Poop question

[chickenlady]

I’ve had some weird poop showing up in my flock. Everyone has had this weird light colored cecal poop. They also had purple combs and respiratory issues so I put them on oxytet seemed to clear up but came back after medicine treatment. Then I tried a few days of denegard in the water a small improvement but not much. The purple combs are gone now thankfully except my rooster. He has always had a bit of purple to his comb in the morning and then gone in a few hours.
It’s been very hot humid and wet so I thought it could be a strain of Coccidiosis. We are on day 3 of moderate outbreak dose of Corid and there is less cecal but still some. I have pictures I can post if needed.
Everyone is eating, drinking, laying also rooster is mating just fine.

Thank you!

[dawg53]

Light colored cecal poop doesnt necessarily mean anything is wrong unless it's constant. I've see more of it in our very hot, humid temps as well. We are getting downpours almost each day too, and it's been going on for 3 months straight. I gave my birds a round of Corid last month because a few birds were excreting shed intestinal lining in which the Corid cleared it up. I also wormed them, and wormed them again 2 weeks ago.


I recommend that you continue with the Corid and ensure your birds have fresh clean cool water to drink with these hot temps we're having. Consider putting sand in your pens/runs to eliminate nasty standing water so your birds wont drink from it, if you havnt already done so.
Also consider worming your birds. Worms can weaken the chickens immune system by starving them of nutrients. Then the door is open for all kinds of health problems. I worm with Valbazen, Safeguard, Pyrantel Pamoate and sometimes Wazine... rotating the wormers on occasion, and I worm monthly.
Since your chickens are eating, drinking, laying normal; I'd say they are recovering well.

[seminolewind]

My animal disease lab vet recommended treating for cocci twice a year because our backyard chickens live like sharing a smaller area. Makes sense.

[chickenlady]

It has been constant for about a month. I’m glad to say the Corid seems to be helping and poop is solid and only see one of the weird ones versus 10-12. Everyone seems to have really perked up a lot so I’m going to continue a 5 day treatment. Could this be a lower pathogenic strain? Should we continue a second dose? We have a super clean larger then normal coop, run, Chunnel and play area set up. We’ve used clean dry sand for years and they do free range on an acre all organic but lots of wildlife around us and wildbirds.

[seminolewind]

Keeping things clean is great, it cuts down on opportunistic organisms. But doesn't eliminate them. So clean chickens can get cocci. Sure chickens can carry a strain that's stronger than normal but the chickens body gets used to it.

Chickens also pass all different kinds of poop. I can't count the types. And they get runny poop in the summer if it's hot and they drink more water.

[dawg53]

Jul 14, 2018 19:47:13 GMT -5 chickenlady said:

It has been constant for about a month. I’m glad to say the Corid seems to be helping and poop is solid and only see one of the weird ones versus 10-12. Everyone seems to have really perked up a lot so I’m going to continue a 5 day treatment. Could this be a lower pathogenic strain? Should we continue a second dose? We have a super clean larger then normal coop, run, Chunnel and play area set up. We’ve used clean dry sand for years and they do free range on an acre all organic but lots of wildlife around us and wildbirds.

If you're using the Corid 9.6% liquid solution and you're finishing up with the 5 day treatment of 2 teaspoons per gallon of water, continue ongoing treatment for 7-14 days using only 1/2 teaspoon per gallon of water. This will prevent any relapse that might occur.
Sanitize waterers and feeders with a water/ammonia solution, rinse well.

[seminolewind]

Ew. Ammonia? is there anything with a tolerable smell?

[dawg53]

Ammonia/water mixture kills cocci. Bleach water wont kill cocci.

[chickenqueen]

Thnx,Dawg!!!Invaluable info there...

[chickenlady]

I did Corid treatment and it seemed everyone perked up a bit the yellow mustard cecal poops everywhere stopped. There was never blood it was just strange yellow and green shades and some greasy and bubbly. We also deal with CRD so I put them on Tylan for 7 days a week after Corid and it seemed to help with some respiratory issues. Now that treatment is over they started the cocci symptoms ruffled feathers, no appetite, sleepy, not pooping much. So I checked my calendar and it’s been 2 weeks since Corid treatment so I decided to do it again. I also saw what looked like worm eggs in some stool but I’m not positive. We’ve had tapeworms before and I know what that looks like this was different looked like small white sesame seeds inside the stool not in top so I decided to worm everybody. It’s been 3 months since I’ve wormed so hopefully that helps.
Is it okay to use valbazen and Corid at the same time? I thought I read somewhere that it’s okay if necessary. I also started them on some fermented feed a few weeks ago that someone suggested. They are still getting used to it but prefer their regular crumble. I live in an area that it’s hard to get fecal test done without then seeing the animals and charging $75 just to walk in the door most also don’t see chickens. I usually send them off in the mail where it’s cheaper but it’s been to hot. That’s why I’m having to treat based on symptoms. Thanks for your help.

[seminolewind]

I always treat for cocci and worms first. If it's not that, then Tylan. It's hard when you don't know what it is. And the heat causes chickens to drink more and get watery poop.

[chickenlady]

Thanks for getting back to me. Yes, I understand the watery poop when it’s hot and they’ve been drinking. In this case it’s not that it’s that watery. It mostly green and orange mixed in a wet cecal form. They were wormed yesterday and on day 4 of Corid and the poop came back today. That tells me that the Tylan helped but as soon as they came off the antibiotic it’s back. Hope it’s not fowl cholera I am dealing with or some other bad bacterial infection that needs something stronger.

