Dead 4wk old chick, immunized at hatchery

[tess36]

I posted a bit ago that one of my barred rock chicks died tonight while i watched. A poster suggested treating for coccidiosis. My concern is that my chicks were immunized for this before shipping and I found a few different sites that mentioned not to treat if previously immunized.

Does anyone know if this is true and can explain why. I checked the brooder and saw no bloody stool. My other girls all look fine but I did go ahead and added quik chik to their water and I can get the medication in am if needed. Thank you.

 

[GitaBooks]

I'm sorry about your chicken.

I have also heard that if they are vaccinated than giving them medication causes it to cancel each other out. I don't know why.

I've also heard some forms of coccidia don't show signs of bloody stool.

I hope your other chickens stay healthy!

 

[Lady of McCamley]

I'm sorry you lost a chick. That is always frustrating.

Unless you do a necropsy with lab work, you may not know what actually killed the chick. There are a lot of things that can cause a chick to fail. Coccidiosis is only one possible cause. You are correct that chicks can succumb to Coccidiosis without having bloody stool. Usually the first sign is rumpled appearance and listlessness, but most often diarrhea is present as well or follows shortly, but not always.

As to your question about the vaccine. It is important to understand how the vaccine in the United States works. It is live culture of the protozoa (coccidia). The vaccine is actually used to infect the birds, at low level, with the coccidia of the main strains that most affect chickens. There are many strains in the United States, and your area may have one that is different than the vaccine given to the chicks at the hatchery, miles away, which means it is possible your chick picked up a strain on your property that it did not have immune for yet and succumbed to it. It is also possible it gained overgrowth from the vaccine itself and succumbed as its immune system was weaker or over stressed for some other reason (maybe the lowest chick on the pecking order).

The reason to not treat vaccinated chicks with medicated feed (Amprolium) or the coccidia drugs Sulmet or Corid is that it is counter-purposed.

The vaccine is meant to infect the bird, at a low level, so that the chicks natural immunity kicks in to protect it from coccidia overgrowth. Overgrowth is the real harm as all chickens have a certain low level amount of coccidia since it abounds in the soil around. The goal of the vaccine is to begin exposure to the main strains of coccidia, at a safe beginning level, then allow continued exposure through the shedding of the oocysts in the feces (and subsequent eating of the feces) until the bird's immunity is slowly built...reproducing the natural cycle from soil but at a "safe" level without the use of drugs (important for organic labeling).

Medicated feed and the coccidia drugs (Sulmet and Corid) are used to kill coccidia in the gut and prevent the passing of the oocysts. Thus the concept of being counter-purposed...why infect with coccidia to kill coccidia with drugs (which we are trying to avoid so that we remain organic)..

I personally do not want my chicks vaccinated for coccidia from a hatchery that is miles away as I know they will be shedding those oocysts in their feces to build up in my soil, with each batch I purchase, which can infect my other birds causing me to eventually have to turn to more drugs or lose birds. I would rather let them acclimate to my soil's coccidia in the natural setting without introducing possible new strains to my soil. Depending upon conditions, I use medicated feed for a short time, to keep the load down, so that their bodies can adjust and build immunity; something I typically do with feed store purchased chicks. But I use non-medicated feed for my broody hatched chicks as they have already gotten exposure from the hens feces in low doses, at hatch. I also clean my coops and litter frequently, and avoid letting damp areas build up in the coop or run (water bowl/dispenser areas) which encourage the overgrowth of coccidia protozoa.

The whole goal with coccidia treatment is never to attempt to completely rid the environment of coccida, as that would be impossible, but merely keep the load down in the soil, and in the bird, to allow natural immunity to protect the chicken.

It is vitally important to not cross contaminate with coccidia from different soil, as each strain creates a new attack (just like different virus strains)....hence my hesitation to use vaccination at all.

If you really think it was coccida overgrowth, and you are not concerned with organic labeling, then I would put them all on Amprolium being aware that you are killing the coccida from the vaccine. If you see any other signs from the other chicks, I would put them on Sulmet or Corid (taking them off the medicated feed as you should not treat with medicated feed and one of the other drugs).

Here's a really good article from the Poultry Site on this issue.
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/publi...-for-natural-and-organic-poultry/47/vaccines/

LofMc