2nd time lucky..how do i avoid previous mistakes??

[spish]

ok after losing my entire first flock of 12 week old poults to (what we think) was cocci....how do i ensure it doesnt happen again?
in 4 days i pick up a group of 8 x 2week old poults and really want to get it right this time.


at what age should they be 'safe' from catching cocci?
i let them start scratching around outside at 9 weeks last time in the garden and bringing them in at night. would it have been the 'letting them have outside time' that let them catch cocci?

should i use a preventitive in their water from birth now?
how long should i keep them inside now? (its nearing the end of summer here so should i just keep them in till spring to be on the safe side??)

 

[thaiturkey]

Do you know how and where they picked it up last time?

 

[spish]

not really. they were penned up in the garden, but we live on the edge of a river so i think from the wild ducks that sit along the edge of the garden. we have chickens in the field next to the garden so infected dirt could have been washed along the ground. so many wild birds here and other poultry on neighbouring farms, could have been walked through to us. so many possible ways it could have come here.

 

[thaiturkey]

I have no experience of this but what I have learned can be summed up like this:

1. Clear away the poop daily. Disinfectant alone is not sufficiently effective.

2. Use clean, dry litter. Moisture is a very effective breeding ground.

3. Keep water and feed clean and fresh.

4. Keep away all suspected carriers. You may decide to keep the poults in a temporary pen until they are older. 5 -16 weeks seems to be the critical age range. It seems that there is no possibility of cross infection between turkeys and chickens.

The best precaution seems to be strict standards of sanitation in the sense that you remove soiled litter and poop daily and make sure that there is no moisture hanging around in the coop. Also, If a turkey becomes heavily infected you should remove, kill and burn it.

Given that you have already suffered losses, a thorough cleansing before the newcomers arrive of the coop and whole area in which the new ones will walk seems to be essential.

Just one other thought. Could your previous flock have been infected before you had them?

Good luck.

 

[spish]

my previous flock i raised my self from 1 week old so dont think they would have gone so long without showing symptoms

thanks for the pointers. everything was disinfected immediatly after the last turley died, but to be on the safe side i shall do it again, can never be too careful eh?

 

[thaiturkey]

Quote:
I read that 'dry' cleaning is much more effective than disinfectant. It means that you have to ensure every little corner of the coop and run is free of poop or contaminated soil or other material.

 

[uhuh555]

A link from an organic view point;

http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/PDF/coccidiosis.pdf

We use prebiotics/probiotics from day one, haven't had a problem with it in fifty+ years raising all sorts of poultry.