Bob Blosl's Heritage Large Fowl Thread

[melroseladi]

Chris, There is a lot of scientific info out there mostly at university sites and places like that. Like I said I am not a scientist and most of it is beyond my grasp but what I have read is that cocci in poultry is from the protozoa parasite, or parasitic protozoa, eimeria. They are developing vaccines, and have developed vaccines and there are studies being done about the birds own genetic immunity to cocci. If it was just a parasite they would not be able to vaccinate against it.

This is from Merks Vet Manual but there is a lot of info out there about poultry cocci.

Coccidiosis is caused by protozoa of the phylum Apicomplexa, family Eimeriidae. In poultry, most species belong to the genus Eimeria and infect various sites in the intestine. The infectious process is rapid (4-7 days) and is characterized by parasite replication in host cells with extensive damage to the intestinal mucosa.

This is from Anita Haug, National Vet Institute, Norway: http://www-miljo.slu.se/PhD_proj_Anita_Haug.pdf

Coccidiosis is essentially a disease of livestock that are reared intensively. It is caused by the invasion and replication within the intestine by microscopic one-celled protozoan parasites. A mild coccidiosis infection, kept under control, is not very harmful, and is actually necessary for creating immunity in the flock. A severe attack of coccidiosis can cause weight losses, morbidity and mortality.

Penny

 

[winniem13]

On asomewhat related note, any tips for getting rid of lice??? The poor old half cochin roosterin my avatar (good ol' Mr. Peep) always has some, no matter what we try!

 

[Chris09]

Chris, There is a lot of scientific info out there mostly at university sites and places like that. Like I said I am not a scientist and most of it is beyond my grasp but what I have read is that cocci in poultry is from the protozoa parasite, or parasitic protozoa, eimeria. They are developing vaccines, and have developed vaccines and there are studies being done about the birds own genetic immunity to cocci. If it was just a parasite they would not be able to vaccinate against it.

This is from Merks Vet Manual but there is a lot of info out there about poultry cocci.

Coccidiosis is caused by protozoa of the phylum Apicomplexa, family Eimeriidae. In poultry, most species belong to the genus Eimeria and infect various sites in the intestine. The infectious process is rapid (4-7 days) and is characterized by parasite replication in host cells with extensive damage to the intestinal mucosa.

This is from Anita Haug, National Vet Institute, Norway: http://www-miljo.slu.se/PhD_proj_Anita_Haug.pdf

Coccidiosis is essentially a disease of livestock that are reared intensively. It is caused by the invasion and replication within the intestine by microscopic one-celled protozoan parasites. A mild coccidiosis infection, kept under control, is not very harmful, and is actually necessary for creating immunity in the flock. A severe attack of coccidiosis can cause weight losses, morbidity and mortality.

Penny

I will agree that Coccidiosis is a disease caused by Coccidia but Cocci is not a disease and does not refer to Coccidia or Coccidiosis directly.
Cocci can refer to any single celled protozoan infects a host.

Now I will say that the term is misused and at time use as a shorter term of Coccidiosis but that does not make any more correct.

Chris

 

[snowbird]

Sorry, bu this makes no sense for the control of cocci. Chicks get Cocci from having contact with feces, often from used litter and the feces from previous flocks, that is contaminated with cocci. When people raise chicks on wire it is to prevent the exposure to cocci while they are young. So what you are saying is you raise them on wire and then add wet paper to try and encourage their exposure to coccidiosis? Even then they will only have exposure to coccidiosis if the birds themselves already have it. If they already have it then adding the wet paper is doing nothing more than helping them find feed. Just curious what your thought process was here.

I myself always use wood floors in my brooder box and have did it this way for over 50 year and do not plan on changing now. I simply stated if you already have wire floors you can use the news paper dampened as it will speed up the process greatly. I want my chicks to get a taste of the crap on the floor to help with developing an initial immunity. If you take chicks out of a brooder with wire floor and put them on the ground you will most likely end up with the disease.

Just trying to help some that are new to the fowl. There is no helping the people that have been around a few year. I should of stated that the post was more directed to the newer people.

 

[Chris09]

On asomewhat related note, any tips for getting rid of lice??? The poor old half cochin roosterin my avatar (good ol' Mr. Peep) always has some, no matter what we try!

Use a good poultry dust, one like Sevin or Insectrin Dust should work fine.


Chris

 

[Bentley]

I will agree that Coccidiosis is a disease caused by Coccidia but Cocci is not a disease and does not refer to Coccidia or Coccidiosis directly. 
Cocci can refer to any single celled protozoan infects a host.

Now I will say that the term is misused and at time use as a shorter term of Coccidiosis but that does not make any more correct.

Chris

The term 'Cocci' is very commonly used in poultry circles, even commercial poultry circles and even by poultry veterinarians that work for the pharmaceutical companies that sell 'Cocci' feed additive treatments. So I think we are getting a little hang up on terminology here. I apologize if my reference to Coccidiosis as simply 'cocci' was misunderstood. It is generally considered to be one in the same by poultry professionals and scientists that work in the area. I will try to be more specific and exact next time.

 

[maryhysong]

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?

I think a lot of it has to do with health. A healthy person or animal or plant does not give off the same scent as an unhealthy one. Plant studies have actually shown that unhealthy plants give off pheremones that ATTRACT pests. Sort of nature's way of saying "hey guys, over here, this one needs to get out of the gene pool".....

 

[Bentley]

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

Birds, or animals, or people for that matter will,have have varying degrees of resistance to challenges. The reference to some people getting bit by mosquitoes more frequently than others is a great analogy.

As a reference, I have seen, even within a single breed and strain varying levels of resistance or tolerance to contracting disease or parasites. Research has shown that within a house of birds infected with Northern Fowl Mites that there will be birds in the flock in cages surrounded by other birds all infested with Mites and that simply do not have mites, AT ALL. When these birds that were mite free were then removed from the population and bred to each other the subsequent generation had a larger number of birds that were not preferred targets for mites. With each generation selected like this the population became more 'resistant' to any infestations of mites. This can also occur with many other types of pathogen or parasite challenges birds might encounter.

 

[Bentley]

 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?

This is often a reflection of built up tolerance to challenges. When I travel to Mexico or central America I don't dare drink the water. However the locals can drink it with no problem. Why? They have developed a natural resistance to the impurities in the water because they have been exposed to them for years. Me? No way, I would be sick sick sick if I drank the very same water.

 

[3riverschick]

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
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My one problem with the system in past hatching is how quickly the pans of pine shavings will go rancid. I can't have ammonia rising up from beneath the chicks because birds can breath thru their feathers too. So this year, I will also use sweet PDZ sprinkled thru the shavings to sweeten them and cut ammonia. That way I cAN still change th savings in schedule but don't have to worry about coMing iN the room and finding they went rancid overnight between changes.
Karen