Cocidiosis in Cornish X - one more question

[jackiedon]

My 36 cornish x were 6 weeks old this last Tuesday. They have have bloody stool.

Ok, I used the powdered milk suggestion. I used apple cider vinegar in the water which seemed to work but then it seemed to get worse suddenly.

I bought some Sulmet as MP suggested and the lady at the feed store which is known as "the chicken lady" told me to use it for 7 day and then wait 7 days before slaughtering.

I have been researching for the last couple of days about this and can't really find any clear answers.

I've only had one chicken to act sick. I have it isolated and it's perking up but can't walk. The rest of the birds are VERY active. It's amazing how they jump on top of each other when I feed them especially if they have went 12 hours without food. I love to watch them run they are so funny. Earlier this week I weighed a couple of them and the ones I weighted were about 4.5 lbs.

I have started giving them a little chops with their food.

So does anyone have any suggestions on what to do?

jackie

 

[silkiechicken]

If they are up and active, they are fine. The one who is still laging behind, probably has something else wrong with it, since the fast rate of growth on these little guys does take a toll on their overall group health.

 

[jackiedon]

Thanks Silkiechicken!!

They are sneezing but no yucky eyes or anything.

jackie

 

[Brunty_Farms]

Yes, for sure keep the sick one away from the healthy ones. If the rest are healthy then don't worry about it.

Bloody stools does mean they have cocci, but if they are 6 weeks old and have lived in a brooder or outside where it's been kept very dry you don't have much to worry about. This is just their bodies trying to develop an imunity to the cocci. One think to make sure you understand is despite the size of these birds they are still only 6 weeks old. Most breeds start to develop a good imunity to the cocci not until 6-8 weeks.

SO keep the sulmet away from the healthy birds, they don't need it. If you start to see a lot of restless birds at a time then ok use it. But with them being at age 6 weeks they are very close to being butchered..... I butcher all of mine at 6 weeks and try to get a dressed weight of 3.5 lbs at 6 weeks.

Jeff

 

[Mrs MIA]

Amprol is easier on their system, but Sulmet works too.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=90731

 

[carousel]

I have a follow up question on this,
has anyone used the coccida vaccine on meat birds?
I had problems with coccida in my meat birds and used Corid off and on to try to keep it under control. since i live "in town" I do not have a lot of space to rotate a pen. But I would like to raise a small batch 8-10 meat birds again in the spring.
thanks

 

[Brunty_Farms]

It helps, but it does not make them 100% immune to it. There is too many strains of cocci. Think of it more as a flu shot!

Jeff

 

[chickenannie]

I wouldn't worry too much about it, but I would make sure they have clean bedding so the others don't have so much exposure to the cocci poop. Birds kept in a healthy environment naturally develop resistance to cocci over time.

By the way, what are "chops" that you are feeding. I'm thinking lamb chops, rib chops...?

 

[jackiedon]

Quote:
Chops are cracked corn. Just a little to add some fat to them.

jackie

 

[greyfields]

Quote:
The vaccine isn't tremendously effective. It's only on the market so organic producers can do something, rather than nothing, for coccidiossis. Organic allows vaccinations, but not medications. All the coccidiostats are classified as antibiotics by the FDA for labeling purposes, even though the actual mechanism is different.

Coccidiossis is very climate specific in how it will behave. Lots of people proclaim to have cocci prevention programs, but live in climates where they are not suspectible to it. Where I live, it's not hot enough in summer of cold enough in winter to break the cycle and kill the oocysts. The oocysts can lay dormant here for decades in the soil. Pasture rotation is therefore not effective against it.

If your climates are more extreme, though, then it can make a huge difference. As far as advice goes, my advice is to take a fecal to a vet. It usually costs around $10 to get checked for coccidiossis. You can then confirm before treating that it's actually teh problem you are facing. As far as treatment goes, the medicated feeds or water soluable treatments are far more effective than the vaccine is. It just comes down to how fickle you are about the meat you eat.

So many people here waste money deworming and medicating their animals when they've misdiagnosed the problem.