Heritage Large Fowl - Phase II

[RedRidge]

I will have to politely disagree with this statement. ..

I have had chickens for more years than I can count and Di not give anything as a preventative.

I worried about cocci this year with how wet it was but would never give it unless needed. I had Corid on hand. .. Have never used it. Have never once given any form of antibiotics or wormer to my chickens. Maybe I am just lucky. Feeding medicated feeds just does not make sense to me.

Send some of yours here and I will let them be and we will see then is all I can say.  there's stuff that grows in this humid/swamp that don't/can't grow anywhere else on God's green Earth; everywhere is not the same place. You sure won't get by without de-worming a couple of times of year. Chicken genetics have nothing to with what they may come in contact with out in the elements.

The  .%   of amprolium(coccidiostat) in the feeds is so minimal there could not be such an effect that could be an for-ever-more detriment to the bird I'm sure. Now giving them the meds(in the strong doses) after they have the illnesses and in an already rundown state from being sick could/would surely be harmful to their systems in certain
ways. J/S

The low percent is not aimed at fixing sick birds it is used to let them get a little exposure and therefore let the system build immunity slowly. It is not a cure-all the meds in the bottle is and this will linger for sometime in the systems, yes.



Jeff

You got the point. .. If I send them there they would not do well. Did you miss the statement where I said, "you will never raise healthier stock than what you raise".
I think it is definitely environmental... remember... always move livestock South to North and east to West. That said... With the hay and humidity we have here... And extreme fog until close to noon more than half the year. .. W
ell... I think resistance and adaptability is the key.

 

[ki4got]

Quote: i disagree... all it requires is simple exposure to coccidia from an early age... as i stated in an earlier post, as long as the mother had been exposed and has immunity, then the chick will too at first. then he starts building his own as the mother's wears off, and life goes on, as it should.

 

[fowlman01]

I'm not sure what you are disagreeing with, but chick's will die in my location if you put them on the ground without medicated feed. It has been that way here for 50 years. I have tried a number of times eliminate medicated feed. Never assume that something that works for you will work somewhere else.

Walt

 

[thedragonlady]

Jeff

I have to do "double duty" here to keep cocci at bay. Medicated feed in the brooder, then for 1 full week after they hit the ground, I give Corid in their water in addition to the medicated feed....otherwise, they ALWAYS get it. Treating like this for the past 2 seasons and not one case.

I think the humidity here in the South causes more cocci than in other places

If you'll use the creep feeder, and continue to feed medicated feed for a few weeks, you will not have this problem.It's the STRESS of moving, that lets the coccidia get a hold.Continue the medicated feed, and minimize the stress, and you won't have losses.

 

[ki4got]

I'm not sure what you are disagreeing with, but chick's will die in my location if you put them on the ground without medicated feed. It has been that way here for 50 years. I have tried a number of times eliminate medicated feed. Never assume that something that works for you will work somewhere else.

Walt

then I would say the parent stock has never been exposed to coccidia, in which case the chicks are receiving no maternal antibodies... so yeah if that happens then you would have to use corid until the chicks have developed their own immunity. personally I would find another source of chicks.

 

[Arielle]

Fred mentioned prepotency--

 

[normanack]

Fred mentioned prepotency-- 

Is prepotency when you hear the male chick crowing inside the egg?

Seriously, I'd like to know what it is.

 

[Yellow House Farm]

then I would say the parent stock has never been exposed to coccidia, in which case the chicks are receiving no maternal antibodies... so yeah if that happens then you would have to use corid until the chicks have developed their own immunity. personally I would find another source of chicks.

You're over simplifying. It's not simply about a little random exposure to coccidia in the soil. It's about the load level in the bird, and if the load level gets too high then the young bird is dead without medical intervention. It's not simply that the mothers pass on an immunity; it's that mother hens tend to cover small amounts of chicks in a larger environment and their exposure to droppings is lessened by the movement of the female. The reduced load level allows them to develop their immunity. The coccidia issue is not simply exacerbated by soil contact, but rather by manure concentration. If the ambient elements are also such that they support a strong coccidia population, i.e. March and April in New England, there is an even greater risk.

The cocciodiostat in chick starter is highly effective. The well paid scientists make sure of that, as do the regulatory agencies. Commercial feeds are quite adequate, and they do not risk their outstanding profit margins on providing ineffective feeds.

We raise hundreds and hundreds of chicks a year between the prime coccidiosis periods of February to May, and we do nothing but provide draught-free warmth, clean litter, appropriate floor-space, and correct nutrition.

I am quite certain that Walt is clear on the needs of his a particular husbandry conditions.

 

[Yard full o' rocks]

If you'll use the creep feeder, and continue to feed medicated feed for a few weeks, you will not have this problem.It's the STRESS of moving, that lets the coccidia get a hold.Continue the medicated feed, and minimize the stress, and you won't have losses.

Vickie

My young ones go to a totally separate grow out pen where they are not anywhere around grown birds and they still get the medicated feed. I do try to put them on the ground by around 8 weeks

Do you think a creep feeder is useful in this scenario?

 

[Yellow House Farm]

Seriously, I'd like to know what it is.

Prepotency is the strong capacity to transfer genetics to offspring. It happens when a bird is homozygous for genetic traits. The more traits for which a breeder is homozygous, the stronger his or her ability to pass on traits and produce offspring that possess its homozygous qualities. If the homozygote is bred to birds complementing it heterzygously, at the very least, a high percentage of chicks will be produced that are homozygous for the traits it offers, creating a generation that resembles the homozygous parent closely. Such a breeder is said to be prepotent.