Coccidosis, First Time, Got Questions

[BeckyLa]

I believe my 2 month old chicks have Coccidosis because of the sudden onset of very bloody stools I found this morning. On another thread I was advised to use Corid, which I cannot get until Tuesday, so I have begun treatment with Sulmet until I can get the Corid.

But never having dealt with this before, I have some questions:

1. The chicks run loose in a large fenced in yard that my Chihuahua was playing in a few days ago (I'm teaching her not to chase them) and so I would like to know if she can catch this. If so, how long until I would see symptoms? She is utd on shots and takes Interceptor for heartworms.

2. Just how contagious is this? The chicks get out of the fence once in a while and the other birds also range in that area, will they catch it?

3. Is it easily transmitted by my walking into the other birds pens?

4. Since cocci are parasites, should I also worm the chicks?

5. Must the coop/pen be limed or something to keep them from reinfecting themselves?

 

[2txmedics]

Im in Kansas and Im from Texas...just got a call of the same problem at our home, lost 4 chicks...I have an excellent book called:

THE BACK YARD FLOCK by MIKE STRECKER...everyone sells it for a 25.00 or more...Randall Berkey has it for 17.99 on sale has EVERY possible disease and how to cure it.

says all chicks should be treated there is 9 species of this disease and ONLY 2 that have blood in the stool. Critical time is when chicks are between 4-16wks. of age.

chicks need to be treated when they are 3-4wks of age. CORID POWDER....1TSP. PER GALLON FOR 5 DAYS, then 3 wks later Sulquin 1tsp. per gallon of water for 3 days. ONLY....

and to repeat it every 3wks. until they reach 9mos. of age. After this its a good idea to put it once a week in there water.

As to it hurting other pets, not sure, know it can be passed from run to run, thus all your flocks. Im curious to also find out.

THIS BOOK IS AWESOME, I WOULD RECOMMEND IT.

 

[PunkinPeep]

You should medicate all of the chicks, especially if they're all the same age.

The Corid i used is liquid, and you just put it in the water also.

Basically, as i understand it, your chickens will build up a defense to the cocci animules(i can't remember which kind of microorganism they are). If they start exhibiting symptoms, it is because they are overwhelmed.

Corid is preferrable to Sulmet because of the way Corid works, making so that the animules can't absorb the vitamin B that they need to survive.

I have never heard of anyone medicating for cocci as often as is recommended in the book that 2txmedics recommended, and i would be concerned about development of resistant strains that way.

When i first put my chicks on the ground, i had to medicate one time, a heavy dose for five days, and i never had a problem again.

I would wait on the wormer. Treat the cocci now and let your birds get healthy again and then consider whether you want to worm. Most people wait until their chicks are around 6 months old before they start worming - if they do. You will find lots of opinions about that here. But cocci is not like other worms, so you should think about them completely separately (imo).

If your dog is utd on her shots, i wouldn't be worried about her in regard to the coccidiosis, but i've never explored the issue either.

In regard to your other flocks, i would treat each flock as a whole. Like i said, they probably all encounter it, but it has to do with their resistance.

Veterans, please feel free to correct me if i'm stating this incorrectly.

 

[2txmedics]

Glad to know that liquid can be used, was all my brother in law found...book asked for powder, and we found liquid...I told him to get it and use it...Im home in a week...

As to what I stated...was stating what I read in the book ....I have so far found the book to be an excellent use. I was passing on the info. I assume when we all read something we research all options before we do anything.

Thanks for the input...learn more and more!!! Did find this article in searching if it harms pets:
http://www.attra.org/attra-pub/coccidiosis.html

Alot of reading but some interesting stuff also.

 

[PunkinPeep]

Quote:
I agree. I take in all the knowledge i can. Just voicing my thoughts. It's great to know about more methods and resources than i already had in my personal arsenal.

 

[BeckyLa]

Thanks, everyone for all the help! Thanks 2txmedics for the website, I read it and it helped a lot. Now I understand where this came from. Although I realize that Corid is much better for this than Sulmet, I can't get to the store to get Corid before Tuesday and I have Sulmet on hand. So I decided to treat with the Sulmet until I can get the Corid thinking that they might get much worse if I do nothing till then. Thanks everyone, I knew I could count on yall for help!

 

[easttxchick]

Some very chicken smart people advise giving yogurt when treating with Sulmet-something to do with the fact that Sulmet is harder on their systems than Corid.

 

[meadrian]

I don't have much to add to what's already been said, but...my chickens got it, we treated with corrid and they're fine now. I was new to this and my dog would be outside after the girls were in the yard and she like to eat their poop. I tried to stop it when I could, but of course she got some and guess what? She contracted coccidia. Some strains are within chickens only, some can be transmited to other species. That's what I learned, anyway! Good luck to you.

 

[BeckyLa]

Meadrian, when your dog contracted coccidia, how did you treat her? Could you use the Corid or did it take a visit to the vet? I assume that the symptoms were the same as for the chickens, the bloody poop.

 

[meadrian]

Well....my dog was getting a vaccine because she was being boarded. I told my vet she liked the chicken poop and what happened. She highly suggested a fecal exam, which I just KNEW would be fine because she had no symptoms. When I questioned the results they showed me that she had over 50 parasites from one slide. And that was without any symptoms. (Glad we caught it before it got worse.) We didn't treat with corid and I can't remember what we gave her. I'll check her records. The treatment was 3 pills in 3 days, wait a week and do it again. Very easy. And she cleared up completely. I really never gave a second thought to her getting coccidia and it was all by chance that we caught it.