Posted by Susan Lenz on
There are two main types of Coccidiosis – Intestinal Coccidiosis and Cecal Coccidiosis. In the intestinal version the intestinal tract is affected by the Eimeria, and in the Cecal version, the cecum is affected.
Coccidia have two main phases in their life cycle; one phase occurs outside the host and involves the development of the infective stages (oocysts), and the major phase which occurs within the host and involves massive multiplication and sexual reproduction.
Birds ingest a number of oocysts and become infected. The severity of the infection depends on the numbers that they are host to. At a low dose the immune systems responds to the challenge and deals with the infection. When birds ingest too many they can develop visible symptoms and if the disease is unchecked it can kill them.
The disease is spread by droppings of infected birds (including wild birds). It can be spread by chickens coming into contact with contaminated equipment, feed containers, feet of humans and wild birds etc as well as being contained in the soil. Coccidiosis also more common in wet and muddy pens, or large quantities of birds in a small space (over crowding)
What to look for?
Birds that have coccidiosis often display a characteristic posture. They hunch up, fluff up and can drop their wings. They may have:
· diarrhea
· soft mucoid faeces
· bloody droppings
· pink intestinal tissue in droppings
· hunched posture with ruffled feathers
· droopiness
· loss of appetite or even interest in water
· slow growth
· weakness/lethargy
· anaemia – look for pale comb and skin (this can also be a sign of mites and lice)
Birds that are kept in small contained spaces, in dark coops, or areas with large quantities of birds over muddy floors or overcrowding can also lead to coccidiosis.
It is important to note that coccidiosis can stay in the soil of your property and be passed on to other animals.
Incubation period
Cecal Coccidiosis: 5 – 6 days
Intestinal Coccidiosis: 5 days
Diagnosis
If your chicken is sick and miserable, not active/eating/drinking, has blood in their poo and exhibits other symptoms as listed above it is often safe to assume they have coccidiosis. By the time most owners notice issues, its often too late to treat and you may incur fatalities very quickly, especially in chicks and growing pullets.
Chickens can be officially diagnosed by a veteranian who is familiar with poultry diseases or an avian specialist vet (if you are willing to pay for a consultation) by investigating flock history, conducting a postmortem and examining the findings, and/or a faecal test to check for the presence of oocysts in faecal specimen.
Treatment
Treat urgently with a medication for Coccidiosis according to directions – even though this is a common disease it can be fatal (this depends on the damage done to the chicken by the oocyts). Try to raise chicks on clean dry litter and avoid crowded or damp conditions. Make sure drinkers are not spilling water into the litter. Make sure water and feed is uncontaminated by droppings. Use medicated chick starter or grower. Ensure that chicks are warmly housed out of draughts. In severe cases raising chicks on a wire grill can reduce ingestion of the oocysts and help recovery. In severe cases, reducing the protein level in the feed can also be of assistance. Monitor droppings during and after treatment. Often morning droppings can show blood, even if the day is normal. Putting newspaper under perches or on brooder floors can make the droppings easier to see.
Follow treatment with a vitamin supplement (especially A and K) is recommended and chickens affected by coccidiosis can take a few weeks to fully recover from their infection. Survivors of one strain may become infected with a different strain and require further treatment. Survivors of severe infections may never be productive.
Medications
Anticoccidial drugs fall into two categories – coccidiostats and coccidiocides.
Medications are either coccidicidal (cidal), which means they kill the parasite, or coccidiostatic (static), which do not kill the parasites, but arrest their development.
Coccidiostats are given in the feed to prevent severe outbreaks of the disease – and being an additive is often referred to as a ‘vaccine’ but definately isn’t as there are significant differences between this and poultry vaccines. The coccidiostat doesn’t actively kill the coccidia, it simply interrupts the breeding cycle and they can’t multiply into large numbers. The coccidiostat can be included in starter and grower crumbles and can be seen on the label. Old or poorly mixed feed may not be reliable as a preventive.
Medications that are given to treat coccidiosis (therapeutic therapy) are coccidiocides. They actively kill the protozoa. Sulphaquin and Baycox would fall into this category. These drugs are usually given in the drinking water. The chickens must ingest enough of the coccidiocide to be effective.
Early treatment is very important because the coccidiocide must kill the coccidia within the bird before irrepairable damage is done to the intestines. There are also some medications that can act as both a coccidiostat and a coccidiocide.
The dosage rates of coccidiocides are carefully balanced to kill enough of the coccidia to save the bird, yet still enable immunity to develop. Overdosing can be toxic to the birds, so in treating for coccidiosis more is not better. Treatment needs to take place urgently once symptoms are seen as a bird can die within a couple of days in severe cases.
Treatment medications for coccidiosis available at our store or at feed stores, pet speciality stores or local produce stores. Products to look out for include:
Diclizuril
Sulpha 3 (Sulphaquinoxaline+Sulphadimidine+Sulphathiazole)
Baycox (Toltrazuril)
Coccivet (Amprolium, Ethopabate)
Commercial vaccines consist of low doses of live, sporulated oocysts of the various coccidial species administered at low doses to day-old chicks. These are not widely used among backyarders due to difficulty in obtaining the vaccine, and the fact that good management makes it unnecessary.
Immunology
Birds of any age can be susceptible to coccidiosis, although in practice, most acquire infection in the first few weeks of life and this infection induces a good immunity. In most situations this persists for life because of frequent low-grade re-exposure to infection, but in the absence of infection, immunity may wane. Immunity is species specific. So, for example, immunity to Emeria Maxima does not confer resistance to E. tenella and so on. Immunity is best engendered by repeated exposure to low numbers of oocysts, so-called ‘trickle’ infection, and this is what usually takes place naturally.
We highly recommend feeding a medicated chick starter and pullet grower to your growing birds to prevent coccidiosis
