Thick blood clots in Serama poop

[kwphotomom]

8 week old Seramas have bloody stool this morning. The blood has thick clots along with fresh blood as well. The actual stool itself does not have blood within it, but a lot of clotting and fresh blood is coming out with the stool. No behavior changes up until this morning. They seem a little quieter than normal, but still eating and drinking as usual.

I have cleaned the cage and separated all 3 to find out which one is having problems, so far I have confirmed that 2 of them are passing the blood, I suspect the 3rd is as well

History & Housing Environment:
Hatched under our silkie in a cage indoors. Put mama back outside about a week after hatch because she was just a little too rough with her scratching in the shavings and the 3 babies kept getting caught up under her feet. Since then, they have been in a cage together in our home. Their little feet have never touched soil, they have always been on shavings that we replace every few days to a week. There are no other birds in the cage with them, it's just the 3 of them (1 pullet and 2 cockerels). They all get along well, no picking on each other.

Feed:
They have been on Big V medicated chick starter from hatch until about 2 weeks ago when we switched to non-medicated Nutrena. Yesterday we ran out of the chick crumble so I gave them layer crumble in the morning and evening. Last night when I refilled their water before bed, everything looked fine, no blood in the cage, nothing out of the ordinary. This morning when I went in to feed and fill water everything still looked fine. Filled their bowl with the layer crumble again because that is all I have available right at the moment. A couple of hours later we found 6 fresh bloody spots in the cage! Only a few of the bloody spots had poop in them, the rest were just clots and fresh blood.

So what is this? I'm going to call the vet to see if I can get them in tomorrow, but until then I would love to hear from the community here, thanks in advance for any input and advice!

 

[coach723]

You need to treat for coccidiosis as soon as possible. Treatment is Corid, available at most feed stores/tractor supplies, either powder or liquid form is fine. Treatment chart is below, use severe outbreak dosing. In addition to the medicated water, give each sick bird (either bloody droppings or acting lethargic) an oral dose also, correct dosing for that is here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/corid-oral-drench-instructions.1211991/
Treat all of them, the treatment is very safe. Don't wait, it can progress quickly and be fatal. Do not give vitamins during treatment as it may reduce the effectiveness of the medication.

 

[coach723]

Food switch would not cause this. Medicated feed contains a very small 'preventative dose' of the same medication in Corid, but will not treat an actual outbreak.

 

[kwphotomom]

Food switch would not cause this. Medicated feed contains a very small 'preventative dose' of the same medication in Corid, but will not treat an actual outbreak.

Thank you so much for your reply! Coccidiosis was my first thought too, but it seems odd that they could get it considering they have never been outdoors. They were hatched in our laundry room and still live in there, they have never ever been on the ground. Is it possible they contracted it some other way? I do have Corid on hand so I will go ahead and start that now, but just wanted to point out that they have not been on soil in case that might be a clue that opens the possibility of this being caused by something else.

 

[kwphotomom]

Oh, and one other thing...I have the liquid Cord, so I'll have to look up the dosage for that unless you happen to know it off the top of your head. Thanks!

 

[coach723]

Dose is on the chart above, below the powder, 2 tsp per gallon of water.
The oral drench dose for the liquid is also in the link I gave you - .1 ml per pound of body weight for 1 - 3 days. Giving that in addition to the water mixture will get it in them quicker.
Coccidia can be brought in on shoes or on other equipment. There is no way to know for sure.
When you have time, watch this 13 minute video in post #1, very informative and shows how widespread the problem is:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/coccidiosis-video-worth-watching.1262022/#post-20259051

 

[coach723]

I've had several outbreaks, so now when I'm raising chicks in a brooder I start giving them a saucer (I use a large plastic planter saucer) with dirt from my yard starting in the first week, to dig and scratch in, so that they are gradually exposed to all the microbes in the soil. Same way they would be exposed if they were with a broody hen, and gives them the chance to build resistance naturally. The dish makes it easy to clean. Since starting doing this I've had no brooder outbreaks, and none when integrating them outside. But I always keep Corid on hand so that I can treat right away if necessary.

 

[kwphotomom]

I've had several outbreaks, so now when I'm raising chicks in a brooder I start giving them a saucer (I use a large plastic planter saucer) with dirt from my yard starting in the first week, to dig and scratch in, so that they are gradually exposed to all the microbes in the soil. Same way they would be exposed if they were with a broody hen, and gives them the chance to build resistance naturally. The dish makes it easy to clean. Since starting doing this I've had no brooder outbreaks, and none when integrating them outside. But I always keep Corid on hand so that I can treat right away if necessary.

Thank you so much for for providing so much helpful information! I will watch the video, and I found the oral dosing and have already put that in the water. I dipped beaks 5 times to get them started. So far the 3rd baby is still in the "clear", hopefully we can get him back on track before it becomes as severe as the other two. I really appreciate your help, I will update with any new news or questions. I need to read the drench instructions, then I'll get that going too.

 

[coach723]

You are very welcome.
Glad you've started quickly, hope they all recover!

 

[kwphotomom]

Drench...these babies are so tiny, not sure of exact weight but I know they are nowhere near a pound, so probably one tiny drop of corid is probably all they will need. I'm on it now! Thanks again!