Bob Blosl's Heritage Large Fowl Thread

[Arielle]

Cocci-- I did a lot of reading on the univerisity sites when my chicks were hit with cocci. In small doses the body does develop the ability to cope with cocci. There are some 11 different kinds of cocci in poultry; some are common, others are very rare. I had my first chicks vaccinated at the hatchery for cocci. Basically, as I understand the process, the chicks are sprayed with a dilute cocci solution and the chicks pick it up when preening. ( THey are NOT to be fed medicated feed.) THis also introduced a strain to my property. ( With plenty of wild birds, it may have already been here.) These chicks never showed any sign of the disease state; unlike the other group that developed bloody stools and started dying even after treatment. THis latter group was introduced to cocci via grit at about 4 weeks. Most died, including all my buckeyes.

Many people refer to this process as immunity as subsequent exposures do not result in the disease state. Perhaps there is a better word than immunity?

 

[gjensen]

I have never had a cocci problem with chicks, knock on wood. I might have once when I was a kid. I use pine shavings. I am anal about keeping it stirred, freshing it up, and replacing it as needed. I do not medicate, and will not until I have the problem. I know my time is coming.

I do not know anything about animals and resistance to parasites. I have noted some things along the way. Some birds are more prone to having a problem than others. Possibly the ability to cope that Chris mentioned.

When I take trips to the field, I notice than some in the company get bit more by mosquitos than others. Some people get more chigger bites than others. I live in a sandy area, so i do not have a lot of mosquitos. Some, but not many. I have a nephew that visits and gets eaten up by them, and reacts poorly to them. We would be untouched. They find him.

A son of mine had a Rosy Boa escape his terrarium. I found him a week later in a wood pile at the edge of the yard. This snake was covered from head to toe with ticks, and mites. In a week's time it has lost a lot of weight. It was so bad, that I considered cullng him. We were able to get him back in good shape. Anyways, any native snake that you would capture in the immediate area might have a tick or two and a patch of mites. Not always. A snake from the desert on the other hand would have died from these external parasites in a couple more days.

I have always wondered what this was about. What draws the parasites to one more than the other. Is it pheremones? Why does the population of a parasite advance faster on one more than the other?

 

[NanaKat]

Here is my strategy for developing tolerance to coccidiosis.
For incubated chicks, I brood in 1/4 inch wire the first two weeks and thn move to 1/2 inch wire. From the beginning, I place a 6 inch diameter clay flower pot saucer containing some soil from my garden where my flock likes to scratch and dust bathe. Each time they move up a brooder cage, I add fresh soil with samples from closer to the hen run. Chicks go on the ground at 4 to 5 weeks of age in a grow out pen...depends on the weather conditions.
If I have a broodie hen that will rear the chicks that are incubated, I put the hen in a large cage with straw overnight and let her soil the straw. The chicks are slipped under her and they remain in that cage for a week. Then they go into a floor pen with a dirt floor that has a layer of fresh wood shavings for the next two weeks. The floor pen allows the rest of the flock to get used to the hen with her chicks. The hen is then allowed to take her chicks anywhere she chooses to freerange.
I do keep Corid on hand to use as needed...so far have only needed it one week last hatching season.

 

[thedragonlady]

=========================================
Hi Ron,
Several years ago, I bought some rare day old chicks for 15.00 each. ...let me back up a minute.
When I got my first Marans from Kelly Cratty in 2005, he told me to always raise my chicks on wire. He said I would never have crooked toes if I did this.
To make the brooder and put in a platform of 1/4 inch hardware-cloth for the newly hatched chicks. (up to 1 week old). The platform would raise the chicks 1 inch above the pine shavings so their waste would drop thru. When the chicks were 1 week old, I would swap out the 1/4 inch for 1/2 inch hardware cloth. They would stay on this size wire until they left the brooder.
Ok, fast forward to 2009.. I bought these 10quan., one day old chicks for 15.00 each. They were the 1st inbreeding of a rare color of Marans. Decided to do something different and this time raised them in the oft touted "newspaper lined floor within a cardboard stockade" set-up. Every one of those chicks turned out to be badly crippled with crooked toes. All hoped for BBR chicks, were millefluer mismarks with a single recessive-black chick. (breeder was embarrassed and offered full refund. I told them no. genetics lesson was worth it). I gave them away and sought to discover what caused the badly crooked toes. It was the 1st in-breeding of a developing strain which originated from divergent sources. So I was wondering if it truly was the inbreeding which caused this??
Mentioned the problem to another breeder who also raised on wire. She told me that when chicks are raised on smooth surfaces, they tend to curl their toes underneath them when they sleep. That this can cause their toes to grow crooked. That's why she raised on wire. When chicks are raised on wire, they didn't curl toes underneath them when sleeping and no crooked toes. By now, Kelly Cratty had been out of Marans for years so couldn't ask him. But makes sense to me.
Now I have wooden brooders with wire floors of the correct gauge for age and plastic pans mounted underneath filled with pine shavings. I can dump the shavings and refill if they start to get rancid.
Karen

