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- #11
The first ones I lost were from the newer ones added to the flock. At that point, they had been quarantined for 4 weeks, then added. They were in with my group for almost a month. It was 2 down from the new flock that were 12 weeks at that point, 4 from my original group that were grown, then 2 more of the newer birds. All in a 2 week time frame.Are all of the sick birds from the new flock? The are several different strains of coccidia--every chicken has some in their gut, but a new group coming to your home may get sick because of it being a different strain of cocci. If these are young birds they may need to be on medicated feed (with amprollium, but not if you are treating with corid.) The corid should help, but as you say, you may need to let nature take it's course and some of the ones that survive should have good immunity. Be careful not to overmedicate these weak and sick ones with worming, dusting for lice and mites unless you are sure they have them. Too many drugs can put them over the edge.
While the new birds were in quarantine those weeks, I added dirt from the run they would be going into once a week to introduce it. I am still leaning towards thinking this is something even more serious than cocci. My original birds were purchased just for me to begin and see if I enjoyed chickens. I just got local chickens from a lady an hour or so away. She had many different birds and it was obvious these were not pets, but breeders. I did love my birds and cared for them well before deciding I could offer much better birds in this area if I purchased more from better farms. That was when I began to get others and kept them separated. My original local birds were hatchery type stock and would just be used for my eggs. But after mixing in a few new ones that I wanted for my own eggs, everything went downhill. Although it was the newer birds to pass first, I have since spoken with others who purchased birds from the same lady I got my original birds from who have told me that several years ago she had serious problems and lost her entire flock. I am now wondering if it is the original birds who are carriers of something dreadful.
For now, it's a wait and see. Either the NPIP man will have answers on Monday, another will pass that I can send for necropsy, or they will all BE HEALED
BY A MIRACLE!!!!