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[Mrs_B]

Four weeks ago our Amber went downhill and she spent some time at the vets, who discovered she has lesions caused by coccidiosis.

 

We gave all the chickens Coxoid plus we cleaned everything (literally, everything) with Bi-OO-Cyst Disinfectant - the treatment finished last Friday morning (we treated over a longer period to treat a bad outbreak because we've had this horrible infection before).

 

However over the past few days Big Sister hasn't been right, she ran over for meal worms on Wednesday, but today she is very bad. Her poos are watery and green again. She laid but that's the only positive thing, as I can rule that out as being the problem. They were started on Avipro today, I realised on Monday I had ran out after only using it after a Tylan treatment the month before!

 

I think though, the cocci has done too much damage. Has anyone experienced this after treating a flock? The others look fine, but I have a feeling Big Sister may have felt better but has succumbed quickly.

 

Tomorrow I'm off on a 40 minute drive to Dursley to a specialist vet as my usual one is great normally but this other one is very good at these illnesses and can take a chicken in right away as it's also a hospital.

 

I just have a very bad feeling I didn't spot it quick enough this time

 

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[Beantree]

Is it not something completely different like sour crop Mrs_B ? Perhaps your flock would benefit from Beryl's Tonic?

[Daphne]

Don't beat yourself up, cocci can be an awful disease with spikes of illness which can strike at any time and you've obviously been doing everything right to try to prevent it and get rid of it:( . Hopefully the vet will be able to give you some comfort, but be aware (and I don't mean to be the voice of doom, but its as well to be prepared) that some strains of cocci are so bad that birds never seem to thrive even if they recover, although most of them aren't so bad. I have only had cocci once, and unfortunately it was a bad strain and I ended up culling birds for months afterwards as they appeared to be OK, but weren't.

[miller30]

Don't beat yourself up, cocci can be an awful disease with spikes of illness which can strike at any time and you've obviously been doing everything right to try to prevent it and get rid of it:( . Hopefully the vet will be able to give you some comfort, but be aware (and I don't mean to be the voice of doom, but its as well to be prepared) that some strains of cocci are so bad that birds never seem to thrive even if they recover, although most of them aren't so bad. I have only had cocci once, and unfortunately it was a bad strain and I ended up culling birds for months afterwards as they appeared to be OK, but weren't.

 

Agree totally I managed to save one out of a batch of 16 last year that caught a chill and went down with cocci it was up and down for 7 months she seemed to be making progress and then went down again with it and died im now strict any birds that get cocci I call it a day leanne

[Mrs_B]

Thank you so much everyone for replying

 

Well, I went to the vet and unfortunately the specialist wasn't in, the vet I saw was good though and knew basics. Big Sister did a magnificent sample over the side of the table which was basically water and some green bits in it. She seemed a bit perkier until she went to the toilet then she hunched up. The vet suggested starting coxoid again and he took a sample. I am going to be baffled if there is coccidiosis again, and I am a bit unsure of the coxoid treatment after doing a longer than normal treatment period which only finished a week ago. I am going to ring for the vet who is all knowing on the subject of chickens on Monday morning, so hopefully I'll know more. Ideally they'll take her in to check the lesions and possible damage.

 

Big Sister has been picked on by the others since being poorly, so I have her in a big dog crate in my chicken shed with her own space as the other Mrs B kindly suggested in my other topic. This morning she did a normal chicken poop! This is the thing, she has good moments and very bad moments. Her feathers are very dry and not lovely and soft like they were, I am thinking maybe the gut is damaged so nutrients aren't getting into her system which is why her feathers are this way? She was tested for mites and lice and she was clear when she was staying at the vets.

 

Beantree - it definitely isn't sour crop, though 4 weeks ago I thought it was, as everything pin pointed to it. After she was examined by the vet they discovered her poops also had blood and then they found it was coccidiosis. I would prefer the sour crop option at this point...

 

Daphne and miller30 - I suspected this is what you both might say, thank you for posting. I do beat myself up because I feel guilty for not recognising things like this quick enough. I am sad to hear about your experiences, cocci is awful - it's frustrating when you try your hardest and it seems to be one step ahead I didn't use the proper disinfectant the first time I had it as my original vet wasn't sure, though I used Virkon and we moved the chickens to a new location in the garden for the WIR. I was dealing with Blackhead too so it was confusing. I think I need to be strong because Big Sister looks OK today, but I know she's not right. Hopefully a short vet stay will tell me everything I need to know next week so I know 110% what I need to do. Thank you again - I seriously appreciate it.

 

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[Daphne]

For what its worth, I found coxoid to be useless against the strain I had, and in future I wouldn't bother with it, I'd go straight to baycox (which is prescription only). This isn't surprising really as coxoid is a pigeon med. TBH I'm with Leanne on this one, if I should get cocci again I would cull immediately unless the hatch was particularly precious for some reason even though I know most strains are not fatal but I wouldn't want to put myself or my stock through the experience again.

[Mrs_B]

I have never heard of baycox - I will note this down and let my vets know (if they don't already!) I will ask what strain Big Sister had on result, as I never thought to ask last time or when I got her result this time round. It will be interesting to know.

 

As my girls are over 2 years old now I am very anxious about everything going wrong and me having to make a decision. I think I know the answer with Big Sister, but the others look brilliant - they never showed symptoms this time.

 

I disinfected every inch I could, down to every nail and up the wall of the WIR - I threw away their mobile and other things that were hanging up as I thought they were too complex to clean thoroughly, so it's easier to buy things again. I even cleaned my chicken shed - every bottle, shelf and the floor. The last thing that was cleaned was my and my other half's wellies and the rake we used for the woodchip as this was the last area that was 'touched'. It's so difficult to know if this was ever enough.

 

Thank you again

 

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[Mrs_B]

Just an update...

 

Various samples were taken and I got the results today as they were sent to a more specialist place to find out strains etc but coccidiosis isn't in the samples at all!! I am pretty happy about that, although I know it may come back one day.

 

Big Sister stayed at the vets for 2 days and they found the problem is her liver function. It could be damage caused by the cocci but her blood test showed a possible infection so we are treating her for that. The staff loved her apparently as she has a beautiful sweet 'purr' like cluck and she loves attention! She perked up I think because she wasn't being bullied too. I tried partitioning her off from the others when she came home so they could see her, but Big Sister went up to the side and Pebble really caught her wattle and drew blood (the other two didn't care Big Sister was there, just Pebble). So she's back in the chicken shed with her own space. She seems happier and I want her to not have the added stress as I can't guarantee she won't get hurt. I can do any intros if she gets better. She's been on Tylan for 3 days, not a huge improvement, still pale (but eating and drinking) so on Monday she may be started on something else. It was a choice of two meds...though I am not sure what the other is called. She's also on avipro.

 

I also have news on Lady's beak - I will post on the appropriate topic though.

 

So Big Sister isn't all OK and I don't know the damage 110% but I am relieved at least cocci seems to have gone for now...I feel like I have done something right at least.

 

Thanks, everyone.

 

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