Bob just like you, when they puff up and start drop'n dead I do my best to figure why. A guy tends to remember after it happens to his birds. Have you noticed it more likely to happen in the rainy periods when your birds are stressed? It seems like my young chickens, LF cornish, seem to show symptoms mostly based on the weather. They however dont take it nearly as hard unless they are very young. The chukar however are painfully prone to die'n from it. Im sure its the chickens have a longer history of dealing with it and immune systems are better geared to fend it off.
While the below speaks of dogs, the same can be generally be applied to fowl so to speak with the exception of pups being replaced with eggs.
Only after sending out a PM, did I realize I overlooked (failed to elaborate) an obvious point that FD stated/asked; "
Have you noticed it more likely to happen in the rainy periods when your birds are stressed?It seems like my young chickens".
This statement has more merit than meets the eye. In dogs Coccidia can exist in the dog and remain dormant in the blood, intestine or muscles in the form of a cyst for a lifetime. During
stressful times, long road trips, rehousing etc, the coccidia can appear out of nowhere leaving you wondering where it came from in the first place, or how they recently contracted it. Ironically, in humans a similar STD shows up in the same manner "stress" and is known as Harpies and No I don't have it!
More so, when a Female has her pups, if she has the cyst in her body they can be transmitted during the pregnancy, at birth or thru the milk when feeding. Even the mothers fecal can transfer coccidia if the pups eat the fecal which is common. The adult can deal with the coccidial infection better than a newborn as her body's immune system is stronger and the natural bacteria in the digestive track fight off the increase.
Because the pup is still living off the immune system of the mother, and antibodies transferred in the milk the pup usually is able to handle the coccidia. It is usually when the pup body starts to become independent, producing its own antibodies, that coccidia starts to surface. This is usually at 8 weeks old but severe cases may show up at an earlier age.
While there are many strains of coccidia, the ones that effect dogs are not the same as the coccidia found in fowl strains. Still they all populate/propagate in the same manner. Coccidia thrive in the intestines and the developed Coccidia (the adult) populates forming more Coccidia cells and the numbers increase dramatically each day. As these numbers increase they quickly take over the digestive track, attacking the intestinal walls, which will deteriorate and cause bleeding and severe damage if left untreated.
The ability to fight this infection depends on the maturity and initial health of the species infected. Usually high levels of white blood cells are noted during an infestation/infection as to indicates such. The intestines defense is to produce a mucus which is water based and houses thousands of these cocciddia octets. As fecal is voided, usually a watery or mucus type feces is noted in the beginning. As the intestine is continuously attacked, it will soon start to bleed as the walls of the intestine break down. All voided feces will contain thousands of coccidia cells.
Since the intestines produce a watery mucus, the increase will most likely result in dehydration and weaken the body as white blood cells increase to fight off the infections. the dehydration and exerted energy leave the species in a lethargic state which will continue to worsen if treatment is not given or the adult is unable to fight off the attack naturally.
Well that freaked me out when I read it, and while I put this in my own words, it should be pretty accurate. How it applies to fowl? Well, I am betting in the same manner as the symptoms are so much alike.
