Moving Forward: Coccidiosis

[ParksPoultry]

Last year I had just a couple pullets show signs of cocci. I immediately put them and my mature flock on Corid. I didn’t lose a single chicken. This year it got my flock hard. I lost five pullets/cockerels, even after treatment. I’m devastated! I have more chicks coming tomorrow and I’m terrified if introducing them into the coop in a few months. We are building a new coop with better ventilation, natural lighting, and new materials, so it should be so much better, but I’m terrified to lose another. What can I do to help prevent another exposure and how to sanitize and kill any left in the current coop?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Rather than worry about sanitizing which is hard because the moment you walk into the coop or bring a feeder or any equipment in there, you reintroduce coccidia oocysts.
The best bet is to keep bedding bone dry because they can't continue their life cycle in the absence of moisture.
Keeping feeders at least half full all daylight hours will minimize chickens pecking at the bedding.
Extreme cold eliminates the coccidia. (the name of the protozoa)
Cocci is any spherical microorganism most often a bacterium.

 

[ParksPoultry]

Rather than worry about sanitizing which is hard because the moment you walk into the coop or bring a feeder or any equipment in there, you reintroduce coccidia oocysts.
The best bet is to keep bedding bone dry because they can't continue their life cycle in the absence of moisture.
Keeping feeders at least half full all daylight hours will minimize chickens pecking at the bedding.
Extreme cold eliminates the coccidia. (the name of the protozoa)
Cocci is any spherical microorganism most often a bacterium.

Thank you for your feedback. I’ve been trying to keep it dry! It doesn’t freeze here anymore but it does get to 40 at night. Would DE help dry out the coccidia in addition to more dry bedding?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Last year I had just a couple pullets show signs of cocci. I immediately put them and my mature flock on Corid. I didn’t lose a single chicken. This year it got my flock hard. I lost five pullets/cockerels, even after treatment. I’m devastated! I have more chicks coming tomorrow and I’m terrified if introducing them into the coop in a few months. We are building a new coop with better ventilation, natural lighting, and new materials, so it should be so much better, but I’m terrified to lose another. What can I do to help prevent another exposure and how to sanitize and kill any left in the current coop?

I'm sorry for your losses.

Coccidia are found in poop and soil, but hopefully being in a different environment may help...

If you are raising chicks in a brooder, then introducing them early to things they will encounter when you put them outside may be helpful.

I usually try to brood outdoors near my flock, the area they go into is "dirty". Meaning the adults have been in that pen/brooder area most of the year, they have pooped in there, etc. I do clean/sweep it out but don't go overboard sanitizing. There's some dust and bits of dried debris/poop in there of course. I also give the chicks a pan of sifted dirt directly from the run, this is usually mixed with a bit of peat moss or a plug of sod from the yard. The sifted dirt definitely would have whatever the adults have in it. This is how I "expose" chicks that I brood. I prefer broody raised, but that's not always possible.

I do keep Corid on hand just in case. Keep the brooder dry, clean up any water spills for sure and keep water stations clean of poop. I just dump water, rinse them stations and give fresh water several times a day.

It does seem some folks have more trouble than others and Corid is just not as effective as it used to be for some. If you find that is the case, then having Endocox (Toltrazuril) and/or a Sulfa Antibiotic on hand is a good idea. IF you find the Corid is not helping, switch to one of those.

As for DE drying out poop, I'm not sure how that would work. DE can be a bit irritating to the respiratory system, so if you plan on using it, use a small amount and make sure ventilation is adequate.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

X2

 

[ParksPoultry]

I'm sorry for your losses.

Coccidia are found in poop and soil, but hopefully being in a different environment may help...

If you are raising chicks in a brooder, then introducing them early to things they will encounter when you put them outside may be helpful.

I usually try to brood outdoors near my flock, the area they go into is "dirty". Meaning the adults have been in that pen/brooder area most of the year, they have pooped in there, etc. I do clean/sweep it out but don't go overboard sanitizing. There's some dust and bits of dried debris/poop in there of course. I also give the chicks a pan of sifted dirt directly from the run, this is usually mixed with a bit of peat moss or a plug of sod from the yard. The sifted dirt definitely would have whatever the adults have in it. This is how I "expose" chicks that I brood. I prefer broody raised, but that's not always possible.

I do keep Corid on hand just in case. Keep the brooder dry, clean up any water spills for sure and keep water stations clean of poop. I just dump water, rinse them stations and give fresh water several times a day.

It does seem some folks have more trouble than others and Corid is just not as effective as it used to be for some. If you find that is the case, then having Endocox (Toltrazuril) and/or a Sulfa Antibiotic on hand is a good idea. IF you find the Corid is not helping, switch to one of those.

As for DE drying out poop, I'm not sure how that would work. DE can be a bit irritating to the respiratory system, so if you plan on using it, use a small amount and make sure ventilation is adequate.

Thank you. It’s so hard to lose even one, especially young ones.

The brooder is in the coop below the nesting boxes. That’s where I take the fully-feathered chicks to introduce them to the mature flock, or where my broodies raise their babies. The babies have their own brooder inside if they weren’t hatched by a hen. Before I put them out in the coop brooder I start taking them outside to acclimate to the environment. Now I’m just afraid to with my smaller ones because of the “outbreak”.
The new coop is almost finished and I can’t wait to get them in there will ventilation will be even better and it’s built on top of concrete so it’ll be easier to clean and more secure… I just want them to make it through the week!

My understanding with DE is that it dried out the exoskeletons of bugs. Not sure if it would dehydrate coccidia too.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Thank you. It’s so hard to lose even one, especially young ones.

The brooder is in the coop below the nesting boxes. That’s where I take the fully-feathered chicks to introduce them to the mature flock, or where my broodies raise their babies. The babies have their own brooder inside if they weren’t hatched by a hen. Before I put them out in the coop brooder I start taking them outside to acclimate to the environment. Now I’m just afraid to with my smaller ones because of the “outbreak”.
The new coop is almost finished and I can’t wait to get them in there will ventilation will be even better and it’s built on top of concrete so it’ll be easier to clean and more secure… I just want them to make it through the week!

My understanding with DE is that it dried out the exoskeletons of bugs. Not sure if it would dehydrate coccidia too.

Paying close attention to water (potential spills) and keeping bedding dry will make a huge difference.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Thank you. It’s so hard to lose even one, especially young ones.

...

My understanding with DE is that it dried out the exoskeletons of bugs. Not sure if it would dehydrate coccidia too.

Won't help. It is supposed to etch and harm the exoskeleton of things like slugs. But not something as microscopic as a coccidia protozoa. They are about 1/10,000,000 of a meter in length.
Even vets and vet technicians with good microscopes sometimes have trouble identifying them.