Cocci, is it inevitable?

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cluckcluckluke

cluckcluckluke

Crowing
12 Years
Jul 10, 2012
8,341
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The Foothills Of Chickendom
I plan on hatching some of my own chicks for the first time in an incubator and it just seems that everyone has got cocci, well from what I'm seeing and I reallt don't want it .
Are there any precautions I can take to avoid contracting it in my chick or do I just have to wait and get it then treat?
 
From my limited experience it is preventable. My experience: raising store bought chicks a few times and hatching out chicks under hens a few times more and none of them got sick. Pretty limited, eh? :) I read from many sources that if you keep the bedding clean and dry you most likely won't have a problem. Many people recommend feeding medicated chick starter to prevent it as well. The medication in the feed is specifically against cocci. So I don't have much experience to offer, mostly the reassurance that yes, it is possible to raise chicks without them getting coccidia.
 
The only way to try to avoid them getting sick from cocci is to feed medicated feed until they have their feet on the ground ( 4 weeks after they are in your run) . Medicated feed is only for cocci, not an antibiotic, just a thiamine blocker, has corrid in it, only smaller amounts, to try to build a natural immunity. I stopped after one bag, before they were in their run, we have had lots of rain, and they got stressed. Stress can bring about an overload of the parasite ( cocci ) and make them horribly sick or kill them or both!

Best of luck with your new little ones!!!
 
If they are on ground, they are very likely to get it. Especially wet ground. I have seen blood in the stools well up to 16 weeks old also, so I keep mine on medicated feed for a long while. Even that isn't enough sometimes and medicated water is needed in addition to the feed. Now if your ground has never had chickens on it, the risk will be less, but still can happen.
 
No chickens here before, well maybe 100 years ago, but even that is not for sure...chicks were on the ground a couple hours, about a week after stopping medicated feed and they got it. No bloody stools but all the other symptoms...and I am VERY careful about my biosecurity also.

Like I said, the only way to TRY to not get it....there is always that chance...we got it! We have had an unusually wet summer, one really hot spell for a week or so, then cool weather and more rain...and again, they were stressed too...stress will cause an overload, which is when they get sick. Chickens can carry a certain amount of cocci and not be sick, it is only when they are young and their immune systems are not fully functioning, sick birds from other diseases, or stressed are the most common ways they get sick from cocci. We have no other birds either, just started again, in poultry, in a different place from before. So Yes, there are no guarantees, but the best way to try not to get it, is to feed medicated feed! You can feed it right up to near POL.
 
cluckcluckluke said:
I plan on hatching some of my own chicks for the first time in an incubator and it just seems that everyone has got cocci, well from what I'm seeing and I reallt don't want it .
Are there any precautions I can take to avoid contracting it in my chick or do I just have to wait and get it then treat?
Click to expand...
No,Coccidiosis is always around,spread by birds,bringing it into your flock from new chickens,clothes,shoes,hands,feed utensils,etc. Most birds have some cocci in their sml intestines,only becomes a problem when they have an overload/outbreak,then we medicate to bring it back under control. All chicken keepers should know the signs and symptoms of Cocci,medicate immediately. Medicated starter feed does not prevent cocci,chicks can still have an overload/outbreak. One of the biggest misconceptions about cocci,is that there has to be blood in poop,and that medicated feed prevents cocci,completely wrong. There are 9 strains of Cocci,and only 1 has blood as a symptom. Cocci thrives in warm/moist/damp conditions,ideal brooder habitat. Once chickens have cocci,it is then spread by their droppings,which get into feed/water via droppings. Chickens ONLY build immunity to the strains they have been exposed to. Coccidiosis is a parasitic infection of the intestinal tract,not bacterial or viral.
 
Last edited:
Well perhaps I should tell you my set up.
At the moment I have 29 chicken ( pullets, roosters, hens ) and I have 1 duck. They are all in one big run and all share a big roost at night.
They also have another shed that has their nesting boxes in it.
They have been in this run for about half a year and before that they where about 100m away in another similar run for about the same time. The first run used to have up to at on stage 50 chickens ( and old chicken farmer used to sell his eggs ) and I took over from that.
I wouldn't be able to remember if any of his flock had cocci, but I do know that he never hatched any chicks out or even bought chicks.

I plan on having my incubator in my room and when the chick hatch i will have them in a big cardboard box with their heat lamp, so no direct contact to the ground ( earth ) until about 1mnth old and even then I will be moving them onto a cement ground for another 2 weeks or so.
 
Feeding fermented feed and ALWAYS putting vinegar in their drinking water will help to keep them healthy and will help to avoid cocci. Use natural unpasteurized apple cider vinegar; 1 tablespoon vinegar to 1 gallon of water.
 

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