Icelandic Chickens

[LittleChickSpy]

Pretty chickies!

I am freaking out. I have a coccidiosis outbreak in my big coop. I have lost 2 2 month olds. One before I knew the problem, and oneof the ones that was sickest yesterday died overnight (I had brought her inside). I started orid yesterday. Still have one very sick bird and 3 who look affected. They are all my 2 month olds. Clearly, they were overwhelmed with it when I introduced them to the big flock 11 days ago. It has been so wet here, so I know that has made it worse.

My icelandics haven't hit the ground yet, but they are rapidly outgrowing their current quarters. How do I introduce them to the ground (away from my main coop) to help build their immunity, without making them sick? I am so worried now.

 

[mlm Mike]

Pretty chickies!

I am freaking out. I have a coccidiosis outbreak in my big coop. I have lost 2 2 month olds. One before I knew the problem, and oneof the ones that was sickest yesterday died overnight (I had brought her inside). I started orid yesterday. Still have one very sick bird and 3 who look affected. They are all my 2 month olds. Clearly, they were overwhelmed with it when I introduced them to the big flock 11 days ago. It has been so wet here, so I know that has made it worse.

My icelandics haven't hit the ground yet, but they are rapidly outgrowing their current quarters. How do I introduce them to the ground (away from my main coop) to help build their immunity, without making them sick? I am so worried now.

Do you use medicated feed? I've never done it, but some people start bringing little patches of grass/dirt into them when they are chicks .

 

[RedIII]

LittleChickSpy, do you have a smaller cage or pen near the flock that you can put them in?

I'd recommend medicated feed for a few days. Whenever I find blood in the stools, everyone gets a round of the medicated stuff. Giving them plain yogurt for a treat is also good. If they don't know what to do with it, you can try sprinkling a little feed on the top.

 

[NotAFarm]

Quote:

LittleChickSpy, do you have a smaller cage or pen near the flock that you can put them in?

I'd recommend medicated feed for a few days. Whenever I find blood in the stools, everyone gets a round of the medicated stuff. Giving them plain yogurt for a treat is also good. If they don't know what to do with it, you can try sprinkling a little feed on the top.
Both of these are good advice. If you have treated with corid, you should see improvement quickly. I don't usually raise Icelandics in a brooder since I like to use my hens for that, but when I first got my original hens, I was trying to hatch as many as possible so did have some brooder raised ones. I followed Chookschicks advice on putting patches of my sod/grass from the area around the coop in with the chicks. I also started putting them outside for brief periods so they could adjust slowly. The stress of putting chicks in with the flock can give the cocci an advantage so you need to make them better able to deal with everything by building up their resistance.

 

[drumstick diva]

Little Chick spy, I hope the losses are over and your flocks recovers fast.

 

[Happy Chooks]

Two of the weanlings....

And handsome weanlings at that.

 

[LittleChickSpy]

Thank you for all the advice. still at 2 losses, but I believe I will lose 3rd, too. So upsetting.A couple of the other chicks that looked affected on Saturday are looking better. The other I brought inside looks worse today, after rallying a bit yesterday, so preparing myself to lose him/her.

Should I start medicated feed now? It will probably be another week or so before changing to a coop with a run. I will be able to gradually move that coop closer to the big coop in hopes of building immunity before freeranging the Icelandics (I never plan to mingle them with my laying flock, but know that cocci strain must be all over the place near that coop.

I have been careful not to bring anythianything from that coop near the Icelandics (other than myself, but I wash my hands before touching anything. I haven't given the Icelandics Corid. I read it was rough on their systems. Should I, just to be totally safe?

 

[NotAFarm]

Thank you for all the advice.

still at 2 losses, but I believe I will lose 3rd, too. So upsetting.A couple of the other chicks that looked affected on Saturday are looking better. The other I brought inside looks worse today, after rallying a bit yesterday, so preparing myself to lose him/her.

Should I start medicated feed now? It will probably be another week or so before changing to a coop with a run. I will be able to gradually move that coop closer to the big coop in hopes of building immunity before freeranging the Icelandics (I never plan to mingle them with my laying flock, but know that cocci strain must be all over the place near that coop.

I have been careful not to bring anythianything from that coop near the Icelandics (other than myself, but I wash my hands before touching anything. I haven't given the Icelandics Corid. I read it was rough on their systems. Should I, just to be totally safe?

Here is a quote with very good information on medicated feed and cocci....

Ridgerunner

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I'm pretty sure the medication in the Purina medicated is Amprolium. If it is something other than Amprolium, what I am about to say is wrong. But I do not think I am wrong.

Amprolium is not an antibiotic. It inhibits the protozoa that causes Coccidiosis from reproducing. It does not totally stop the protozoa from reproducing, but it slows it down. It is OK for some of the protozoa to be in the chick's system. That way, the chick will develop an immunity. The danger is when the number of protozoa gets out of hand. The protozoa can also live in wet chicken manure, so the real danger from Cocci is when the chickens are in a wet brooder, coop, or run. Usually, if the brooder, coop, and run are pretty dry, Cocci is not a threat, but it does absolutely no harm to feed the medicated feed to the chicks.

The medicated feed is a total waste and will do you absolutely no good if the protozoa is not present to start with. How can it inhibit the protozoa from reproducing if it is not there to start with? But you don't really know if it is there or not, so again, it does no harm to feed it.

A chick will develop an immunity to the protozoa within two to three weeks once the protozoa is present, as long as it stays active in their system the entire time. The younger the chick is, the easier it is for it to develop that immunity. An older chick or chicken is more likely to have problems than a really young chick. As long as the coop and run are pretty dry, it is usually not a big problem, but Cocci can hit older chickens pretty hard. It can hit the babies too, but older chickens are more at risk.

