Coccidiosis- Diagnosis, Treatment and Prognosis.



Coccidiosis- Diagnosis, Treatment and Prognosis.

Diagnosis-

I got 5 chickens 4 weeks ago, that were about 4-8 weeks old then.

Since then some of their dropping have had- red bits that look like blood, pink muscousy bits that look
like bit of there intestine lining, some watery tan diarrhea and some dropping
with food not digested well.

These are similar to descriptions of droppings of chickens affected by the internal protozoa
parasite coccidia  that cause
coccidiosis.

The youngest is a Rhode Island Red and I think she has been having the most diarrhea. 3 bantams and a
Light Sussex are a bit older, and seem to be less affected or have developed
some resistance.

Other symptoms of coccidiosis are- weakness, droopiness, hunched posture, aenemia, loss of
appetite and interest in drinking water, slow growth and frequently death.

These chicken haven’t had any of these symptoms, and have continued to be very active, with good
appetites, bright eyed, growing well and have looked healthy from the outside,
so I am confused about this diagnosis.

The pink and red bits in their droppings don’t seem to be worms.

Campylobacteriosis and necrotic enteritis are also said to cause mucousy, bloody diarrhea.

 

Treatments-

The person I got them from gave some starter feed that contains a coccidiostat and some coxiprol to put in
their drinking water.

I have also been giving them the option of- water with garlic and cider vinegar added and rejuvinac. Also sprouted
wheat and chopped up greens( comfrey, gotu kola, parsley, onions, garlic,
plantain, clover, puha, clevers, dandelion, spinach, lettuce, silver beet) and
ginger mixed with slippery elm and yoghurt as recommended in books by Alanna
Moore and Kay Baxter. These contain prebiotics, probiotics and vitamins that I
hoped would improve their intestine health.

I have also been trying to practice good hygiene.

 

Prognosis-

The prognosis of chicken that have a severe attack of coccidiosis is said to be not good, with high
death rates and birds that survive seldom become good egg layers and are more
vulnerable to other diseases.

I don’t  think I can afford to take them to a vet and  get tests done to find out which of
the 9 different coccidia may be affecting them to get a more effective
antibiotic medicine, and I think a Christchurch City vet who is not a
specialist in chickens may not be able to tell me anything that is helpful.

If they looked weak and unwell on the outside then I would need to consider putting them down, but when
they still look well and active I don’t know what to do.

Any recommendations anyone?

I have attached photos of the chickens yesterday and a couple of droppings photos.

 

Chickens 27Dec.jpg

dropping 1.jpg

dropping 2.jpg

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Replies

  • Hi there, i have chooks that sometimes have droppings like these and are healthy birds laying and destroying the vegi patch happily as they do. The tan brown stuff is I think the regular clearing of the blind gut, this is about very 7th dropping, smelly and runny. it is the body getting rid of excess cellulose and quite normal. I am wondering how much bulk you are feeding them - other than all the herbs listed, are they getting solid food like pellets or crumbles or food scraps and bread as they might need something to bind all the rest so it stays in the system long enough to be digested properly. They may also appreciate a dish of shell grit being available as even tho' prepared chook foods have grit added if you free range or feed other things to your birds they wont get enough. I have a bowl inside the hen house that the birds access when they want it. It can be something people forget with the young birds as they are not laying and dont have the same calcium needs as a laying hen they still need it for bone growth as well as digestion. Birds with coccidia will be obviously sick and the bloody discharge will look like blood - quite a surprise compared with normal droppings. best of luck with them.
    • Hi Kristen,

      Thank you for your reply.

      I have been feeding them a starter crumble but there preference has been for the other feeds. I started giving them a different type of crumble today which they seem to like better and are eating more.

      They have been eating quite a lot of sand grit from the garden and I will get them some shell grit also to make sure they are getting enough calcium.

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