- ✓Understand where coccidiosis comes from and why wet litter produces it
- ✓Recognise the first signs and react the same day
- ✓Prevent it through management, feed and, for some flocks, vaccination
A parasite that lives in the litter
Coccidiosis is caused by tiny parasites (coccidia, of the genus Eimeria) that multiply in the intestine and whose eggs (oocysts) come out with the droppings. In warm, wet litter, these eggs mature in two days and become infective: the birds peck at them, the cycle starts again, and within a few weeks the litter contains millions of them. There are several species: some attack the end of the intestine (bright red blood in the droppings), others the middle (soft, orange or brownish droppings, birds losing weight with no visible blood).
It mainly strikes between 3 and 6 weeks, when the birds meet large numbers of oocysts before they are immune. Growing layers are affected too; adults are generally immune.
The signs, in order of appearance
- Drop in feed and water consumption (the record sheet shows it a day before everything else).
- Birds huddled, feathers ruffled, head tucked in, no longer competing to eat.
- Droppings soft, then red or brown, sometimes with fresh blood; litter becoming stained.
- Mortality rising within a few days, especially among the youngest.
- Flock becoming uneven, growth breaking down.
From the first signs, the veterinarian confirms by examining the droppings or the intestine of a dead bird (typical lesions). There is no need to wait until half the flock is affected before acting.
React the same day
- Call the veterinarian: the treatment (through the drinking water, over several days) is effective if it starts early. The product, the dose and the duration are their decision; respect the withdrawal period before sale.
- Dry out the litter: wet patches removed, dry litter added, drinkers adjusted, ventilation. Without this, the treatment is a sticking plaster.
- Support: plenty of fresh water, vitamins if the veterinarian advises; isolate the weakest.
- Record on the record sheet the date, the signs, the treatment and the withdrawal period.
Prevention
Prevention rests on three pillars. The litter: dry, turned over, replaced around the drinkers (level 2). The feed: most commercial starter and grower feeds contain an anticoccidial that limits the multiplication of the parasites; ask your supplier whether it contains one, and which, and do not mix several products without advice (the veterinarian takes the one in the feed into account before treating). Stocking density and the sanitary break: fewer birds per m², a complete clean-out between two flocks and a sufficient sanitary break interrupt the cycle.
For layers and breeders, there are vaccines against coccidiosis, given in the first days: they are useful for birds that live a long time. The veterinarian will tell you whether it is relevant for you.
For the entrepreneur
- ›Ask the feed supplier whether the starter and grower feeds contain an anticoccidial: it is a one-minute question that prevents lost flocks.
- ›A reported red dropping must trigger a call to the veterinarian the same day, not “we'll see tomorrow”.
- ›Coccidiosis is first and foremost a litter problem: judge your technician on the litter, not on the treatment.
For the technician
- ›Dry litter every day: it is the first line of defence; turned over weekly.
- ›Droppings inspected every morning; at the first sign: call, dry out, fresh water, isolate the weak.
- ›Treatment as prescribed, withdrawal period recorded; no mixing of products.
The 3 questions to ask your technician this week
- Have you seen red or brown droppings, or huddled birds, in the last two days?
- Does the grower feed contain an anticoccidial, and which one?
- Where are the wet areas of the litter this morning, and have they been replaced?
Key points
- •Coccidiosis multiplies in warm, wet litter; it mainly strikes between 3 and 6 weeks.
- •Signs: drop in consumption, huddled birds, droppings soft then red or brown, rising mortality.
- •The same day: veterinarian (treatment through the water, withdrawal period), litter dried out, fresh water, weak birds isolated.
- •Prevention: dry litter, feed with an anticoccidial (to be checked), reasonable stocking density, sanitary break; vaccine possible for layers.