I want to ask possibly a very stupid question
when you guys say natural...does this include no Merks etc...
if so can you explain why and what you du instead...
I am very into natural things but was told that the jerks or medicated food were my 2 options...
would love to be educated on this
thank you...
Mareks disease, like coccidiosis is a common pathogen in all soils. Both are most likely to infect chickens who have a weak immune system. Cocci are normally present in the chicken's gut, and only cause disease if their numbers grow out of balance with the rest of the organisms in the chicken's gut. The way to keep the chicken from getting coccidiosis is to give the chicks early access to your native soils, while still in a nice warm dry brooder so they can develop good immunity to the organisms specific to your soil. The chick has the highest number of available antibodies within the first 2 weeks of hatch. So, that's when you want to foster that immunity. Toss a plug of sod into the brooder. They'll thank you for it. (Be sure of course, that it hasn't been treated with fungicides, herbicides or insecticides.) Medicated feed contains Amprolium, which is a thiamine blocker... The cocci take up the Amprolium, instead of thiamine and are not able to replicate. JMO: I assume that the feed is otherwise lacking in Thiamine, which is an important nutrient for the chick's health. I prefer to give my chicks all the nutrition advantage of having a good supply of Thiamine. There is also a vaccine for coccidiosis. I have no idea how that works, but if you use the vaccine, you can't use the medicated feed.
As far as Mareks disease goes: it is truly a devastating disease. But, the vaccine does not actually keep the chick from getting Mareks. What it does is decrease the symptoms if they do get it. So, you can have vaccinated chicks, and down the road, still end up with Mareks in your flock. The best way to combat it (IMO) is to do everything in your power to foster healthy immune systems in your flock: DL, FF, access to free range, not being kept in a poopy, barren run, plenty of room in coop and run so that bullying doesn't become an issue. An other natural Mareks deterrent: Access to soils frequented by wild turkeys. Turkeys carry a less virulent strain, and serve to naturally inoculate your flock. Kind of like the days of old when the milk maids never got Small Pox because they'd been infected with Cow Pox, which was close enough to kick the immune system into gear against ______Pox.
I've never used medicated feed, never had issue with coccidiosis. Never vaccinated my birds. Thankful that I have a healthy population of turkeys gobbling through my yard every year. Chicks get sod frequently in the brooder. Use DL, FF, and let my flock free range as much as possible. Use electronet fencing so that their run stays green. (New challenge this year with recently cleared land, all bare around coop. That will require immediate attention as soon as the snow mountains melt.
