Natural Immunity to Coccidia?

[Heni Penny]

Hello - I was reading on PoultryDVM the following

"When chickens are exposed to Eimeria early on, as long as there are not excessive levels present in the environment, they will usually develop a natural immunity, without any treatment necessary. However, if their immune system is lowered due to infection with another disease, stress, or exposure to a new species of Eimeria, they may develop coccidiosis."

See more at: http://www.poultrydvm.com/condition/coccidiosis

If I read it right, there seems to be a suggestion of the possibility once a chicken has been exposed it may develop a natural immunity, would this include post infection? Thanks

 

[DobieLover]

If I read it right, there seems to be a suggestion of the possibility once a chicken has been exposed it may develop a natural immunity, would this include post infection? Thanks

Probably.
I've never had a chick contract coccidiosis here. Not brooder raised. Not broody raised.
But I offer brooder raised chicks chunks of sod from the chicken pen starting at 2 weeks old and replenish them as they destroy them.
Broody hens have their chicks out in the pen usually by 2 weeks and I swear she feeds them nothing but what she forages out there.
But the key takeaway in the information you read is that even a bird that has developed immunity/tolerance to the coccidia strain present in your environment, if conditions are right (either bird immunity is compromised or you have environmental conditions conducive to a coccidia population explosion or a combination of the two) a bird can still get sick.
And if you introduce birds from a different area that harbor different strains they can transmit them to your flock and vice versa and they can all get sick.

 

[Heni Penny]

Thanks. Yes, we do the same as you do with our chicks. We live in the woods and while we are rather fastidious about keeping the coop clean, the run clean, and the dishes clean, none the less the dogs and chickens all have coccidia, likely from digging around in areas we had not seen them dig in until recently, who knows. So that's great. Super fun. Day four of corid. Thanks for your reply.

 

[centrarchid]

All my chickens are eventually exposed. Infections that are too rapid, regardless of birds starting health status can be a problem. Birds eating lots of infected excrement either in feed or water get the rapid infections. This can be a problem in a brooder or even free-range. Additionally, larger birds in better weight are more resistant in the face of initial infection. There is a genetic component to birds and pathogen as well.

When infections start too fast I have a procedure that gets most through although growth is compromised for about 2 weeks.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

none the less the dogs and chickens all have coccidia

Super fun. Day four of corid

Are the dogs and chickens sick?

Coccidia are host specific, so the dog(s) and chickens would not have the same strains. It's not uncommon for oocysts to show up or be seen in a fecal float, if there is an overload, then this creates the problem. Coccidia is very common and found in poop and soil, in chicks in a very clean brooder can become overloaded. Generally birds build resistance to the strains found in their environment, but it's possible for them to develop an overload.

 

[Heni Penny]

Thanks everyone! The birds seem much improved today. The dogs were sick a few weeks ago and are also better.