Will the cocci ever leave?

[CrazyChickensEverwhere]

Grrr, the feedstore sold me chicks and I have had cocci outbreak ever since! I entered them into the big flock without knowing they had cocci, I have lost 2 chicks and one big barred hen. I treated them with sulmet did not help. I brought home oral corid, and I have reconized in the coop a lot of them have poop clearing up, but I still see a couple bloody coops nd I am in day 3 treatment out of 5. Today I have a chick fluffed up like a football isnt moving much, GREAT ANOTHER ONE I BET ILL LOOSE. everytime cocci gets that far they dont make it!!!

 

[stargirl]

Oh no, I'm so sorry for you! You're doing everything right, so I really hope the end is in sight for your nightmare!

 

[Blue]

Sulmet is what I've been using on my 4 week olds, and it seems to be working well, so I'm not really sure what to tell you. Today is the last day of the Sulmet treatment, so I'm hoping that the Cocci is gone (I haven't noticed any bloody poo for a couple days now, and the chicks are all very active now). How many days did you give the Sumet? The full course is 6 days according to the instructions on the bottle I have.

I've never used Corid, so I can't really comment on it, but a couple things I did other than the medicine was to feed the chicks yogurt mixed with their starter feed to help keep their good bacteria up (make sure the yogurt states that it has live and active cultures). I've also been mixing in powdered milk with their feed every day, but that's due to the Sulmet because I'd read several posts on here mentioning doing this to coat their stomachs to help the Sulmet be less stressful on them; it's said to be a much stronger medicine than Corid, or at least much rougher on the chick's system.

 

[speckledhen]

Sulmet actually will make their intestines continue to bleed longer than they would if you used Corid. Sulmet is a sulfa drug, very hard on the gut. Could be your little fluffed up one has bad damage. Corid usually clears it up within five days, but you may need a second round of it. A man I know who is a PhD in poultry science says to use Corid first, then if it is still around, do one round of Sulmet, give them plain yogurt daily for a week, then if it still shows signs, do another of Corid. Corid is concentrated amprolium, completely different from Sulmet, so you cannot really compare the two of them.

All the while you are treating, keep their environment completely dry and the waterers and feeders very clean so their poop wont be ingested that so much through the water and feed (they poop in water, the oocycsts are ingested by another chick and the cycle goes on).

 

[Katydid2011]

The best advice I can offer is:

1. Make sure you isolate obviously sick birds and treat both the sick birds and the entire flock.
2. Make sure that they only have access to medicated water.
3. Re-mix your Sulmet solution every 24 hours.
4. Thoroughly clean out your coop, lay down new bedding, and keep it scrupulously clean and dry (using pine pellet bedding really helps to keep things dried up and you can scoop it clean like kitty litter).
5. Scrub out your feeders and waterers.

I've also seen more success when the recommended dosage of Sulmet is slightly increased. I can't recommend it because I'm not a veterinarian; it's simply something I've observed.

I know Sulmet is harder on the gut but providing plain yogurt seems to help a lot. Once the dosage of Sulmet is complete and the cocci is cleared up, provide vitamins and electrolytes in the water, and stay with the yogurt for awhile.

Best of luck to you! I hope everyone is soon healthy and that you don't suffer any more losses.