First time chicken-herder here (and known to be paranoid about such things)
I opted for non-medicated feed so I'm especially worried about our 3 week old chicks. I'm wondering what signs I should be looking for to detect coccidiosis early. I know that:
My first obvious question is: what is considered 'runny poo'? Since day 1 they've had slightly runny poo, but not what I'd call diarrhea. At what point to I need to think it's abnormal?
Then I'm also wondering if there are other warning signs to watch out for. Will they start acting different (sluggish, not as active, etc?)
I know, I know...alot of you will answer "just start giving them medicated feed like you're supposed to". But, frankly, I want to figure out how to do this without the medicated feed...afterall people did it for thousands of years without giving drugs to their chicks..I'd like to learn how.
Thanks for any advice about early warning signs I should look out for!
I opted for non-medicated feed so I'm especially worried about our 3 week old chicks. I'm wondering what signs I should be looking for to detect coccidiosis early. I know that:
- First (as early as 3 weeks) you'll start seeing "runny poo"
- Later (when it's almost too late) you'll see blood.
My first obvious question is: what is considered 'runny poo'? Since day 1 they've had slightly runny poo, but not what I'd call diarrhea. At what point to I need to think it's abnormal?
Then I'm also wondering if there are other warning signs to watch out for. Will they start acting different (sluggish, not as active, etc?)
I know, I know...alot of you will answer "just start giving them medicated feed like you're supposed to". But, frankly, I want to figure out how to do this without the medicated feed...afterall people did it for thousands of years without giving drugs to their chicks..I'd like to learn how.
Thanks for any advice about early warning signs I should look out for!