Shed Intestinal Lining or Coccidiosis?

[chickenpooplady]

I have 39 broilers that just moved outside to their tractor from the brooder a few days ago. When I went out today I found 3 or 4 poops with blood in them. My first thought was coccidiosis but now as I am doing more research I was thinking that it might just be shed intestinal lining. What do you all think? Thanks!

 

[casportpony]

I would treat for coccidiosis.

-Kathy

 

[BantamLover21]

I would begin Coccidiosis treatment. Purchase some Corid powder or liquid from a livestock supply store (its generally sold for cattle). The Corid liquid dosage is 1/2 teaspoon liquid per quart of drinking water, and the Corid powder dosage is 3/4 teaspoon powder per gallon of drinking water. Replace the water daily, and treat for 5-7 days. Improvement is usually seen after the first 3 days.

As far as I know, there is no withdrawal period when treating meat/egg laying birds with Corid. However, how close to slaughter are the broilers? IMO, if slaughter is only a few days away, you might be better off not spending time and money treating them with Corid if their life is almost at an end.

 

[casportpony]

I hate to have to say this again, but the Corid powde dose for moderate outbreaks is 3/4 teaspoon, it is never 1/2 teaspoon. The preventative amount is 1/3 teaspoon. Still working on the math for the severe outbreak dose, but I'm pretty sure it will be close to 1.5 teaspoons.

1 teaspoon Corid powder = ~ 560 mg
1 teaspoon Corid liquid = ~ 480 mg

-Kathy

 

[BantamLover21]

I hate to have to say this again, but the Corid powde dose for moderate outbreaks is 3/4 teaspoon, it is never 1/2 teaspoon. The preventative amount is 1/3 teaspoon. Still working on the math for the severe outbreak dose, but I'm pretty sure it will be close to 1.5 teaspoons.

1 teaspoon Corid powder = ~ 560 mg
1 teaspoon Corid liquid = ~ 480 mg

-Kathy

Sorry. I just keep coming across posts that say 1/2 teaspoon, so that is what I keep thinking of. I'll go edit my post...

 

[MarcoPollo]

I would treat for coccidia. And that's my advice from having nearly lost all of my hens recently due to coccidia and hookworms. They were shedding their intestinal lining (gelatinous blood) but also had watery, bloody poops too. My hens turned really pale, had a reduced appetite and lost weight fast. Soon the green poops appeared as well. I thought they were all as good as dead but here we are over 3 weeks later and they are improving. I treated them with Albon (at first, cause I couldn't get Corid right away), then with Corid. They also had fenbendazole.
I guess you could wait and see what tomorrow's droppings look like, but if it's more of the same or worse, then treat. I think there is no withdrawal time with Corid. We are doing a month withdrawal time for our hens, but that's because of the Albon.
Good luck - I hope your chicks will be ok. I'm not familiar with raising broilers, so I am assuming that they are on chick starter feed - is it medicated?

 

[chickenpooplady]

I would begin Coccidiosis treatment. Purchase some Corid powder or liquid from a livestock supply store (its generally sold for cattle). The Corid liquid dosage is 1/2 teaspoon liquid per quart of drinking water, and the Corid powder dosage is 3/4 teaspoon powder per gallon of drinking water. Replace the water daily, and treat for 5-7 days. Improvement is usually seen after the first 3 days.

As far as I know, there is no withdrawal period when treating meat/egg laying birds with Corid. However, how close to slaughter are the broilers? IMO, if slaughter is only a few days away, you might be better off not spending time and money treating them with Corid if their life is almost at an end.

Thanks. They are 4 weeks old so it will be 2-3 more weeks before they are slaughtered. We moved their tractor to a new patch of grass so that the healthy ones were not near the infected poop. Then we separated the five sick ones. I cleaned their feeders and waterers really well and I put a bunch of apple cider vinegar in the water. It seems like they started to perk up after they drank the apple cider vinegar water. I am just going to watch them for a few days and see how they do on the apple cider vinegar. Because they are meat chickens I really don't want to treat them. However, if nothing else is working and it continues to spread I will. Thanks for all your help and I will keep you updated.

