Detecting Coccidiosis Early

[LaynaDon95]

I have 10- 4 week old chicks and just moved them to their coop today, I haven't been feeding them medicated food should I be worried, this is my first chicks didn't know I needed to feed medicated food now I'm worried.

They don't need medicated feed if you give them other preventatives and build up the resistance to coccidia. If you are willing to put a little more effort into raising them to avoid giving them meds, than that can easily be explained. If you don't mind feeding them meds and would rather not have to fuss with extras then you should probab;y put them on medicated feed so they don't get coccidia.

 

[Sunnysimplelife]

How much ACV do you add for roughly three week old chicks.

 

[LaynaDon95]

To a gallon or quart waterer?

 

[bobchristenson]

The info I have for ACV says 1TB per Quart of water...I'll let you do the gallon math.

 

[WI FarmChick]

Hi My Name is Lisa and I am by no means an expert on chickens. I have raised 4 batches (24- CX's and the rest layers). currently I have 40 six week old layers with a couple roo's in there.
I have not used medicated feed. I am feeding whole grains as my management schedule for my flock. I am grinding as needed until my flock has grown enough to eat the grains whole. I have developed my own recipe for this. With advice from others. In winter I sprout oats for their greens.

I am leary about advice as I don't know how many years experience they have. With that said, I have learned from newbies as well.
I list my years of experience in my location for every one to see. They can see my years and take them into consideration when making decisions for their flock. (my 2 years are conservative)

Here is a link to a thread I just read thru. It is a very long thread took me a week. Skipped thru a bit at the end it had some off topic posts.
I was very very willing to learn from the "Old Timers" from this thread. I learned a lot. I think everyone could learn something from this thread.

I would rather learn from someone who has "been there and done that" over and over and over for 20+ years.
I feel their expertise is worth gold.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...l-up-a-rockin-chair-and-lay-some-wisdom-on-us

The info I have for ACV says 1TB per Quart of water...I'll let you do the gallon math. I was told 1-2 Tbl per Gallon.

I also agree with Erica.
Tho I have not used kefir, so I don't know anything about that part.
I do know they are not as fragile as we think they are.

Most people don't know that the earliest sign of cocci is not eating. Watch the feed dish and if it stops going down at the same rate as usual, act.

Lethargy, hunching, pallor, loose droppings all come late in the illness.

However all chickens do runny droppings (called cecal droppings) about one in four poops, so there's no need to panic if you see mustard-coloured droppings here and there.

Raising chicks without medication is totally possible. I do it all the time. But the key is to graduate their exposure. That is, never let the exposure levels suddenly shoot up. Since warm wet weather can cause massive increases in coccidia numbers, this can be hard to get right.

The easiest way to minimise cocci risk is to raise chicks with a hen, and don't do it in a sterile or ultra-clean brooding area. A tractor is perfect because you can always move it to fresh ground. The thing you're aiming for is graduated exposure.

To achieve graduated exposure, with artificial brooding the keys are in not hatching huge numbers, sprinkling the brooder with hen soil from the start, shifting them to a new brooding area at 3 weeks so the brooder isn't heavily 'seeded' (after this the numbers of coccidia shed by each chick goes up), feeding kefir or some other soured milk (soured milk is a definite preventive), and continuing to increase exposure gradually.

For instance here I start chicks in a small wire brooder (adding a handful of hen soil), then at 3 weeks shift them to a tractor (on ground that's been used in this way before, so I know it's got cocci), then at 8-10 weeks I might put them into my grower pen, or I might keep them in the tractor.

This works really well (along with kefir) and the only cases of cocci I've seen in several years have been 1. A bought-in pullet that had been raised on wire, and so she got cocci within a week of being here; 2. a single chick that may have had immune problems because all her hatchmates remained fine; and 3. One occasion when I raised a few too many cornish x birds in the tractor, and we had drenching summer rain -- cornish x poop like there's no tomorrow (and hence shed a lot more cocci oocysts per bird; also their immune systems aren't as good as layer type birds).

I'll say it again, graduated exposure is the way to raise chicks without medication. It works and also allows medication to remain effective (yes, coccidia can become immune to ionophores, which are the preventive medications). Best of all I'm not seeding my soil with drug-resistant coccidia.

Raising chicks without medications is totally worthwhile, though with the effort involved it's not for everyone. Still, I have about 20 chicks, 20 adult birds and an incubator full, and I get through all the chores in about half an hour a day. None of my birds eats processed food (except to the extent that I grind up sprouts and other ingredients for the babies).

Regards (and I know I've written an essay... sorry about that! It's just a huge issue.)

