Can a bird get Cocci with Amprolium feed?

[DaviJones]

I have a pullet about 7 weeks old whose on chick starter with Amprolium. I noticed she wasn't as eager with treats as the others and I had to persistently entice her with them to get her to eat it, however she eats her regular chick starter(she is the smallest but she's the youngest as well) She also doesn't move much when we are holding her or we're near her, I do see her run around though and she runs from us like a champ when I try to catch her, I was worried about lethargy, about she might just be calm when being handled. I just want to make sure she's healthy, as my sister absolutely loves her. Thank you for any responses!

 

[lazy gardener]

Yes, they can. How is she acting? Are all of her poos like this? That looks like a cecal poo to me. Totally natural occurrence. If all of her poos are like that and she's acting sick, then you have cause to worry. Have you exposed her to your soil? She needs good soil exposure while she is on the medicated feed. Many of us never use medicated feed. I'm guessing you are in a fairly dry area.

I expose my chicks to my soil in their first week after hatch so they can build their immunity. I've never used medicated feed, and never had issues with cocci. My climate is much wetter than yours.

 

[DaviJones]

She is pretty active I'd say, runs like a nut and perches on my sister's shoulder, I became a bit worried because she sat still in front of us for a bit and let her tail droop (I know it sounds pretty ridiculous, but she's usually pretty spunky, dashing round, challenging the eldest Orpington, even walking through the holes in the gate about a week ago when she was small enough) I've seen her drop some solid droppings, you're probably right, I was mainly worried because she wasn't as spunky and rebellious, but its most likely that my sister had been taming her down. She has currently lived outside for about 3 or 4 weeks, but I been letting them go outside since week 3. Sorry for worrying over such a miniscule thing, I just dread losing any of them. And thanks for your help! On a side note is the medicated feed potentially dangerous, or just unnecessary?

 

[lazy gardener]

I would rather have you ask such a question, (and it's a very sensible question) than not ask it! Many folks assume that putting their chicks on medicated feed, or keeping them on it long term will prevent coccidiosis. This is so not the case.

Here's an article that you might enjoy:

https://www.ars.usda.gov/northeast-...rasitic-diseases-laboratory/docs/coccidiosis/

The purpose of Amprolium is to block thiamine uptake in the protozoa. So, when the bird picks up cocci oocytes, they develop in the gut. Amprolium stops them from getting to the stage of multiplication, b/c they require thiamine to replicate. It's necessary for the bird to become exposed to the cocci so she can develop immunity.

This is why I give soil to my chicks within the first 2 weeks of hatch. A chick has her strongest immune system during those first 2 weeks. She gets antibodies passed from hen to egg. I continue giving them soil on a regular basis until they are freely moving from brooder to run at 3 - 5 weeks of age.

It's a rare event for broody hatched chicks to develop coccidiosis. Mama broody takes her chicks out into the yard shortly after hatch. She immediately has them scratching and digging in the soil. Some of their first snacks include feces laden soil, and they will even snack on Mama's poop! This is how their guts get popluated with a healthy mix of microbes. They even pick up a good load of cocci and other pathogens in this process. But they don't get sick b/c the beneficial microbes in the soil outnumber the pathogens. They were created to have an immune system in place at hatch that will be strengthened by early exposure to the pathogens they will be encountering.

Now, I'm gonna climb on my soap box for just a moment longer: The beneficial microbes in the soil outnumber the pathogens. IMO, one of the very best things a flock owner can do to improve the health of her flock is to ensure that the run is a healthy soil environment. Soil was not created to be bare. Healthy soil has a covering over it. It should either be covered with vegetation or mulch. A bare soil, fecal impacted chicken run is a run that is covered with unhealthy soil. The chemical balance of the soil becomes so overloaded with nutrients that plants CAN'T grow in such soil. I strongly advocate that a run that is not covered with vegetation should be covered with a deep composting litter. This protects the soil from becoming overloaded with N and P. The deep mulch provides a healthy environment for beneficial micro-organisms (bacteria and fungi). Those organisms break down the chicken feces, keep the nutrient levels in balance, and feed the beneficial insects and worms. The chickens benefit from having a ready source of beneficial bacteria and fungi to populate their guts, as well as lots of worms and insects. Their feed conversion rate is improved, the pathogens are kept in check, and they spend hours working through the litter, as they turn it into a nice fragrant compost.

Ok, I'll step back down off the soap box now.

 

[azygous]

Letting baby chicks have a clump of soil to play with, besides providing immunity against coccidia parasites, gives them something fun to do.

Like LG, I don't bother with medicated feed. My baby chicks get the same all flock feed the adults eat, get to play with grassy plugs of soil from the first week, and they grow up healthy and strong.

To add to LG's educational on coccidia, there are seven different species of these little buggers, all specific to chickens. (turkeys and other animals have their own coccidia species that give them grief). Our chickens will usually become immune to whatever species of coccidia lives in the soil around their home.

However, other species of coccidia can be brought in to your chicken yard on your shoes, borrowed gardening equipment, and even bags or truckloads of imported top soil. Under the right environmental conditions can cause an outbreak of coccidiosis in your flock because your chickens aren't immune to these strangers.

This is all probably more than you wanted to know. The bottom line is that healthy chickens won't be bothered by coccidia, even though these critters are everywhere. Your little chick seems perfectly healthy, and I don't believe you need to have worries about her.