How long is Coccidiosis contagious after recovery?

Sorry if this has been asked before. I've been googling for hours now and still not sure. This is my first post, and Iwill go and introduce myself properly when I get a minute, but I'm trying to sort this issue out while I have a chance. The short question is if a chicken has recovered from coccidiosis, at what point is it safe to introduce it to a new flock, if ever?

The background is that I've had a small flock of 3 mixed girls for 4 months now, they've just started to lay. A week ago I bought 2 silkie girls (about 3 and 4 months old), and that afternoon noticed that the younger one wasn't looking up to snuff. She was arching her neck and gasping, and occasionally making a 'snoring' sound (rales?).

I've had chooks before but not for a few years, and they've always been healthy, so this is the first time I've encountered illness. I immediately began googling and discovered the wide world of chicken diseases! Yikes. Thankfully they were quarantined. So I brought the girls inside, as it is winter here, has been raining cats and dogs, and cold outside. The breeder offered to take them back, and give them antibiotics, but from what I'd read the AB's seemed to be about keeping secondary infections away than treating the primary cause, and I thought that rather than stress her out with another long drive, I would try coddling them with vitamins, probiotics and TLC, and see.

This seemed to be helping, as with each day she seemed perkier, looking less huddled, eating and drinking more, but still making the occasional 'snick' sound, or sneezing, and as soon as the temp dropped she would have the same trouble breathing, and need to be brought inside. Her poo has been loose the whole time too, and yesterday and today I've seen either blood or stomach lining, so I'm assuming from this that she has coccidiosis. I've spoken again with the breeder, who will take her home for treatment tomorrow, but what I'm not sure about is whether the older girl will have to go too?

She seems perky and well, but having been sharing the quarantine cage with a sick bird, she presumably has either had it already herself and recovered from that particular sickness, or is likely to come down with it herself? The breeder has suggested I keep her, which I'd love to do as she's the sweetest little thing, but even if I quarantine her for a month, won't she still be carrying nasties, or would she be safe to join the big girls after a decent length of time?

Thanks in advance if you've made it this far!

My guess is that you actually don't have a bird with coccidiosis. I'm thinking that perhaps the bird was either exposed to something at your place, or she had something that was triggered by the stress of moving.

It's not unheard of for birds to have allergic reactions, but it's more likely you had a latent disease or she is carrying something.

If coccidiosis, there wouldn't be any respiratory symptoms, but only a puffed up posture and tightly drawn in neck, possibly with bloody stool. Blood is undeniably different from lining, and REALLY red and obvious. Antibiotics won't help, but you must get Amprol, Corid, or some other coccidiostat if you still are looking at Coccidiosis. Stat. It's a quick killer.

Coccidia are present in the soil. They are only contagious in that other birds might eat the litter with eggs in the droppings if you don't keep them clean and dry. If one has it, they are all exposed and all ought to be treated. Amprolium is just a Thiamin blocker and won't have any lasting effects if you give it for the prescribed duration. This is your best bet in that situation. I'm not sure about her respiratory symptoms.

Good luck!

sorry for the intrusion but chookschick your PM inbox is full.

sorry for the intrusion again.

E-mail sent

Thanks ChooksChick, I'd be very happy to hear it wasn't coccidiosis! They did get fairly warm on the triip here, and were travellign for about an hour and a half, then moved to a cool cage, so maybe that was enough to trigger whatever the respiratory thing is. The stuff in her poo looks more like the pics I've seen of stomach lining in poo, not runny and bloody, but everything I've read seemed to indicate that blood tended to mean coccidiosis, and when I spoke to the breeder she said some of her other birds were sick, and mentioned what she was treating them with, but I didn't write the name down straight away, so now I've forgotten it! Here's hoping it' just grated carrot! It was last Monday she got sick, so 9 days ago without visibly worsening. She's often huddled and timid, snicks, has loose stools, and struggles with the cold.

In any case, I'm assuming it's a safer bet to give both girls back to the breeder than to risk passing whatever it is to my other girls?


No worries Chickenlover, intrude away!

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Yep, I'd take them straight back and wash/sanitize before going around your birds as if they had the plague...they do! Poor babies!

You can get Oxine online and spray that all around to kill it off.

Thank God for quarantine!!!

Thanks again ChooksChick. I really have been treating them like the plague as I wasn't sure which aspect of their output would be contagious!

I haven't managed to find oxine in Australia as yet, but perhaps I'll be able to find someone who'll send it overseas, it really does seem like good stuff.

I really do hope they pull through though. I made the mistake of naming them both within 3 minutes of bringing them home, and once you've named someone, they're part of the family! But I have to think of the big girls first.