Treating new chicks for coccidiosis

[MamaHen11]

hi there!

I was wondering what everyone does when they get new chicks with regard to coccidiosis treatments.

Do you automatically treat? Or wait for signs?

If the first, preventive course or treatment course? What age?

 

[Kiki]

Wait for signs.
Treat with Corid.


Do you have an older flock?
If so chances are your chick MAY get Coccidiosis.

 

[MamaHen11]

Wait for signs.
Treat with Corid.


Do you have an older flock?
If so chances are your chick MAY get Coccidiosis.

Yes, I have 15 other birds - 7-8 weeks olds. Chicks are in a brooder downstairs. Big bird flock is housed in the coop

 

[Kiki]

Yes, I have 15 other birds - 7-8 weeks olds. Chicks are in a brooder downstairs. Big bird flock is housed in the coop

So it is more likely that your older established hens have built up a resistance to the Coccidiosis that is already on your land.
It is possible the chicks will build up their own resistance to it by themselves.
Just keep an eye out for signs and treat fast if your start to see it.

 

[ChattyChickens4Life]

You wait for signs to treat. However, if you want to take preventative measures, you can use Medicated Chick Starter Crumble. Or you could just vaccinate. Keep in mind though, that if you vaccinate and also feed Medicated Chick Starter Crumble, then the two preventative measures will counteract each other. Only use one or the other. Best wishes!

 

[lazy gardener]

Many of us never use medicated feed, and never experience coccidiosis in our flocks. I prefer to build my chicks immunity to cocci in the soil by giving them soil from my yard to eat early in their lives. They get a clump of sod from my yard within the first 2 weeks of their lives when they have the highest # of antibodies received from their mothers. I continue to give them a clump of sod every few days. By the time they are moving freely back and forth between their grow out coop (where they are brooded with a MHP) and their run, they have a strong immune system built up. Cocci are in all soils, and even found in all chicken guts. It's only when the chicken is highly stressed or the environment is conducive to the proliferation of the cocci does the bird become ill.

 

[MamaHen11]

Many of us never use medicated feed, and never experience coccidiosis in our flocks. I prefer to build my chicks immunity to cocci in the soil by giving them soil from my yard to eat early in their lives. They get a clump of sod from my yard within the first 2 weeks of their lives when they have the highest # of antibodies received from their mothers. I continue to give them a clump of sod every few days. By the time they are moving freely back and forth between their grow out coop (where they are brooded with a MHP) and their run, they have a strong immune system built up. Cocci are in all soils, and even found in all chicken guts. It's only when the chicken is highly stressed or the environment is conducive to the proliferation of the cocci does the bird become ill.

‘Within the first two weeks’ is that closer to two, when they’re stronger and more resilient, or two weeks at the latest?

 

[Kiki]

‘Within the first two weeks’ is that closer to two, when they’re stronger and more resilient, or two weeks at the latest?

I bring soil into the brooder on day one.

 

[lazy gardener]

‘Within the first two weeks’ is that closer to two, when they’re stronger and more resilient, or two weeks at the latest?

Just as soon as they have discovered the chick starter, and are filling up on that, I then start the soil. I like to get them eating their food first. But "stronger and more resilient"? The chicks gain their strength from their food, and they become more resilient as they mature, especially as their guts and immune systems mature, and that happens by exposure to local soils. Mama broody has her chicks out on barn yard soil within 48 hours of hatch and they are eating the soil, all the goodies she scratches up for them, and they even eat a fair amount of chicken poo. The latter is the primary way that animal infants develop their gut flora.

 

[chickens really]

I feed medicated starter....Have never had one issue with coccoid here...I feed till my Chicks are 10 weeks...All my Chicks are Momma raised and out in the flock...Medicated Chick feed on the floor in a Dog bowl and I feed the rest grower...zero ill effects on the Flock....