Erica

 

[blondiebee181]

LaynaDon, Yeah my first chickies, my aunt had some when we were little and they were a lot of fun. Yeah about the whole medicated feed thing, I was leery about not feeding it at first too, but I initially didn't because I also have a duckling. I am glad so far that I haven't though and everything I hear and read about not feeding it keeps me steadfast. They LOVE low-sugar greek vanilla yogurt. I use Zoi and I'm going to feed them plain as soon as I get to the store again because I don't know how much sugar they should have. I might try some of the Kefir too. I haven't done ACV but I've been using Sav-a-chick, which again is kinda like chicken gatorade-it has a lot of electrolytes and vitamins. I alternate this with normal water as well. I have also started sprinkling sand from outside in the bottom of the brooder and over their food as well as leaves, sticks, and pinecones....things they wont eat because I haven't been offering enough sand to be used as grit yet. They seem to be doing as well as ever. The other thing though is that I only have 5 birds total and I've never had them in my yard before so the risk is lower (from what I hear) And I am obviously not an expert but I think staying away from it is woth it. The more medications we throw out there, the more resistant bugs we create and chickens are pretty hardy. Unless I see an outbreak, I am going to keep on a non-medicated course. Corid (Amprolium) Or Sulpha treatements are available as water solubles to treat outbreaks so that's when I will resort to the meds. Hope that helps from one newbie to another. Also, the best way to know if anything is wrong with the birds is to watch them, a lot. And as gross as it seems, become familiar with their droppings and what is normal because that is often a good indicator that birds are sick. Enjoy!

 

[CitySilkies88]

So I have week old Chicks and am totally worried about when they go to transition into the coop with my three Silkie hens. What is the best way to start building their immunity at this age? If I can raise them to be 6 or 8 weeks and then they pass on as soon as I move them to the coop I will be heart broken. Though I know it's inevitable that just by natural process some may not make it. But I want to do everything I can to prevent Cocci.

 

[blondiebee181]

Read this thread and others like it, they were extremely helpful. My babies are only about 2 weeks, and I'm feeding the yogurt and SAC (Sav-a-chick) They obviously don't need grit for the yogurt. I've also heard of scrambled egg bits, though there is something I can't quite get over about feeding chickens eggs

At 2 weeks is when I started sprinkling dirt and giving them outside toys like leaves and needles and sticks. You will probably want to collect dirt from the places they are going to be kept, like where your Silkies are. I've also heard the Apple Cider Vinegar in their water thing quite a bit if you want to try that. If you don't wanna hassle at all, medicated feed is an option. Also if it gives you more peace of mind go out and purchase some Corid to have just in case you suspect. Also become familiar with the bacteria and how they work and it's symptoms so you will catch it early.

So I have week old Chicks and am totally worried about when they go to transition into the coop with my three Silkie hens. What is the best way to start building their immunity at this age? If I can raise them to be 6 or 8 weeks and then they pass on as soon as I move them to the coop I will be heart broken. Though I know it's inevitable that just by natural process some may not make it. But I want to do everything I can to prevent Cocci.

 

[CitySilkies88]

Thanks for all the info. I am slowly reading through this thread. Honestly the whole thing makes me have a bit of a panic attack. If I do choose to feed medicated feed how should I transition them off of their regular starter/grower? I am undecided right now about which route to go. But like I said I working through this thread slowly so that I understand all the pro's and con's to both methods.

Also I have a question about chicken dirt. Doesent sprinkling it in the brooder just expose them to the Cocci earlier/could kill them sooner?

 

[blondiebee181]

As far as transitioning if you choose medicated, I don't know that they will be especially picky, they eat pretty much any food I throw in their feeder, but others may know better than I. You could always mix a little of the new feed in with the other stuff to make sure they eat it at first. As to the dirt thing, if you think about it, chicks with their mother go outside pretty fast and are introduced to everything little by little when they are with her. Since your babies don't have their hen mother, you are going to have to help them do that. Sprinkling dirt in the brooder from where they will be kept is a good way to start building their immunity because they are introduced to a very low level. Again, my girls are about 2 weeks and I just started doing this. Raising them in a clean brooder and then all of the sudden throwing them in with the rest of your birds is probably more likely to get them sick. If you put some in the brooder a little at a time, and there is anything in it, you are not only more likely to know right away if symptoms come up but also gives them a chance to fight off anything that might be in it without super high exposure, and they are in the warm brooder with plenty of light and water, which is probably more comfortable. I would also reccommend talking to a local feed store and/or vet that specializes in poultry about it, they may be able to also give you good advice or ease your fears. I know I wouldn't want to lose one of my little darlings and I was on the ropes too for the first week. Any of you veteran raisers correct me if I'm wrong on any of this, again I'm just starting too