Coccidisosis deaths in chicks

[fightingbunny]

I sold some 4 week old chicks to someone and after two weeks, most of them came down with coccidiosis and died. Adult chickens in the same coop also died from coccidiosis. The buyer told me that the adults ate some bloody poop from the chicks and that is how they got it from the chicks. She recommended that I treat the chicks I kept and my adult chickens. She speculated that my chicks did not have any immunity built up as they are in a brooder in my basement and not exposed to dirt and worms yet. Basically they were not prepared to go into the open world and turned into bacteria poop bombs factories before death. She was very nice about all this and mainly wanted me to know so that I could help keep my chickens alive.

I was planning on integrating my chicks into my adult flock sometime in the next week or two. Should I delay that? I don't want all my chickens to die I am going to order some Corrid or other such medication to treat my chickens, but part of me isn't sure why I should. None of my birds are ill or show any signs of sickness. Can I just slowly expose my chicks to outside dirt and they will be okay? I hate to use a medication if there is no reason to do so. I thought coccidiosis was a naturally occurring bacteria and should I treat for it if no bird is sick?

Thank you for any help!

 

[chickendreams24]

Coccidia are a one called organism that infect the guts of many things in this case your chicks. Depending on the strain depends on not only what part of the intestines or gut are infected but also the mortality rate and how quickly it progresses.
However if your chicks have never been on ground or exposed to ground and you have been careful with biosecurity they probably haven't been exposed yet.

Personally I always keep Corid on hand as it can literally be a lifesaver.

I forget exactly what it is that corid blocks but it's not actually an antibiotic it blocks the chick from absorbing a vitamin(I looked it up and am fairly sure it's a B vitamin I think B1) that the coccidia need to reproduce. By keeping the coccidia from reproducing the bird doesn't get completely overwhelmed and they develop a natural immunity.

For this reason it is extremely important not to treat for cocci and give a vitamin supplement at the same time.

Keeping them in a clean dry area that isn't overcrowded is also extremely important as coccidiosis spreads rapidly in such conditions.

A chick can potentially go from completely healthy/showing no symptoms to dead from coccidiosis in a very short time. From a matter of a day or two for some strains to mere hours in other strains. It can wipe out whole brooders if not treated quickly.

Since you mentioned not seeing any signs or symptoms I'm guessing you've done your research and are familiar with them.

***Note: bloody stool is not always visible depending on the strain and what part of the intestines or cecae is affected.

 

[chickendreams24]

My suggestion would be to give the chicks some monitored exposure to some soil while still in the brooder and keep an eye on them. You can then give them a preventative dose or what I prefer to do would be expose them for a few days to a week and then treat them.

Unfortunately the only kind I've ever had access to is the liquid Corid.

@casportpony
Would you please post the corid dosing information here? Thanks.

Also I'm thinking that after having them for two weeks in my own opinion (so I can't be sure) I'm thinking while they could have continued to build up in their systems I'm thinking more likely they picked up the coccidia or a different strain of it in the home/yard of the buyer. Admittedly we have a very quick killing strain here that usually shows symptoms in 3-7 days after exposure, occasionally sooner.
Note it doesn't matter how clean we keep our brooders after exposure we generally have to treat.

Also that buyer should have quarantined any incoming birds for a minimum of approximately a month before integrating them. While this isn't always long enough it is long enough for most things to show themselves. I commend the buyer for not blaming you and trying to help but again it may have come from you or them.

 

[casportpony]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...ol-ampromed-the-correct-amprolium-dose.73341/