What you're seeing in chicks is the same problem I have seen in puppies from very hygenic dog breeders for years.Puppies whelped and raised on slippery newspaper have all sorts of problems with "Swimmer Syndrome", and later hip dysplasia, in large breeds. My Mastiffs were raised on stretched cotton thermal blankets, which gave them traction to get their feet under them.The pups were up much earlier than those on paper who were simply getting fat, and slithering around on their bellies.

Chicks are meant to be on rough ground, scampering around, following their mom. They are not meant to be sliding around on slick surfaces. I brood my chicks in a 300 Gallon Rubbermaid water tub. It is bedded in fine shavings, and has a branch in it to encourage early perching. The chicks get a lot of exercise, and develop their muscles running and flying up on the branch.

I'm lucky that my Orps are jolly souls, who do not pick on one another. I have had chicks aged 1-4 weeks happily living together with no problem. At 4 weeks, out they go.

 

[catdaddyfro]

Yes I agree George, I think we talked of this sorta thing before with the critters attacking "new meat" visitors or whatever (lesser) resistant types. Anyway for example here in my neck of the woods a couple of times of the year, the fleas are just horrendous. It seems that nothing you can do even phases them, sorta like a migration of them and if you do put a dent in the population its not long before they are replaced. Then in a few weeks back to normal or even nil to be found. I have 2 dogs that will get absolutely "eat-up" with the dammed things and one other dog gets none to hardly any on him-go figure that. Is his blood not as "tasty" or does he have a natural resistance/immunity to fleas?

Jeff

 

[Chris09]

I have not had an issue with worms, lice, mites or cocci, thus far. Cocci is a disease that is caused by a parasite. Maybe the birds can not become immune to parasites but they certainly can become resistant to the effects, diseases, that can be caused by those parasites. I am not a scientist and really don't know how it all works, but I do know what has been working for me.

Penny

Cocci has nothing to do with a disease, Cocci is the plural form of Coccus which in microbiology simply means round.

Cocci has a very broad category but in livestock the term Cocci refers to a single celled protozoa parasite the infects the intestinal track of its host.


Chris

 

[melroseladi]

I have 2 hens that were brought in as chicks and 1 hen that was brought in at POL, all came from local farms not hatcheries. All are 2 years old now. The rest of my chickens have been hatched and raised here either by a broody hen or by incubating. I have 2 adult guineas that were brought in as adults. All other guineas were hatched and raised here. Chicks/keets being raised by a mom are free-ranged according to the hens wishes.

Chicks I hatch are normally brooded indoors for 2 weeks, then moved out to a wire bottom pen for 2 weeks, then out to a grow out pen. The exception to this has been my HRIRs who remained indoors for 7 weeks and are now in a grow out pen with the ground as the floor and put in a secure coop for the night. My other chickens, guineas, and peafowl have had access to that pen in the past.

Our pens are open air designs with the ground as the floor. I do have netting up to help keep the wild birds from coming in and spending any time eating and pooing.

I check my birds regularly for parasites and signs of worms but so far, for the last 2 years, I have not had any issues.

Penny

 

[melroseladi]

Cocci has nothing to do with a disease, Cocci is the plural form of Coccus which in microbiology simply means round.

Cocci has a very broad category but in livestock the term Cocci refers to a single celled protozoa parasite the infects the intestinal track of its host.


Chris

Cocci is the disease caused by the parasite Eimeria (sp). Cocci is the effects that can be caused by that parasite.

Penny

 

[Chris09]

Cocci is the disease caused by the parasite Eimeria (sp). Cocci is the effects that can be caused by that parasite.

Penny

Quote: Chris

 

[Ivagrove]

The disease is called 'coccidiosis', and 'cocci' is used in nonprofessional settings, like BYC posts, as a short nickname.