Your biggest risk is when they are first introduced to the protozoa. If you have taken them out to the ground or brought something in to them, they may have been exposed, but many brooder raised chicks get their first exposure when they first hit the ground. So I suggest you continue them on the medicated feed for at least three weeks after they first hit the ground. Then, when that bag of feed runs out, you can switch them to unmedicated feed like grower or flock raiser if you wish. It really does not matter if they are 6 weeks old or 12 weeks old when you switch, or even older.

I personally do not feed medicated feed and I introduce dirt from the run to them about their 3rd day so they get the exposure early. But I'll say it again. It does absolutely no harm to feed them the medicated feed and the greatest risk is when they first hit the ground.

Good luck!

Edited by Ridgerunner - 9/23/11 at 9:04am
Freedom is not the right to do what we want, but what we ought....Abraham Lincoln (Freedom carries responsibility)

The spirit of liberty is the spirit which is not too sure that it is right.....Judge Learned Hand (The more sure your are that your way is the only right way, the more likely you are wrong.)

 

[Happy Chooks]

Thank you for all the advice.

still at 2 losses, but I believe I will lose 3rd, too. So upsetting.A couple of the other chicks that looked affected on Saturday are looking better. The other I brought inside looks worse today, after rallying a bit yesterday, so preparing myself to lose him/her.

Should I start medicated feed now? It will probably be another week or so before changing to a coop with a run. I will be able to gradually move that coop closer to the big coop in hopes of building immunity before freeranging the Icelandics (I never plan to mingle them with my laying flock, but know that cocci strain must be all over the place near that coop.

I have been careful not to bring anythianything from that coop near the Icelandics (other than myself, but I wash my hands before touching anything. I haven't given the Icelandics Corid. I read it was rough on their systems. Should I, just to be totally safe?

I must have missed your original post, but if your chicks are dying from Coccidiosis, then you need to treat all of them with Corid (which is amprolium). It is NOT an antibiotic, but a thiamine blocker. (an amino acid) The amount of amprolium in the medicated feed will not be enough, you need the Corid to save any others.

Coccidiosis is not a disease, it is a protozoa that they need to build immunity to. Young chicks can get it if the organism is in your soil (it thrives in wet conditions) and they are overloaded with it before they have built up immunity to it. Once they receive treatment, there is no harm to other birds in your flock. You just need to watch for the symptoms in young birds you have in the future because it is in your soil.

Great post from Ridgerunner below, so I'll let him fill in the more detailed explanation.

Here is a quote with very good information on medicated feed and cocci....

Ridgerunner

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I'm pretty sure the medication in the Purina medicated is Amprolium. If it is something other than Amprolium, what I am about to say is wrong. But I do not think I am wrong.

Amprolium is not an antibiotic. It inhibits the protozoa that causes Coccidiosis from reproducing. It does not totally stop the protozoa from reproducing, but it slows it down. It is OK for some of the protozoa to be in the chick's system. That way, the chick will develop an immunity. The danger is when the number of protozoa gets out of hand. The protozoa can also live in wet chicken manure, so the real danger from Cocci is when the chickens are in a wet brooder, coop, or run. Usually, if the brooder, coop, and run are pretty dry, Cocci is not a threat, but it does absolutely no harm to feed the medicated feed to the chicks.

The medicated feed is a total waste and will do you absolutely no good if the protozoa is not present to start with. How can it inhibit the protozoa from reproducing if it is not there to start with? But you don't really know if it is there or not, so again, it does no harm to feed it.

A chick will develop an immunity to the protozoa within two to three weeks once the protozoa is present, as long as it stays active in their system the entire time. The younger the chick is, the easier it is for it to develop that immunity. An older chick or chicken is more likely to have problems than a really young chick. As long as the coop and run are pretty dry, it is usually not a big problem, but Cocci can hit older chickens pretty hard. It can hit the babies too, but older chickens are more at risk.

Your biggest risk is when they are first introduced to the protozoa. If you have taken them out to the ground or brought something in to them, they may have been exposed, but many brooder raised chicks get their first exposure when they first hit the ground. So I suggest you continue them on the medicated feed for at least three weeks after they first hit the ground. Then, when that bag of feed runs out, you can switch them to unmedicated feed like grower or flock raiser if you wish. It really does not matter if they are 6 weeks old or 12 weeks old when you switch, or even older.

I personally do not feed medicated feed and I introduce dirt from the run to them about their 3rd day so they get the exposure early. But I'll say it again. It does absolutely no harm to feed them the medicated feed and the greatest risk is when they first hit the ground.

Good luck!

Edited by Ridgerunner - 9/23/11 at 9:04am
Freedom is not the right to do what we want, but what we ought....Abraham Lincoln (Freedom carries responsibility)

The spirit of liberty is the spirit which is not too sure that it is right.....Judge Learned Hand (The more sure your are that your way is the only right way, the more likely you are wrong.)

Yes, Purina's medicated feed is Amprolium.

 

[LittleChickSpy]

Thank you for all of the information. I did lose that 3rd chick today. He had been so sick since Saturday, but he was my *favorite* chicken, so I was being selfish hoping he could pull through. Everyone else who was clearly heavily affected looks better (no more droopy eyes), just need to be fattened back up). Thankfully, my Icelandics are not affected, it was my hatch from June 12 that got hit by it. None of the older birds are showing any symptoms, but the Corid is in everyone's water (since Saturday). They are far from the main coop right now, completely off of the ground. I will absolutely started medicated feed for them & continue that when I put them on the ground. It has been SO wet here the last month, and it's South Carolina, so of course it's nice and warm, too. No doubt the protozoa are loving it. :/