's a stretch of the imagination to try to figure out how such young chicks could have been exposed to coccidia at such a young age.

It almost would have had to happen during their shipping from the hatchery to take into account the seven day incubation period. The only way that could happen would be for someone to handle the chicks after poking around in garden soil with bare hands and not washing up.

Truly a puzzle. It can't hurt to treat with Corid.

 

[Eggcessive]

Corid certainly won’t hurt, but I don’t know if that is what is going on or not. A fecal float by a vet might shed some light on if it is coccidiosis or not.

 

[darlingdarla]

I went back to that thread that mentioned the cecal core coccidiosis, and this poop from your chick does resemble that. It's a stretch of the imagination to try to figure out how such young chicks could have been exposed to coccidia at such a young age.

It almost would have had to happen during their shipping from the hatchery to take into account the seven day incubation period. The only way that could happen would be for someone to handle the chicks after poking around in garden soil with bare hands and not washing up.

Truly a puzzle. It can't hurt to treat with Corid.

Corid certainly won’t hurt, but I don’t know if that is what is going on or not. A fecal float by a vet might shed some light on if it is coccidiosis or not.

I already put corid in their water to be safe, two years ago I had a brood that developed coccidiosis at eight days old but never expelled a cecal core. Back then I emailed the hatchery to complain because they clearly got it there or during shipping, I got a refund easily and they dealt with it. If that's what it is I can email the company, they've been extremely helpful through all this and I still have the choice between getting a refund or reshipping new chicks. At first I chose the refund, but when the d'Uccle got sick I emailed them again and they can still send me chicks if I lose her and the silky is left alone.
Right now I have liquid corid in their water at a half teaspoon per quart and I mixed a few drops into their morning wet mash. Unfortunately there's no poultry vets near me, would one of those mail kits work?
I'm keeping a close eye on them and their droppings, the d'Uccle is eating and drinking this morning but her wings are droopy and she's holding her tail down. It's obvious she dosen't feel great but is struggling to keep up with her brood mate.
What else can I give them to help? Any vitamins I should mix into their feed or something like that?

 

[azygous]

Hold off on vitamins as they can interfere with the Corid treatment.

Having a positive coccidia poop test would give you tremendous ammo when talking to the chick vendor. Was it MyPetChicken? Meyer Hatchery in Ohio handles their chick hatching and shipping, and that could be the original source of contamination. It's a mystery that everyone should be interested in solving.

Call your vet and ask if they will run the fecal on some chick poop. Assure them they don't have to get involved with treating any chickens, that all you need is the fecal float. Depending on their level of arrogance, they should be happy to oblige. My vet doesn't care where the poop comes from, they'll run the poop test regardless. But then I've know this vet for 25 years.

 

[darlingdarla]

Hold off on vitamins as they can interfere with the Corid treatment.

Having a positive coccidia poop test would give you tremendous ammo when talking to the chick vendor. Was it MyPetChicken? Meyer Hatchery in Ohio handles their chick hatching and shipping, and that could be the original source of contamination. It's a mystery that everyone should be interested in solving.

Call your vet and ask if they will run the fecal on some chick poop. Assure them they don't have to get involved with treating any chickens, that all you need is the fecal float. Depending on their level of arrogance, they should be happy to oblige. My vet doesn't care where the poop comes from, they'll run the poop test regardless. But then I've know this vet for 25 years.

I figured vitamins were a no, I know I couldn't give them nutridrench but it's been two years since I dealt with this so I'm scrambling for information.

Yes it was My Pet Chicken, I've gotten every chick I've raised from them, three broods total including these babies and have had nothing but good experiences thus far. After seeing the three deceased chicks I don't know if I'll ever get up the nerve to order birds online again, it's so stressful waiting for them to arrive and losing three of them was jarring. I'll be emailing them some time soon.

I can call my reptile vet, I haven't gone to them in years but they should remember me, they had some interesting experiences treating my rescue lizards. They might be willing to run a test, I used to get fecal floats done every six months, but they can be pricey since they were exotics, maybe it'll be less for a chick. I'll call anyway, I can use whatever money I get from my refund to pay.

Anything else I can do for the chicks in the meantime? If I remember correctly corid treatment is five days, I have them in a quiet room in the house and am paying extra attention to the brooder temperatures. They get fresh wet feed every hour or so, they won't eat dry feed for some reason. I'm keeping a close eye on their droppings but haven't seen anything weird since the cecal core/mystery mass last night.