I've never used medicated feed for my chicks but after dealing with cocci I'm thinking I should use it since I have a broody hen in the coop. I cleaned everything out and treated with antibiotics but won't the virus still be in the dirt somewhere? I'm new to this so any advice is welcome!
The coccidia are in the dirt everywhere. The way that chickens catch coccidiosis it is if too many oocysts get into their system. They're a microscopic parasite that feed on intestinal lining. They breed in warm, moist environments (numbers are really high right now because of all of our rain). It's not recommended that you give to broody hens or chicks with the broody hens because they're already being exposed to it in the dirt, AND in their feed, meaning that their systems get overloaded with it and it's a surefire way to give them coccidiosis again. However, if you have baby chicks not being raised with the mother in a brooder that don't have access to outside, medicated feed is fine. However, I personally opt for unmedicated feed even when not raising with broodies and instead I bring them clumps of grass and dirt from my backyard starting at around a week old. That way they learn how to/get nutrients from eating the grass and can find small pebbles for grit. The main part though is to expose them to small amounts of the specific strains of coccidia living in MY soil, so their bodies can build resistance to those strains occordingly. There are 9 strains I'm pretty sure, but anyone's soil may have one or all of them.
Edit; forgot to add that they live in the poop (from the chickens gut) and cocci thrive in muddy runs...
There are always small numbers of cocci in the chickens gut, it becomes a problem if the numbers become too plentiful, kind of like MRSA in a way... everyone has it, but when it becomes active it causes harm.
Hope I helped.
If anyone sees anything wrong with what I said please feel free to correct it.
Sorry the paragraph is a little poorly worded and has grammar errors, my battery's about to die literally any second.
