Detecting Coccidiosis Early

[featheredroots]

Are they inside or outside? I'm keeping mine on non-medicated while they are inside. They are doing fine. It's when they are moved out that concerns me. I don't know if ACV helps prevent coccidia. I know it's good against lice and other pests. I give mine yogurt or kefir (depending on what I have) which is good for their intestines. I also give mine a natural wormer in their water.
If you are too concerned about losing one, I would put them on meds when you put them into the coop. Just for a few weeks for them to build a resistance to it.
I believe it can be done without meds, or chickens would not have survived to this day and age. I'm just still trying to figure out how. I'm gonna keep trying, but I don't have any really little ones to get sad over the loss of a chick. I'll be sure to post when I find a method that works.

What age do you start giving your chicks yogur or kefir? I gave my last couple of batches kefir at about 2 wks, but my new babies are just a few days old. Is it too early to start giving them small amounts, free choice?

 

[LaynaDon95]

What age do you start giving your chicks yogur or kefir? I gave my last couple of batches kefir at about 2 wks, but my new babies are just a few days old. Is it too early to start giving them small amounts, free choice?

I give it to mine at about 2-3 days old, only because they don't pay much attention to it before then. What I've started doing (to reduce mess) is get a mason jar waterer


and thin the kefir out with enough water that it flows through easily. I've found that makes it so much easier!
I start giving it to them in a bowl at about 4 weeks old. (That's when they figure out it's not for bathing in. =P)
You might have small globs of kefir that thickens before the chicks can get to it. I just feed it to my older girls, but you can thin it back out and feed it to the babies.

 

[featheredroots]

I give it to mine at about 2-3 days old, only because they don't pay much attention to it before then. What I've started doing (to reduce mess) is get a mason jar waterer


and thin the kefir out with enough water that it flows through easily. I've found that makes it so much easier!
I start giving it to them in a bowl at about 4 weeks old. (That's when they figure out it's not for bathing in. =P)
You might have small globs of kefir that thickens before the chicks can get to it. I just feed it to my older girls, but you can thin it back out and feed it to the babies.

Thanks! I had some kefir already made up so I gave them a little bit in a plastic mason jar lid, they loved it! I was worried that they'd tip the lid over, but other than getting their food in it, it's remained upright.

I'm feeding them organic hand mixed feed with DE and nutritional yeast mixed in, along with ACV, garlic and molasses water. Now that I've added the kefir, is there any other preventatives that I should be giving them?

 

[blondiebee181]

I heard green tea somewhere...is that true as a preventative?

 

[LaynaDon95]

I heard green tea somewhere...is that true as a preventative?

I can't think of any properties in green tea that would prevent Coccidia. It would be good for other things, I imagine, but I wouldn't trust it as a cocci preventative.

 

[LaynaDon95]

Thanks! I had some kefir already made up so I gave them a little bit in a plastic mason jar lid, they loved it! I was worried that they'd tip the lid over, but other than getting their food in it, it's remained upright.

I'm feeding them organic hand mixed feed with DE and nutritional yeast mixed in, along with ACV, garlic and molasses water. Now that I've added the kefir, is there any other preventatives that I should be giving them?

Wow. I would love to do my own chick feed. How does it compare cost wise?
I put Wormwood/Black Walnut extract in the chicks' water also, as a cocci preventative, but I don't think it's necessary. I've been contemplating that. I think kefir is enough.
What do you put in your chick feed?

 

[tizzielou99]

You know, thank you for saying this. I want mine to be raised organic too. I started them on non medicated feed while they were in the house and switched them to medicated in fear of coccidiosis when they went outside. I was asking myself if I did the right thing and really felt like I did. I now feel even better with your comment. I just felt that it was not worth them dying so I could prove a point. I really appreciate your statement.

