coccidiosis control!! please read and offer any suggestions!!

[Bradfordj]

I recently had a disaster with coccidiosis, and secondary respiratory infections. I lost a lot of birds. Anyway I'm looking for ideas or tricks to manage the coccida in my coop. My thoughts were; since it's a dirt floor I'd like to remove a few inches of the clay, spray a strong bleach solution on ground and lower levels of the wall. Cover the ground with plastic, then cover the plastic with a few inches of gravel, then of course fresh bedding. Since my coop is 18x18 with no floor structure, moving it to fresh ground isn't an easy option. Any thoughts, ideas, questions, or concerns? I need some help on this please. My hens wich are next door got it slightly but the medication fixed them up. My first batch of 100 Cornish x is down to 60ish and am still loosing from secondary infection even though I'm medicating as much as I can. I picked up 200 more Cornish x today that were supposed to be going into this coop, and without desperate measures I know I'll be shooting myself in the foot. Please help a desperate man out in a terrible time of need!

 

[junebuggena]

You can't eliminate coccidia from your chicken's environment completely. The reason being, it can be spread by wild birds, too. You walk around and step in soil from around a bird feeder or something, then walk around your chicken area in those same shoes, and you just potentially introduced coccidia back into your chicken area. Helping your chicks to develop resistance to coccidia with medicated feed is the best method to prevent an outbreak. It's also a good idea to have medication on hand just in case one or to have a harder time fighting off the protozoa. 18x18 is just a little over 3 sq.ft. per bird for 100 birds. It's a bit small for so many. Crowded conditions does make keeping everyone healthy more of a challenge. Cornish X need space, too, just like any other chicken. If you are going to keep them inside a coop 24 hours a day, make sure they have at least 10 sq.ft. per bird.

 

[Bradfordj]

These birds are typically only inside at night. They have a massive run! I realize you can't eliminate coccida. However after the outbreak I had, there is way too much in the coop to put a fresh batch in. I also realize that birds need mild exposure to it in order for the medication to work and the immunity to be built. I'm looking for ideas to keep that exposure to a minimum since the outbreak I've already had this year was pretty severe.

 

[junebuggena]

If the coccidia load in your soil is so extreme, I wouldn't even consider keeping chickens anywhere near that ground for several years. A fresh start just might be in order. Even if they were just in that crowded space at night, that is probably what contributed to your severe outbreak.