Coccidiosis Vaccine

[BarredBuff]

How reliable is the coccidiosis vaccine from mcmurray? And if the vaccine doesnt work what can you do to treat them for it if its in their system?

 

[cluck-addict]

I had all of mine vaccinated this past May. I've had NO issues with them. I've noticed a bit of runny poo from time to time. but nothing concerning. I've orderd another fifty to come in March and they all are supposed to vaccinated.

Good luck.

 

[kipepeo]

I had the ones I got in April vaccinated for it and have had no problems with the birds the problem I had was finding non medicated feed which I didn't know would be a problem. TSC was the only place I could get non medicated. Coop, Town and Country and Orsclens do not carry it.

 

[kipepeo]

I had the ones I got in April vaccinated for it and have had no problems with the birds the problem I had was finding non medicated feed which I didn't know would be a problem. TSC was the only place I could get non medicated. Coop, Town and Country and Orsclens do not carry it.

 

[dlolato]

We recently had an outbreak with forty Rhode Island Red chicks that were three months old. They started dying one, two, three a day. They were all eating and drinking well and when we had the Vet come in and he diagnosed the situation, he said that his recommendation was to display the remainder of the flock (which was 18 at the time) because they would always be carriers if any survived. Come to find out, we purchased these from a gentlemen that hatches out chicks and his supplier had the carrier hens of which he had no knowledge of.

It was a devastating experience and with that being such an ugly disease, I hope to never have to go through it again and will vacinate any new birds we bring in. Fortunately, we isolate all new arrivals and have not experienced any spreading, but of course we burned, bleached and disinfected everything.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Below is a cut and paste from my post in another thread. It may read a bit strange but that is because I was responding to a specific question. At the bottom is a link to information about the specific vaccine McMurray was using. I do not know that they are still using this specific vaccine.

Editted to add: Follow the link at the bottom if your chicks are vaccinated. It gives you good info on how to keep the litter damp and other recommendations so the vaccine will be effective.


You need to read the feed label and find out what the "medicated" part is. It is probably Amprol, Amprolium, something similar, so I'll assume this is what it is. Could be something different. Amprol is something that limits the ability of the protazoa that causes cocci to breed in the chickens digestive system. There are several (I think 7) different protazoa that causes cocci in chickens. Chickens develop immunity to these over time by having some in their system. Cocci becomes a problem when the number of these protazoa gets out of hand. Amprol does not stop the protazoa from reproducing in their system, just reduces it. Chicks need a certain amount of these protazoa to develop that immunity. Immunity to one type of protazoa does not give immunity to all types by the way. And some are stronger than others.

There may be different vaccinations for cocci. I suspect there are, but then again I don't know what different hatcheries use. I exchanged e-mails with MvMurray Hatchery on this subject. I do not claim that this applies to any other hatchery. You need to detemine that yourself if you get them vaccinated for cocci. And this e-mail was a point in time. McMurray may have changed cocci vaccines since then. Here are excerpts form the emails. I really appreciate the response from McMurray.

Does your coccidiosis vaccination protect against all strains of chicken cocci or just the more common ones?

We use Coccivac-B manufactured by Schering-Plough Animal Health. You can find more information about the vaccine at the Schering-Plough Website.

Which medicated feeds nullify the vaccine? I'm looking for the active ingredients like Amprolium, not brand names.

Any coccidiostat, including amprolium, will nullify the vaccine.

Do you immunize in the shell or after hatch?

We spray the chicks after your order is boxed.

Are you aware of any organic certifying agencies that consider this vaccination to be organic? I think it is at least considered "drug free".

According to Iowa organic rules you can vaccinate within the first 3 days of life. You would need to check with your certifying agency to see what their rules are.

Lucien A (Bud) Wood
Murray McMurray Hatchery, Inc.

So to answer your question, if they are vaccinated for cocci, they should not be on medicated feed. I think the first two weeks after the vaccinantion are the most critical, but I am not sure. And from what I've read, I don't think they shoud receive any antibiotic during those first two weeks either. And according to what I read, the Coccivac-B only protects against four of the different types of protazoa that cause cocci, not all types. As you can probably tell, this can get a little complicated. If you get your chicks vaccinated for cocci through a hatchery, I suggest you contact them yourself to see the suggestions for the vaccine they use.


Cocci vaccination
http://www.drugs.com/vet/coccivac-b-can.html