I need some advice on whether to give my chickens corid as a preventative or wait until they get sick. I started with four chicks back in August. One died after about a day and a half. I now know it was from coccidiosis, but I didn't know then. The feed and seed store people said it just happens. One of the other week old chicks got ill shortly after and then recovered. After that everyone seemed fine for almost two months. Then at about eight weeks old, another chicken died. I had her necropsied, and it was confirmed as coccidiosis. I had fecal samples from my other two chickens tested, and they were both clean. So I guess my remaining two are healthy, but I'm sure they will be exposed again... I also came home today to find one of the neighbor chickens in my yard, where my girls free range. So even if my two are healthy other chickens are pooping where they forage. So should I give them a five day run of corid just to be safe, or wait until they show signs of illness? Are there any bad side affects to corid? Will it help them develop immunity? Will too much of it make the coccidia mutate or become resistant? Should I give them the stuff every couple of months or would that be a waste and/or bad for the chickens? Any help appreciated! Thanks!
