Coccidiosis: The Chick Killer

It moves in as silently as a thief in the night, and if left untreated will claim the lives of poultry (mainly young chicks) swiftly and a lot of the time before inexperienced poultry owners even know what's going on.  Coccidiosis is an infection of the intestinal tract by a single-celled organism called a Protozoan.  It is one of the largest causes of chicken loss in the United States. There are nine species that affect chickens, with only two species that cause bloody stools.  The Protozoan are fast maturing and reproduce very rapidly, with one single organism capable of producing up to 900 eggs the first generation.  The Coccidia attack and destroy the lining and tissues of the intestinal tract, which interferes with the digestion and absorption of nutrients.  It causes malnutrition, hemorrhage, anemia from blood loss and malabsorption, and also opens the fowl up to secondary infection.

The oocyst, or egg of the Coccidia are passed in the droppings of infected birds.  A bird picks up the oocyst by coming into contact with food or water that has become contaminated with the droppings of an infected bird.  The oocyst then enters the digestive system of the bird, develops, and matures in 4-7 days and thus begins the cycle again.  Mainly it is younger fowl that is affected, the most critical time being 4 to 16 weeks, but Coccidiosis can be picked up soon after birth.  The younger the fowl, usually the shorter the time between infection and death.  Mature fowl don't normally die from Coccidiosis but will lack vigor, be thin breasted, and have weaker legs, not to mention will be more prone to flare ups of CRD (chronic respiratory disease.) 

Symptoms include:

• Lack of vigor
• Loss of appetite
• "Droopy" or "humped up" appearance
• Chicks will appear letharic and listless
• Ruffled feathers
• Pale comb and face
• Weight and breast loss
• Watery, bloody, pasty, light brown to yellow droppings
• Death

Treatment:

Treatment should begin ASAP because the more time that is allowed to pass between the onset of symptoms and death is not very long.  Death can occur as soon as a few hours after the fowl begins to show symptoms, but can take a day up to several days.  Usually once a chicken begins to "look sick" it is pretty bad.  This is a defense mechanism for survival.  Other chickens and predators prey upon the weaker looking chickens in a flock, so in order to survive chickens must hide their ailments and symptoms. 

Treat with Corid (amprolium) 9.6% liquid solution 9.5ml/cc to each gallon of water, or 4.75ml/cc to each 1/2 gallon (2 quarts) for 5-7 days. If using the Corid 20% powder, mix 1/2 tsp to every gallon of water for 5-7 days.  Up to 1 tsp of the powder can be mixed to each gallon as recommended by Mike Strecker who wrote "The Backyard Flock."  In cases of higher mortality and fowl that are showing more symptoms I would probably give 1 tsp to every gallon as to get more of the medicine into their system to prevent as much loss as possible.  If the chicks are too weak to drink, dip their beaks into the medicated water several times a day to make sure they are treated.  They don't like this much, but it is the only thing that will help them at this point.  And even forcing them to drink the medicated water doesn't guarantee their recovery.