 

[tizzielou99]

I would like to know Why? I mean, Im a pretty organic guy, I garden organicly, I use no herbicides or pesticides. I live all natural eating whole foods, using all natural toothpastes,soaps, deoderants, laundry detergent. I try to live a non-toxic life style. I cured myself of stage 4 nodular melanoma with a 6 month prognosis in 2004. I plan on raising my chickens all organic......After there recomended time on medicated chick starter. Im not trying to belittle you in any way. Im just curious. Is it that the manufacturing of medicated animal food is dangerous to us and the environment, is it just the challenge of raising totally all natural chickens like our forefathers.

You know, thank you for saying this. I want mine to be raised organic too. I started them on non medicated feed while they were in the house and switched them to medicated in fear of coccidiosis when they went outside. I was asking myself if I did the right thing and really felt like I did. I now feel even better with your comment. I just felt that it was not worth them dying so I could prove a point. I really appreciate your statement.

 

[Hamstery]

I hope it's ok that I post here. I don't mean to hijack, but reading this has made me a little nervous. I wonder if anyone could ease my mind a bit.
My chicks are 4 weeks old. Have been thriving since day one. They are NOT on medicated starter. And this being my first time raising chicks, I have not used any preventatives. The last two weekends we put them out in the coop run for a few hours each day ( this is a run that housed our 4 adult hens 4 months ago.... that we no longer have. ) Would it be best for me to switch to medicated starter since they have been spending time outside? Or will it even matter at this point?

 

[Erica]

So, say you have 2 week olds (hatched) and day olds (bought) sharing a brooder. What do you do? By hen soil, do you mean the soil the hens are in the most, that has guaranteed cocci in it, or hen poo? Should I wait until the day olds are a little older and have gotten kefir into their system (I do feed mine kefir) before I introduce them to cocci? Would you move them to the tractor at the same time, or the oldest first, then the little ones when they are 3 weeks? I have a ton more questions... Do you mind helping me?

So sorry I missed this, and other questions! Apologies for that, and thanks to others for raising the thread again. Thanks so much for kind comments LaynaDon95 (and a few others).

To clarify (sorry it's so late!), by 'soil' I meant just a handful of the dirt out of the hens' pen. You could also do it with fresh healthy hen droppings. I do this right away, day one, so they've had exposure as early as possible, but not a huge amount so they're not overwhelmed.

Tractoring is great, but can be tricky if chicks are still on heat (I wean mine to a purpose-built 'cold brooder' by 7-14 days of age). If you can't use a tractor, I'd recommend starting chicks in a small brooder, then moving to a bigger brooder outdoors (e.g. in a shed or aviary, or tractor) no older than 3 weeks. This is because if you leave them in the baby brooder too long, they start to really shed high numbers of cocci oocysts, and that compromises the next hatch who are put in the same tub. Changing brooders at 3 weeks really helps keep up the graduated exposure.

The trouble those of you brooding in a bathroom or house will have is the sudden shock going from ultra-clean to cocci-laden soil outdoors. I think you're right, those of you who make the switch using medicated starter just in case. However if you've added a small amount of hen pen soil from day one you should find it easier to make the graduation.

The way I came to being fully med-free after years of using medicated starter was by first of all weaning chicks off the medication at younger and younger age. It took a fair bit of trial and error to learn that I had to be on top of quite a few variables (such as chick numbers, weather, soil dampness) as well as what I was feeding. And I also learned that the more kefir the better; if I skimp on it, and a few other things coincide (like it rains in the pen, or I've just changed them from the tractor to the bottom pen where there's more damp, or I'm too busy to move the tractor for over a week) I start seeing signs.

If anyone's interested, my blog has quite a lot of info packaged under 'raising chicks without medication' and also under 'soured milk diets'. Sorry but you have to scroll right to the bottom where the list reads 'posts by subject'. However my blog is kind of farm-based, so anyone who doesn't want to see how to dispatch a chicken for food should perhaps do a search rather than scrolling.

I'm kicking myself for not answering the terrific questions people have raised here... Hopefully I've given some help.