Coccidiosis?! Or berries?

[Chckncandles]

Hello! I’m trying not to panic, but my husband just saw this. He thinks it’s blood and I’m trying not to panic. I have 14 chickens with one being a rooster. They are 10-14 months old. They all have been acting fine. It’s been pretty wet and muddy where I live (Oklahoma) and it’s been a battle trying to keep things clean and dry in their run, so coccidiosis and other nasty stuff is something I have been praying against. I do a poo check every day and this is the first time I’ve seen this. I did feed them scrapes of blueberries and cherries this afternoon. Does anyone else think that this is a berry induced color? I keep them in a run and give them about a half hour of free ranging in the backyard before bed.

And if it is coccidiosis, what do I do? None of our local vets will care for chickens.

Thank you!

 

[Rose the Legbar]

Looking at the purplish red stuff you can see a ton of blackberry seeds! Looks like the berries caused this but make sure to watch for more odd poops tomorrow.

 

[Lillith37]

I second what Rose has said. It’s like when I eat a lot of beetroot and go to the bathroom and get a shock hahaha. Definitely keep an eye out tomorrow but I would put my money on berries.

If you’re concerned about coccidiosis during the wet, you can use the amprolium powder medication in their drinking water on a preventative basis. 240mg/4litres every fourth day during periods of likely infection.

 

[Chckncandles]

Thank you! I bought Corid, but two of my chickens are bantams. So if I use the preventative, I guess I will have to separate them. There was another bloody stool in the run, but it could have been from yesterday. I did find the chicken, because her bum end has traces of it. But I’m not seeing anything yet. My husband found green berries with seed pits. He said it looks like what he saw. It poured last night so everything washed away.

Thank you! I hope it is just berries too!

 

[Lillith37]

I don’t think it matters if the chickens are bantams or not? I would treat the whole flock if you’re going to do it.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Thank you! I bought Corid, but two of my chickens are bantams. So if I use the preventative, I guess I will have to separate them. There was another bloody stool in the run, but it could have been from yesterday. I did find the chicken, because her bum end has traces of it. But I’m not seeing anything yet. My husband found green berries with seed pits. He said it looks like what he saw. It poured last night so everything washed away.

Thank you! I hope it is just berries too!

The poop in the photos looks to have berry seeds, so likely it's berries.

If you are still seeing questionable poop and haven't given berries in a couple of days, treating with Corid will not hurt them.

You do not need to separate the bantams from the others. Corid goes in the drinking water and each bird will drink what they would normally drink.
Dosing is the same regardless of the age or size of the bird.

Liquid Corid dose is 2tsp or Powdered Corid Dose is 1 1/2tsp per gallon of water given for 5-7 days as the only source of drinking water.
Do not add any extra vitamins/electrolytes that contain B1(Thiamine) to food or water during the course of treatment.