Will giving vaccinated chicks Sulmet harm them?

[capow21]

I have ten chicks that are 4 wks old. Six were vaccinated and four were not. One of the four got sick yesterday and just slept all day with mucus-like poo. I also noticed she is smaller than other 9 chicks. So I bought some Sulmet this morning and gave it to her. I would also like to give the other three that are not vaccinated the treated water since they have now been exposed to the protozoa for at least a few days, even though they're not showing any signs of the Cocci yet. I would really rather not seperate the four from the other six, so my question is will the Sulmet harm the vaccinated ones in anyway? I understand it will counteract the vaccine, but I didn't pay extra for it anyway. Plus, I also understand there are 9 strains of Cocci, so unless they were vaccinated for all 9 strains, they could still get this strain. Correct? SO...just want to make sure it won't harm the chicks by doing this.

Another note: the guy at our local feed store tried to tell me there is no vaccine for Cocci, because it's a protozoa and he told me to treat all 10 of them. I don't think he knew what he was talking about, but maybe I'm wrong.

 

[dawg53]

I have ten chicks that are 4 wks old. Six were vaccinated and four were not. One of the four got sick yesterday and just slept all day with mucus-like poo. I also noticed she is smaller than other 9 chicks. So I bought some Sulmet this morning and gave it to her. I would also like to give the other three that are not vaccinated the treated water since they have now been exposed to the protozoa for at least a few days, even though they're not showing any signs of the Cocci yet. I would really rather not seperate the four from the other six, so my question is will the Sulmet harm the vaccinated ones in anyway? I understand it will counteract the vaccine, but I didn't pay extra for it anyway. Plus, I also understand there are 9 strains of Cocci, so unless they were vaccinated for all 9 strains, they could still get this strain. Correct? SO...just want to make sure it won't harm the chicks by doing this.

Another note: the guy at our local feed store tried to tell me there is no vaccine for Cocci, because it's a protozoa and he told me to treat all 10 of them. I don't think he knew what he was talking about, but maybe I'm wrong.

There is a vaccine for cocci. I'm not sure if they have it in the United States, but definitely in the U.K.
Here's a link, you can google the name of the cocci vaccine and see if it's sold in this country:
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/cocciforum/
If there's a vaccine for cocci in this country, it would be a waste of time and money IMO because you'd most likely need different types of cocci vaccines because like you mentioned, there are 9 types of cocci that would be needed to treat the protozoa's. There might be one vaccine to treat 3 types of cocci, what about the other 6 types? Unless you know which types are prevelent in the soil where you live...it's guesswork. Sulmet is harsh on a chicks system and it only treats 2 types of cocci that chicks/chickens can get. I dont know if sulmet will or will not counteract the vaccine you mentioned.
You would be better off treating all your chicks with Corid 9.6% liquid solution. It's safe, treats all 9 types of cocci, no harshness to your chicks system. It can be found in the cattle section at your feed store. Dosage is 9.5cc's per gallon of water for 5 days. If you have small waterers, just pour from the 1 gallon mixture into the smaller waterers. Make it fresh daily and you should see improvement in a few days, continue through the 5th day.

 

[capow21]

Oh my heavens! The guy at the feed store doesn't know what he's talking about. I picked up the Corid and told him I wanted to use that and he told me the Sulmet, because it is better. Ha-ha.

Well, thanks for your help. I have to go to work here for a bit so I'll stop and get the Corid and get all of them on it as soon as I get home from work. Until then I'll keep the little sick on seperate on the Sulmet, just in case she has one of the two strains it will treat.

 

[bnjrob]

Agree with dawg53.

Coccidia is everywhere - it's like ecoli in people - everyone has it and it's when it gets out of control that there is a problem (think yeast infection after taking antibiotics).

You WANT your chickens to develop resistance to heavy coccidia infections, thus you don't want to be dosing with antibiotics unless you have heavy infections that are life threatening to the entire flock.

Sulmet is an antibiotic - you don't want to use it unless you know for sure that you have an infection going on (this is why there are antibiotic resistant germs out there - because people think antibiotics are the answer to every thing that causes illness when this isn't the case).

Amprolium, sold under the trade name Corid, is not an antibiotic. It interferes with thiamine processing in the body. The coccidia are more sensitive to smaller amount than the chickens are, so the coccidia start dying when they can't use any thiamine in their bodies correctly. This makes it safe to use and not risk antibiotic resistance or adverse effects from antibiotics in your chicks.

There are different concentrations of Amprolium/Corid, so make sure you use the appropriate dose for whatever concentration you have available.

As far as vaccinations go, you need to check with your state to make sure that vaccinations are legal there. Some states regulate vaccinations for certain diseases. This is because vaccines basically cause infections in the chickens in order to help them build immunity. Some diseases are not considered a significant threat and states do not want these diseases becoming a threat because of indiscriminate use of the vaccine or indiscriminate disposal of vaccination supplies and/or dead chickens that can cause contamination. If your county/state Extension office is unaware of what vaccines are legal in that state (they should be), you can check your state government statutes (usually found online) for the laws in your state.

 

[capow21]

Okay, thanks for the help. I took the Sulmet away from the sick chick and the others didn't have access to it. I picked up the Corid and mixed up a half gallon. So since the ratio is supposed to be 9.55cc per gallon I converted 4.75cc to teaspoons, which was just shy of 1 teaspoon. Got that mixed and all the chicks are drinking it and I'll mix that up fresh for them for five days. The little sick one ate this morning and she just got a big drink and ate a little bit more. Hopefully she pulls through. Oh, another question. I've read that a number of people recommend giving vitamins after the Corid treatment. Is this necessary?

 

[dawg53]

Okay, thanks for the help. I took the Sulmet away from the sick chick and the others didn't have access to it. I picked up the Corid and mixed up a half gallon. So since the ratio is supposed to be 9.55cc per gallon I converted 4.75cc to teaspoons, which was just shy of 1 teaspoon. Got that mixed and all the chicks are drinking it and I'll mix that up fresh for them for five days. The little sick one ate this morning and she just got a big drink and ate a little bit more. Hopefully she pulls through. Oh, another question. I've read that a number of people recommend giving vitamins after the Corid treatment. Is this necessary?

You can mix some buttermilk into their feed to eat after the 5 days are up. It is easier absorbed than yogurt.