[chickenlady]

Just wanted to give you an update not sure if anybody is on here still reading this. I had one of my hens necropsied and it came back Mareks and avian turberculosis. Most of my flock is older but I did bring in some 3 month old hens last summer. I wonder if they could have been the ones that brought Mareks. Most of our most recent losses have been the last 6 months. I wonder if this could have been my problem all along over the last 5 1/2 years I’ve lost a lot of chickens to secondary infections and Mareks type symptoms and none of them were vaccinated. I kept adding unvaccinated birds to my flock and they keep dying so I’m assuming this is been my problem all along and I need to go with only vaccinated birds in the future. I did have two birds that were vaccinated against Mareks and lived the longest almost 5 years but died of cancer on the beak and the other the leg. The pathologist said even though the Avian turberculosis is reportable and can be quite serious if I brought in healthy vaccinated birds the chances of them getting it might be low especially since we have very diligent cleaning practices. Any thoughts or do I just need to hang up the whole chicken keeping hobby for good?

[maryellen]

So sorry to hear this. You can keep your current flock , but dont add any more . Once all your chickens are gone disinfect the coop and water and feed containers with oxine and virkon and ammonia. Then only get vaccinated birds from hatcheries. No other birds from people. This way you dont risk infection again.

[seminolewind]

Marek's is horrible. Your losses all along sound like Marek's esp the deaths from secondary infections. You can certainly have it a while before you actually get a 6+ week old chick have leg paralysis.

I've had it in my flock for 7+ years. Always vaccinate or buy vaccinated chicks and quarantine them for at least 3 weeks or longer. I do actually have a separate shirt I throw over my clothes and wash hands really good and for the first 3 weeks handle as little as possible.

It helps to keep things clean and hit the coop with Virkon every few months or so. But you cannot get away from Marek's , just protect new birds. Two of my oldest died last month , one at 11.5 and one at 11 years old. I still have one more 11 year old and a few that are 8-10 years old. They've lived thru everything.

You don't have to hang it all up. Just realize that there are things you can and cannot do. I vaccinate all incoming chicks, I buy vaccinated from a hatchery or hatch them myself and vaccinate. I cannot sell any. So I ended up with 8 roos at one time. Vaccinated birds can still have immune suppression and get secondary ailments , but just watch out for that. The birds are also prone to Cocci at any age.

[maryellen]

Mine are supposedly infected to, so i cant sell either. Ive had a few deaths , but no typical symptoms of the leg sticking out. I was discouraged as well when i got my diagnosis from the state lab. I was going to give up until Seminolewild talked to me and Dawg and a few others. They really helped me .

[chickenlady]

Thank you so much! It is very sad and disheartening to keep going through this. My heart gets broken with every loss and I feel so defeated thinking I must be doing something wrong. The oldest one I have is a little 6-7 year old bantam oe she came to leave with us last summer but I don’t know if she’s been vaccinated. My rooster who is only 2.5 years old a Crele English Orpington doesn’t seem to be showing any symptoms. I certainly don’t want him to lose all of his girls. We’ve already lost six girls this year and we only have five left. when would I be able to bring in more vaccinated older birds past that 3 to 6 week age? Maybe some juvenile vaccinated pullets. I also need to look into the vircon.

[dawg53]

I've never had to deal with Marek's disease and dont know much about it. I consider Seminolewind (Karen) the resident expert and Maryellen is becoming an expert about the terrible disease as well, and they have my sympathy.
I've mostly ordered chicks from two hatcheries and have bought several birds from a reliable local breeder that I've known for years and have seen her operation often. I've even helped her worm her birds. I practice strict biosecurity and I even change clothes, shoes, and wash my hands after a trip to the feed store...that's how wary I am.

Everything that Karen has said about living with Marek's in her flock has one keyword that she has always stressed, "prevention." Due to the chickens weakened immune system; it's imperative to provide birds extra vitamins and minerals, occasional treatments with corid and a routine worming schedule.
So, living with Marek's in your flock is possible.

[chickenlady]

The kind of Mareks we are dealing with is the tumorus kind. I think we were reinfected when we brought in new birds last summer . We also have had the paralysis kind in the beginning when we first started chickens and we lost many to what we thought was cocci but looking back they couldn’t use their legs and so definitely sounds like Mareks. We definitely do all the preventative things here regularly like worming and vitamins. I’ve used the best products in rotation that’s out there. Our set up is spacious and very clean so you can see why I was so upset to find out that this is out of my control. The green poop did dissipate but it’s back everyone’s bright red and seems to be getting weaker. It’s also hot here so it’s hard to tell what is heat stress or sickness. I was thinking tomorrow I have nothing to lose I may try a broad spectrum product antibiotic with aprolium added it also has something for canker in it as well. Is it possible for them to clear the virus and get better? Also Karen were your older birds vaccinated that lived so long?

[maryellen]

Mareks cant be cured unfortunately. A strong immune system can hold it off along with secondary health issues. I have a bunch of older birds, 2 are 10 and a few others are around 8. I just had a bunch of young ones die, but they started out with bubbles in their eyes and gasping and died within days of showing those symptoms. I add vitamins to their waters as well and feed the highest protein food as possible.
Im going to disinfect the coops etc with virkon next weekend .
Karen knows alot more about the disease. Im learning from her.
Its upsetting. My choice was kill all my birds and disinfect and start over, or let them live their life and not bring any more in. I chose the latter. I did hatch a bunch of chicks that are now 2 months old and 4 months old, and so far they are ok but i know that can change.
I did notice however on Facebook there are alot of chicken groups and everyone is complaining about sick birds with respiratory problems and some showing marek symptoms (leg issues then birds dying)
It sounds like all backyard flocks are experiencing these issues