After treatment of Coccidiosis - selling birds?

[jjaazzy]

I raise and sell chicks. I am fairly new at it I will add, but loving it. and have met a lot of great people and have developed friendships as well. The last batch is at 5 weeks. In 3 days they will be 6 weeks I believe we came down with what I suspect was Coccidiosis, on Monday, I only saw blood a little bit and never lost any birds, we might have seen some signs of fatigue but it quickly went away. So we are on Day 5 Friday but that's 4 days of treatment if your counting hours.

So If I give them treatment through tomorrow mid day that will be a full 5 days and then then start the vitimin water, Poultry Drench to bring the nutrients back up. When can I safely sell them? How many days of Vitamins and do I tell the customer? They are now immune to this strain now right?

 

[Jesusfreak101]

Yes they are now immune to that strand. I would say to give vitamins for two or three weeks if not longer having vitamins in their water will not hurt them it will help them. Oh and you might want to read this. http://www.countryfarm-lifestyles.com/coccidiosis-in-chickens-and-corid.html?PageSpeed=noscript

 

[Eggcessive]

I raise and sell chicks. I am fairly new at it I will add, but loving it. and have met a lot of great people and have developed friendships as well.  The last batch is at 5 weeks. In 3 days they will be 6 weeks I believe we came down with what I suspect was Coccidiosis, on Monday, I only saw blood a little bit and never lost any birds, we might have seen some signs of fatigue but it quickly went away.  So we are on Day 5 Friday but that's 4 days of treatment if your counting hours.

So If I give them treatment through tomorrow mid day that will be a full 5 days and then then start the vitimin water, Poultry Drench to bring the nutrients back up.  When can I safely sell them? How many days of Vitamins and do I tell the customer?  They are now immune to this strain now right? 

I don't think there is instant immunity when chickens have coccidia. They will gradually build up resistance to the particular strains of coccidia (there are 9 or more strains, 3-5 strains being serious) as they are exposed to them in the soil. Most chicks develop resistance between the aages of 11 and 20 weeks old. I would just tell anyh new owners to watch for symptoms, and what to treat them with.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

I must agree with Eggcessive, natural or acquired immunity to Coccidiosis is slowly conferred or developed by the chick from being exposed to the naturally occurring cocci cells found in its environment..

 

[Lady of McCamley]

I would add that I would wait until the chicks look completely stable for at least a week...everyone should be perky, fully fluffed, no hint of diarrhea....before attempting to sell.

Coccidia live in the environment and stay in the gut pretty much permanently. The flora of the gut keeps it in check as does the bird's immune system. And as the others have rightly said, that takes time to develop in little chicks.

For any bird, it is during times of stress which lowers its immune system such that an outbreak can trigger, or during times "ripe" environmental factors create enough build up in the environment that a bird's system is overwhelmed. That is not hard to do with the immature immunities of chicks...which is why the industry typically keeps them on medicated feed so that their bodies can have time to strengthen without coccidia overload. (Medicated feed merely keeps the numbers in check as the Amprolium is pretty low. Corid or Sulmet drugs will eradicate, for a time anyway, an infection).

All to say, moving to a new home too quickly might trigger an outbreak, so I would give them at least a week of solid perky health before selling and injecting more stress onto their systems. They are going to need strong systems as likely they will have to get used to another strain in their new home, most likely. (Each farm can have different strains, even across town or the neighborhood.)

If you aren't doing so yet, after the meds, put them on apple cider vinegar, raw with the mother, and probiotics. That can help balance the gut to keep the coccidia in check.

I would tell the new owners to keep them on acv/probiotics and put them on amprolium based medicated chick start for at least the first month, two being better, to help ease the transition and prevent a flair up.

As a purchaser, I would want to know that the chick is not going to get sick shortly from the stress of the move. I would also tell the new purchasers that any new bird, chick or older, should be in isolation for at least a month as a "golden rule" with any bird brought into your place.

My 2 cents.

LofMc

 

[casportpony]

I raise and sell chicks. I am fairly new at it I will add, but loving it. and have met a lot of great people and have developed friendships as well.  The last batch is at 5 weeks. In 3 days they will be 6 weeks I believe we came down with what I suspect was Coccidiosis, on Monday, I only saw blood a little bit and never lost any birds, we might have seen some signs of fatigue but it quickly went away.  So we are on Day 5 Friday but that's 4 days of treatment if your counting hours.

So If I give them treatment through tomorrow mid day that will be a full 5 days and then then start the vitimin water, Poultry Drench to bring the nutrients back up.  When can I safely sell them? How many days of Vitamins and do I tell the customer?  They are now immune to this strain now right? 

I would continue Corid treatment at 1/4 the dose for another 7 days.

-Kathy

 

[jjaazzy]

Oh my gosh...... this guy really wants to pick the birds up today, I tried holding them off. I was going to put them on the vitamin poultry drench right now but stopped cause I didn't understand the dose instructions. Was thinking I could send them with the vitamin water and let him finish the vitamin part of the treatment. I want to do right by the birds and he wants the whole lot. This is definitely a case where the birds come first, do right by the birds.... On one had this guy has a really nice pen for them very large and would get them immediately out of the cramped quarters that I have them in. We are wet here, its been raining non stop for 5 days. Everything is flooded.... everything~! I gave them a larger out door covered area and it rained so hard the place got flooded so back in the garage they came into a brand new everything box. I have two new homes in the back of my car but they take time to put up. And even if I did they would go out into wet conditions. I have a stall but its not protected from the predators. Oh man what to do......

 

[casportpony]

You could also give him enough Corid to treat them if they get sick again.

-Kathy

 

[Eggcessive]

The dosage of poultry nutri-drench is 1 ml orally for every 3 pounds of weight. Or you can put it in the water at 4 ounces per gallon, but it is more economical to use it orally. There are other cheaper poultry vitamins in powder form that can be added to the water at most farm stores. I use Poultry Vitamins with Lactobacillus by Rooster Booster, but here are some others:

 

[jjaazzy]

Thank you both, I had to go put groceries away and run this through my mind. My thought is this I am going to tell him whats going on and make sure he understands and feels comfortable. Coccidiosis is always present but sometimes it gets out of control. Then I will ask him to agree to give them vitamins for the next 10 days 2 weeks. I will give him my bottle of poultry Drench and give him a small supply of Corid in the event it comes back which I don't see happening. I didn't have drop dead sick birds..... I was on top of it quick....... I will be honest with him and he can then make the call and take them today which he desperately wants to do. I truly believe the birds will be happier if they go. He has a huge coop and because so many are going I think they will sette in quite quickly. Thank you both for the recommendation of the other two products.... I am in an area where this is not much farmy stuff left...... but I am going to head there now see what they have........