Advice needed on this here situation

[Trevorusn]

Ok, here goes. My 10 JG chicks are 11 weeks old and have been outside in our new 6x8 coop with a 10x6 run for almost 3 weeks. They had some bloody poop, so I am on day 3 of Corid in the water and the bloody poop has almost totally disappeared. Now, the only other thing they do coccidiosis related is huddle together even though our temps have been in the 80s and 90s with high humidity, but even that they look more calm and relaxed than cold and shivery. Otherwise they are healthy, hungry and energetic. Now, I had planned to begin adding the largest of our 10 Brahma chicks in the coop this weekend, and they are 9 weeks old. I have had them on medicated feed for the past two days, but given the situation should I hold off on moving the Brahmas in? If so, how long? The coop is sand with shavings in the egg boxes, which the JGs use two to shove themselves into at night if they don't stay roosted. The run is just dirt and what remains of the grass that the JGs didn't decimate. Also, I have begun giving All Flock to the JGs, after the 7 days of Corid should I put them back on medicated chick feed?

 

[Folly's place]

Your coop and run are already crowded with your Jersey Giants, and adding ten more birds will really just be too much!
After your JGs are done with their Corid treatment, make sure that they remain healthy, and won't need another course of treatment.
Given that the JG chicks developed coccidiosis on your property (right?) the younger chicks will need the amprolium in their feed at least until they's been on your ground for a few weeks.
Did your JG chicks develop coccidiosis while on medicated feed, or were they off it then?
Mary

 

[keesmom]

I agree your setup is tight for just the 10 birds, and that's now when the weather is good. Twenty is far too many. Come winter they could wind up coop-bound for an extended period of time. Twenty birds stuck in a 48 sq ft coop for days on end could result in some serious problems.

I also agree that the younger chicks should stay on medicated feed until they've been on the ground for a while.

 

[Mrs. K]

I definitely would not add any stress to the JG now, a couple of days is not enough time.

And Folly's place is right, it is too many birds for a 60 square foot run, and a 48 square foot coop. This set up would be good for between 6-12 birds, and 6-9 would be much better.

JG are big birds, and Brahmas are not tiny and at 11 and 9 weeks they are only going to get bigger, a lot bigger. It may work for a very short time, as none of the birds are full grown, but we are talking less than a month and you are going to have a LOT MORE PROBLEMS.

You are going to have more of mess with fighting, high tension and disease in too cramped of place. Not a good situation. Tension and stress can really bring on disease, especially if it is already there.

I don't think there is a feed plan that is going to solve this. IMO you could sell the brahmas with a pretty clean heart if they have not been exposed as in still in a brooder somewhere else.

Then work with your JG and get them good and healthy. Then consider building bigger if you want more. Most of us have been bit one time or another with, oh they are so cute, so tiny, so darling and this is so much fun... but too many leads to very ugly chicken behaviors and totally destroys the fun factor of chickens.

Not what you were looking for, but the truth.

Mrs K

 

[Folly's place]

With these big birds, I think that six or seven would be more than enough in that space.
Mary

 

[Trevorusn]

So for one, the birds are not going anywhere lol, took a good bit of time and money to get them all here. Yes, the JGs have seem to have gotten it from my land, but none of my 15 chickens I had prior had ever had it. Also, I have a 14x10x8 outdoor "kennel" that is getting attached to the 6x10 run, working out the final details on the most efficient way to integrate the addition while leaving room for future extensions. As well, I am also prepping a bachelor coop to put the extra roos in. I know they are big birds, that is why I wanted them, I was a bit concerned on how integration time with this coccidiosis occurance would look. The JGs were never on medicated food, the bloody poops showed up 4 days ago and I immediately began Corid. I had read in an article that all the dirt as well as coop would need a thorough cleanup, however every other article I have perused never mentions the soil, only to replace the bedding and keep the water clean. Would the dirt really need such a "deep clean"?

 

[Folly's place]

It's likely in the dirt, but the only way to make a difference there would be to replace the top six inches or so with 'clean' dirt. Who knows where that would come from though. If this year was very wet where your are, that can increase the coccidia numbers in the soil too. Sometimes it just happens, where it was fine before.
Mary

 

[Trevorusn]

It's likely in the dirt, but the only way to make a difference there would be to replace the top six inches or so with 'clean' dirt. Who knows where that would come from though. If this year was very wet where your are, that can increase the coccidia numbers in the soil too. Sometimes it just happens, where it was fine before.
Mary

Interesting...would humidity contribute to that? Spring and early summer did have quite a few rainy stretches, and our humidity has been quite high much of this month.

 

[aart]

So for one, the birds are not going anywhere lol, took a good bit of time and money to get them all here.

Best spend some more and build another and/or bigger coop.
Even with more weather and predator proof run space,
a 6x8 coop is going to be very crowded with 20 birds in it.
Cry now or Cry later.

 

[Trevorusn]

Best spend some more and build another and/or bigger coop.
Even with more weather and predator proof run space,
a 6x8 coop is going to be very crowded with 20 birds in it.
Cry now or Cry later.

I have 3 coops, didn't mention it because space wasn't my issue, but integrating during coccidiosis was. Nor did I think folks would zoom in on that vs. my original concern, however it seems folks are starting to focus on the wrong thing here.