Baby chick poo concerns

[Chicklady1026]

I had a chick the other day who was lethargic, wear, not eating or drinking. I took her to the vet, they gave me an antibiotic and said it “possibly” could be coccidiosis. I got my chicks from a hatchery and had them all vaccinated. She passed away two days ago.

I have another chic who seems to be completely fine. But I noticed her poop is light, and very runny. She’s only a week old, and has electrolytes in their water. I may be paranoid, is this concerning or normal? Should I treat the whole flock for coccidiosis just incase? Or should I add probiotics to their water to help with the runny poo?

 

[ChickyCh00k]

Sorry about your chick loss. Did the hatchery vaccinate specifically for coccidiosis? The hatcheries I'm aware of only vaccinate for Marek's disease. Even chicks who were vaccinated for coccidiosis can get it if they're exposed to enough to overrun the system. The vaccine is designed to help boost the immune system against coccidiosis, but it's not 100%.

Did the vet do a fecal float?

Symptoms of coccidiosis are rare prior to 3 weeks of age (because of the life cycle of the protozoa), but I don't know if it's *impossible* for it to show up before that.

What is your brooder setup like? Are all of the chicks 1 week old? How many chicks and how big is the space? What type of litter are you using? What type of feeders/waterers are you using? What are they being fed?

 

[Chicklady1026]

Thank you, and no I don’t think they were vaccinated for coccidiosis. And the vet did not, they gave an antibiotic for coccidiosis thought, and I have given my other chicks a dose of the antibiotic, so I may continue doing that.

I have them in a large plastic container, their water and feeder are just the regular containers from rual king/tractor supply. And I have them on non-medicated chick starter. All the chicks that are in there are 1 week old. There’s only five of them (the five came in late and I have 4 chicks that are 4 weeks old, they are in a much bigger brooder now. And they had the same set up my chicks have now and they are doing perfect.

The only difference is, when they were delivered, they were delivered to my boyfriends sister in laws house and she had the babies in with the four weeks old and they were unfortunately ran all over, and we aren’t too sure if they were able to reach the water. (When we get more chickens, they won’t be delivered there)

 

[ChickyCh00k]

Do you know the name of the drug the vet gave you?

If the chicks have the ability to poop in feeders/waterers, it will increase the chances of coccidiosis (using nipple waterers with something underneath to catch drips, and closed feeders can help).

Additionally, if the waterers make the bedding wet, and there is chick poop building up on it, coupled with heat (if you are using a heat lamp), that also creates conditions in which coccidia thrive. Changing bedding often and making sure it stays dry is key.

Do you have pics of the chick/poo in question?

 

[Chicklady1026]

Do you know the name of the drug the vet gave you?

If the chicks have the ability to poop in feeders/waterers, it will increase the chances of coccidiosis (using nipple waterers with something underneath to catch drips, and closed feeders can help).

Additionally, if the waterers make the bedding wet, and there is chick poop building up on it, coupled with heat (if you are using a heat lamp), that also creates conditions in which coccidia thrive. Changing bedding often and making sure it stays dry is key.

Do you have pics of the chick/poo in question?

I am using just bedding pellets seems to stay pretty dry. We use a heat plate rather than a heat lamp. And I don’t have a picture of what came from my chick, but I’ll post one that I found that looks very similar

 

[Chicklady1026]

Do you know the name of the drug the vet gave you?

If the chicks have the ability to poop in feeders/waterers, it will increase the chances of coccidiosis (using nipple waterers with something underneath to catch drips, and closed feeders can help).

Additionally, if the waterers make the bedding wet, and there is chick poop building up on it, coupled with heat (if you are using a heat lamp), that also creates conditions in which coccidia thrive. Changing bedding often and making sure it stays dry is key.

Do you have pics of the chick/poo in question?

Sulfadimethoxine is the antibiotic they gave me

 

[ChickyCh00k]

I am using just bedding pellets seems to stay pretty dry. We use a heat plate rather than a heat lamp. And I don’t have a picture of what came from my chick, but I’ll post one that I found that looks very similar

This can be a normal cecal poop, which are expelled about every 8-10 times a chicken poops. If the poop looks like this and there's no blood or watery mucous, I would not be worried unless any chicks are acting sickly. It could be that your chick who passed was weak and failing to thrive and that it was not coccidiosis.

The only way to know if the other chicks have coccidiosis is to take poop to the vet for testing. I'm not sure I would give the sulfa drug to the others without seeing obvious signs (acting ill - not eating/drinking, real diarrhea, blood and or mucous) or getting the fecal float test. Of course, that is a personal choice.

They may just need some NutriDrench or Poultry Cell in their waterer to give them a boost if they were stressed at your family member's house, but the poop in that picture would not concern me if everything else seems normal.

 

[Chicklady1026]

This can be a normal cecal poop, which are expelled about every 8-10 times a chicken poops. If the poop looks like this and there's no blood or watery mucous, I would not be worried unless any chicks are acting sickly. It could be that your chick who passed was weak and failing to thrive and that it was not coccidiosis.

The only way to know if the other chicks have coccidiosis is to take poop to the vet for testing. I'm not sure I would give the sulfa drug to the others without seeing obvious signs (acting ill - not eating/drinking, real diarrhea, blood and or mucous) or getting the fecal float test. Of course, that is a personal choice.

They may just need some NutriDrench or Poultry Cell in their waterer to give them a boost if they were stressed at your family member's house, but the poop in that picture would not concern me if everything else seems normal.

Okay thank you so much for your thoughts!

 

[SueT]

Welcome to BYC!
Coccidiosis is not treatable with antibiotics. It is a parasite that causes bloody diarrhea...which yours doesn't look like. But it is treated w amprolium, which is in medicated feed, or it can be bought as a liquid concentrate added to water.
Are they eating anything other than the feed? No fruits or veggies?

 

[ChickyCh00k]

Welcome to BYC!
Coccidiosis is not treatable with antibiotics. It is a parasite that causes bloody diarrhea...which yours doesn't look like. But it is treated w amprolium, which is in medicated feed, or it can be bought as a liquid concentrate added to water.
Are they eating anything other than the feed? No fruits or veggies?

Her vet gave her a sulfa drug (not an antibiotic), which is used to treat coccidiosis.