[Helenaj]

Hi everyone,

I've just gone to feed my six-week old chicks and found several blood spots in their pen. There was nothing there this morning.  My first thought is it's coccidiosis and I think is is one of the Lakenvelder chicks as there is a small blooming patch on her tail feathers. I've cleaned her up and checked her over and there are no injuries on her or any of the others. I will keep a close eye out for any more.

 Could it be anything other than coccidiosis as both the chick crumb and the growers pellets the've started this week contain anti-coccoid medication. I'm afraid to dose them with additional medication in case I overdose them. Any ideas?

[GrannieAnnie]

It is possible that its cocci, I had it with a couple of my chicks 2 years ago.  They also were on medicated feed.  I cleaned them out throughly with jeyes, but actually moved them to another part of the brooder shed on clean shavings, got some chick crumb without ACS in it and bought a bottle of coxoid.

If you give them something like coxoid AND they have medicated chick crumb, its not a case of overdosing them, but one medication can cancel out the other one.  Unfortunately, both the chicks that had it died within 2 days, but the others were fine!

Fingers crossed for yours!

[Helenaj]

GrannieAnnie, thanks for the advice. Unfortunately, the Lakenvelder was dead when I got in from work just now.
I picked up a bottle of medication a couple of weeks back, thinking "just in case" so I've dosed their water and will swap their feed around. i know it's not their living conditions because I'm always cleaning chicks out in order to prevent them getting cocci - sod's law!

[joyfull]

sadly medicated feed doesn't protect them from all types of cocci, which is why it is always best to have some non medicated feed and a bottle of coxoid or baycox close to hand. However by the time you see the signs it can be too late for the little ones  . Sorry you lost your little one xx

[Helenaj]

Just a quick update. Following the death of the chick, I started them on Coxoid, but two other chicks were very weak and I was convinced I would lose them as they weren't eating either. My hens have always loved porridge and I thought I'd mix up a really sloppy solution of porridge and their non-medicated pellets and use their water dosed with Coxoid.
I managed to syringe the juice down the two weakest chicks as they couldn't fight their way to the dish, despite one of them being the biggest of the bunch. They were in such a state with really blooming droppings, that I thought they wouldn't last the night. This morning I went up to the garage with a bag ready to pick out the two dead chicks. Imagine my surprise when I opened the door to be met with all 14 little faces looking at me clamouring for breakfast!
I've made up a second batch of sloppy porridge and both chicks are fighting with the rest of them for breakfast.
What a great day this is turning out to be! 

Now if only I could win the lottery.......

[joyfull]

fingers crossed that they continue to go from strength to strength