Coccidiosis, the swamp and the future

[disfanjoanne]

I got my 4 chickens just over a year ago as 1 yr old hens, already laying. I really enjoyed them and their eggs. In the winter I had they continued to lay but at a slower rate. Then we had that nasty cold spell. We used a heat lamp and they seemed to be doing okay. Shortly after I had 1 hen get lethargic and die on me what seemed to be overnight. But I did notice she was rather skinny. Since then I have had a huge drop in egg production. I also noticed diarrhea about a month ago. Took a stool sample to a vet and they had worms and coccidiosis. Treated with Albon and Albazen according to the vet's instructions. That was May 11th. This week I had another chicken get very lethargic and wouldn't eat or drink. We ended up putting her out of her misery. Could this be a second round of coccidiosis? We are currently in the middle of the wettest spring here and my backyard is a swamp in areas. I know this only promotes coccidiosis. Should I treat again? I was thinking of trying corid this time rather than sulfadimethoxine. I'd rather not lose my last 2 hens. They seem to be fine with energy and eating and foraging.

My second question is how does knowing I've had coccidiosis in my yard affect adding birds to my flock. I'd like to get more but don't want to just infect them as well. If I get chicks now and raise them inside, will my yard be safe when it comes time to introduce them to my flock? Or just do a round of corid when I add them? I'm trying to figure out the chick situation. I live in Arkansas and my city limits me to 4 chickens. But my state has a law that limits the sale of chicks to a minimum of 6. Or do I try and find laying hens again. I messaged the farm I got the hens from and they said they could get me more, but then stopped responding.

 

[abpatchy]

Coccidia is everywhere... they live in the dirt even in places that have never seen a chicken. There are some that affect sheep only... or rabbits. Normally a chicken can deal with coccidia no problem. As a matter of fact they need to build up an immunity to them when they grow up. It could be that due to the weather the coccidia are increased and your chicken has to fight a little more. More or likely though your chicken are dealing with something else that weakens them so they can't fight the coccidia as well as they used to. It might the the worms or something else.
If they seem fine, I wouldn't treat them... just worm them.
Adding new birds (after quarantine of the new birds) should not be an issue.

 

[disfanjoanne]

I did 2 doses of the wormer a week apart as the Dr recommended. But they have not resumed laying yet. Is that typical?

 

[disfanjoanne]

One of them laid an egg yesterday but it was a shell-less one and they had broken it when I found it. I'm thinking I need to supplement with oyster shell. Maybe that will help.

 

[dgrubbs44]

I am a newbie to chickens and this forum and I just had a coccidiosis outbreak in my 14 week old chickens after introducing them to the outdoors.

My one year olds did not/ have not caught it. I am treating the younger ones directly with Corid as per the vet, and the other two with a preventative dose in water for 21 days.

One friend who raises and sells chicks said that she preventatively treats with Corid all her chicks that she hatches or gets from a breeder.

I was also told by the vet and this friend that I should preventatively treat new chicks/chickens whenever introducing them to my yard in the future. The idea being that I have it in my environment possibly in a bigger way than is typical. They were not concerned about this, saying that treating in water is enough when incorporating new chickens.

I have been told by people in the chicken community here to always have a dish of oyster shell out for the layers.

Hope this helps!

 

[disfanjoanne]

Good to know. I have 1 chicken finally starting to lay and 2 new chickens arriving tomorrow.