I would treat for coccidia. And that's my advice from having nearly lost all of my hens recently due to coccidia and hookworms. They were shedding their intestinal lining (gelatinous blood) but also had watery, bloody poops too. My hens turned really pale, had a reduced appetite and lost weight fast. Soon the green poops appeared as well. I thought they were all as good as dead but here we are over 3 weeks later and they are improving. I treated them with Albon (at first, cause I couldn't get Corid right away), then with Corid. They also had fenbendazole.
I guess you could wait and see what tomorrow's droppings look like, but if it's more of the same or worse, then treat. I think there is no withdrawal time with Corid. We are doing a month withdrawal time for our hens, but that's because of the Albon.
Good luck - I hope your chicks will be ok. I'm not familiar with raising broilers, so I am assuming that they are on chick starter feed - is it medicated?

Yes, they are on chick starter/grower feed but it is not medicated. I was just getting ready to switch them over to grower/finisher. We don't use medicated feed on our chicks. Thank you so much for your advice. I gave them some apple cider vinegar in their water and they seemed to be better so I am just going to see what happens and treat if needed.

 

[MarcoPollo]

Yes, I forgot about ACV - it is great! I stop giving it here in the south though when it gets super duper hot. I have read that it is not a good idea to give ACV when in a hot climate. And the heat here in the south is sickening

I gave buttermilk to my hens to soothe their gut before I could get any kind of treatment for them, so maybe you could add that too. Knowing you have about 2-3 weeks to go makes the decision to treat a tough one. I can understand why you would wait and see. Not to mention, I understand not wanting to give medication if it's not necessary.
I had a sample of chicky poo tested at a veterinary clinic. That's always an option too I guess, to verify what you are dealing with. I already knew by the symptoms that my hens had coccidia, but the results helped confirm that and also made me realize that I had to treat for hookworms; otherwise the hens were still going to have that to contend with.

 

[Eggcessive]

If you are worried about Corid not being organic, it is a thiamine blocker--not an antibiotic. I know of other here on BYC who don't like to medicate their chicks unnecessarily, still use Corid on cocci outbreaks. With meaties, most people do use medicated feed with Amprollium the same weaker ingredient in Corid.

 

[casportpony]

Due to some confusion on dose amounts regarding the powder, I decided to do some research and this is what I have so far. For those of you that use powder Corid, if you have been using 1/2 teaspoon per gallon (~280mg) you haven't been using enough.

The preventative dose (.006%) for Corid Powder is 1/3 teaspoon.
The preventative dose (.006%) for Corid liquid is 1/2 teaspoon.

The moderate outbreak dose (.012%) for Corid Powder is 3/4 teaspoon.
The moderate outbreak dose (.012%) for Corid liquid is 1 teaspoon.

The severe outbreak dose (.024%) for Corid Powder is probably at least 1.5 teaspoon, but I haven't done the math for it yet.
The severe outbreak dose (.024%) for Corid liquid is 2 teaspoon.

Corid mixing instructions for preventative and moderate outbreak dosing.
http://www.corid.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/CORID Slim Jim-All.pdf
Amprol 20% powder:
http://www.asp-inc.com/products/documents/prodinfo/a/amp128.pdf
Amprol 9.6% liquid:
http://www.asp-inc.com/products/documents/prodinfo/a/amp96.pdf

FDA recommendations:
http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/animaldrugsatfda/details.cfm?dn=013-149
"Chickens
Indications: For the treatment of coccidiosis.
Amount: Administer at the 0.012 percent level in drinking water as soon as coccidiosis is diagnosed and continue for 3 to 5 days (in severe outbreaks, give amprolium at the 0.024 percent level); continue with 0.006 percent amprolium-medicated water for an additional 1 to 2 weeks."

And this link has these instructions:
http://www.drugs.com/vet/amprol-9-6-solution-can.html
"Poultry - as Soon As Caecal Coccidiosis Is Diagnosed, Give 0.024% Amprolium In The Drinking Water For 5 To 7 Days. Continue The Treatment With 0.006% Amprolium Medicated Water For An Additional One To Two Weeks. No Other Source Of Drinking Water Should Be Available To The Birds During This Time."

-Kathy

Disclaimer:
In the past I have treated my chicken chicks with 2 teaspoons of the liquid for 5-7 days, that's it, but I *might* try the .006% follow up the next time I have to treat chicks.