Medicated vs Non-Medicated Feed

[rjohns39]

I keep close tabs on them until they're 8 weeks old. I wonder if they don't inherit some level of immunity from mom? My first chicks were local, second batch were hatchery, and then two batches of hatching eggs. Next spring, another batch of hatching eggs and that should give me enough biodiversity to close the flock.

 

[Ridgerunner]

That's a good point. People look for absolutes. If I use hardware cloth I will absolutely never have a predator problem. If I buy a certain breed the pullets will absolutely start to lay at a certain age. Real life doesn't work that way with living animal and here you have the living chickens and the living protozoa that causes the cocci problems. A double whammy.

I don't look for absolutes, I look for ways that improve my odds of success. I believe that introducing my chicks to the environment they will be exposed to as soon as possible (feeding them dirt) will strengthen their immune system and enable them to better handle what they will eventually face. And since cocci thrives in a wet brooder, coop, or run or in dirty water keeping their water clean and their living area reasonably dry greatly improve my odds of having healthy chicks and eventually chickens. That doesn't mean I will never have a cocci problem, but I do thing it tremendously helps my odds.

 

[speckledhen]

I keep close tabs on them until they're 8 weeks old. I wonder if they don't inherit some level of immunity from mom? My first chicks were local, second batch were hatchery, and then two batches of hatching eggs. Next spring, another batch of hatching eggs and that should give me enough biodiversity to close the flock.

Yes, they do get a minimal immunity for their mother, and if they are with a broody, I believe that when they are pecking in her poop, and they do when they're little, they extend that immunity. Even if the hen is not their actual mother, she is already immune herself. That is why I think I see almost no coccidiosis in broody-raised chicks. But, never say never with chickens, as Ridgerunner discussed just after your comment and in the quote below:

That's a good point. People look for absolutes. If I use hardware cloth I will absolutely never have a predator problem. If I buy a certain breed the pullets will absolutely start to lay at a certain age. Real life doesn't work that way with living animal and here you have the living chickens and the living protozoa that causes the cocci problems. A double whammy.

I don't look for absolutes, I look for ways that improve my odds of success. I believe that introducing my chicks to the environment they will be exposed to as soon as possible (feeding them dirt) will strengthen their immune system and enable them to better handle what they will eventually face. And since cocci thrives in a wet brooder, coop, or run or in dirty water keeping their water clean and their living area reasonably dry greatly improve my odds of having healthy chicks and eventually chickens. That doesn't mean I will never have a cocci problem, but I do thing it tremendously helps my odds.

Exactly. Absolutes don't exist in the chicken world. We only mitigate the risks.

 

[Ridgerunner]

The only time I've seen cocci in my chicks was with chicks raised by a broody hen. It set in wet for a while plus I did not keep the water bowls cleaned out often enough. I think if I'd kept the water changed often enough I would not have seen the problem even with all that rain.

 

[speckledhen]

The only time I've seen cocci in my chicks was with chicks raised by a broody hen. It set in wet for a while plus I did not keep the water bowls cleaned out often enough. I think if I'd kept the water changed often enough I would not have seen the problem even with all that rain.

Perfect example of situations changing things up. Wet conditions throw it all off and we can't control the weather. Even if the birds are not wet, just the moisture in the air getting into the shavings and making them feel dampish can make things worse. But, barring all else, broody-raised chicks seem to be better able to stave off coccidiosis. Part of that is that they tend to go out when it's cooler because mom is there to hunker down if they start yelling that they are cold, so they, again, get early exposure to the soil.