Coccidiosis?

[Silver Silkie]

I'm planning on raising my chickens organically, but what about coccidiosis (and Marek's)? Is there an organic way to control/prevent these diseases?

 

[Little Feet]

Go to "The POULTRY Site" see an article called "Coccidiosis Management for Natural and Organic Poultry" Coccidiosis is a condition caused by a parasite called Eimeria. There are different strains of this parasite. It causes poor production, diarrhea with bleeding, An outbreak can wipe out an entire flock. Keeping them as clean as possible, moving them around, always providing fresh clean water and observing your chickens frequently will help prevent losing all of them if notice anything.
I feed my chickens feed that has all the nutrients needed for layers. I also supplement with fresh spinach, kale, safflower seeds, dandelions and sometimes bread to give the chickens a variety and in my mind some omega 3 eggs for us to eat. I believe anything can happen but it is bound to help the chickens immune system and after all we are what we eat. When it is summer they can get access to fresh grass and natural things to eat like bugs.
Maybe someone else can elaborate but I am not sure how this protozoan parasite Eimeria is introduced to the chicken but many parasites have a partial life cycle in the in host and in this case in the chicken's intestines and it could be introduced through a bug or contamination from wild bird droppings.
Hope this helps, I am new at the chicken thing. I love my chickens, my pups, and my adopted kitty. This winter my chickens were attacked by a cougar. YES, It was a cougar not coyotes. It had snowed, you could see the set of footprints made by something heavier than a coyote, only one set bigger than my husbands fist. They were cat prints the chicken wire was coated wire and 2 layers on top each other and looked like it had been ripped apart with ease. I had 9 hens and 1 roo all gone except 2 hens. One hen had fled and came back and the other hen we thought was dead. We went back out to clean it up the next day and I saw my prized golden Brahma Bantam was breathing and slightly moving. We of course brought her into the well house and gave her a safe warm bed with food and water and nursed her back to health. She just laid there for days I wasn't sure what was wrong but a couple days later one of our Rhode Island Reds showed up kind of crying on the plank and I went and got her and put her in with Golden Girl. They are both doing well and laying everyday! I have new chicks of these 2 varieties. I miss my roo he was so pretty but had hairy legs. I named him Harrington (short for Harry) Harry wasn't noble enough for such a fine Roo! A cougar was killed about a mile from us hit by a car 2 weeks later. My guess is he wasn't the only one around but one in a family. It appeared he was after a deer but found easier dinner. I am in Indiana. Little Feet

 

[realsis]

there is no organic way to protect against Marek's disease .as for cocci you can try to expose the chicks little by little to your soil allowing them to develop a resistance to the strains of cocci that are present in your soil. you can bring small amounts of dirt into the brooder. hope this helps .. as for Marek's its such a prolific and highly contagious disease vaccine is highly recommended. I believe the stats are over 80% of unvaccinated birds will catch Marek's. over 5% of vaccinated birds will still catch Marek's. you have much better odds if you vaccinate. once vaccinated birds must be given time for immunity to be acquired before exposure. hope this helps. good luck and best wishes. aside from breeding for resistance and vaccine not much can be done about Marek's. good luck to you.

 

[casportpony]

It's been my experience that chicks raised outdoors by hens seem to develop a much better immunity to coccidiosis than those raised in brooders.