Coccidiosis in Chickens: How to Prevent and Treat It

No matter how diligent a keeper you are, in time your chickens will get sick. It turns out there are lots of common diseases that chickens have to cope with, and though most of them aren’t too bad, some of them are truly heinous.

Sadly, one of the most common also happens to be one of the nastiest and potentially deadliest: coccidiosis.

This awful disease commonly afflicts chicks but also adult chickens, causing massive gastrointestinal upset and eventually secondary infections which are usually fatal if not detected and treated promptly.

It can be a scary thing, but armed with this guide you’ll know what to look for and how to react to keep your chickens safe from this terrible illness.

Coccidiosis is Caused by a Nasty Parasite

The first thing to know about coccidiosis is that it isn’t caused by bacteria or a virus. It is instead caused by a parasite, specifically a protozoan parasite of the genus Eimeria, known collectively as coccidia.

There are many different varieties of coccidian out there, but only nine of them commonly infect chickens and cause serious illness. Invariably, the parasites take up residence in a chicken’s digestive tract or sometimes other organs and start doing damage from there.

As part of the reproductive cycle, these parasites release specialized cells which basically function as eggs, called oocysts.

These cells pass through a chicken’s digestive tract and are released with droppings where they will contaminate soil and any other surface they come into contact with, subsequently being ingested by other chickens and then the life cycle starts over again.

Coccidiosis is Ferociously Infectious and Can Kill Quickly

What’s notable about this disease is just how infectious it is

If even a single bird contracts it, or any contaminated food, water, implement, or anything else is put somewhere where your chickens are, it is a virtual certainty that an outbreak will begin and spread through the flock.

As coccidiosis takes hold in the affected organs, again usually the intestines, it will start to destroy the intestinal lining, resulting in severe intestinal distress and preventing chickens from absorbing the nutrients they need from food.

Additionally, various proteins, including plasma, will begin to leak into the bowels, resulting in dehydration, susceptibility to other diseases and infections, and eventually full-blown anemia.

Once coccidiosis has progressed this far, it is often fatal, and infected birds can go from “rough” to “death’s door” very quickly.

Thankfully, Coccidiosis Typically Only Affects Birds

The silver lining, if there is one, is that coccidiosis primarily only affects birds, and in the rare cases of human or mammal infection, it typically is not as severe.

If you’re dealing with a coccidiosis outbreak in your flock, you’re going to have one heck of a mess to clean up, but as long as you take rudimentary steps to protect yourself and stay clean, you shouldn’t have to worry about catching it yourself.

Symptoms of Coccidiosis

The following are all symptoms of coccidiosis, but note that many of them are common to lots of other diseases and sometimes indigestion generally. This can make timely assessment and intervention tricky.

Diarrhea

The most obvious, grueling, and nasty symptom of coccidiosis is diarrhea, and it is particularly severe. Chickens will have loose, paste-like bowel movements as a rule, and these will serve to further spread the disease to all nearby chickens, usually through the contamination of food and water sources.

Foamy or Bloody Droppings

Characteristic of the above-mentioned diarrhea will be a foamy quality or blood. The foaminess appears as clear or pale-colored bubbles, while the appearance of blood will be obvious.

No Interest in Food or
Water

Infected chickens will stop eating food and drinking water progressively as their condition worsens, a double whammy because they will both be dehydrating
and missing vital nutrients. What nutrients they do get will usually go to waste due to the degradation of their intestinal lining.

Weakness and Lethargy

Dehydration, loss of red blood cells, and a lack of caloric energy all combine to make infected birds extremely weak and lethargic. Many won’t be able to stand, and the ones that are willing or able to will usually show a very low activity level…

Pale, Yellowish Comb, Wattles, and Skin

Remember that coccidiosis will eventually result in imbalances in the circulatory system from the loss of plasma and also the destruction of red blood cells.

This will eventually culminate in anemia, and chickens that are far along the course of infection will have pale, yellow combs, wattles, and skin.

Huddling Together

Chances are you’ll have many infected birds in your flock if you have even more, and the result of fever and general malaise will usually end up with these birds huddling together in an instinctive attempt to stay warm.

Rough Plumage

Chickens that are too tired to do anything are too tired to preen their feathers and take dust baths, something that healthy birds do habitually. This results in dull, rough feathers and a generally poor appearance.

Weight Loss or No Gain

Watch for coccidiosis-infected chickens to stop gaining weight or, more likely as the infection sets in, a pronounced loss of weight.

Slowing or Stoppage or Egg Laying

Similarly, sexually mature hens that have started laying eggs will slow down precipitously or stop altogether when infected.

Coccidiosis is Infectious Almost Immediately, Symptoms Take Days to Manifest

Here’s another nasty curveball you’ll have to deal with when one of your birds gets infected with coccidiosis. Chickens that take in the oocysts will essentially become vectors for the disease immediately, days before they present any symptoms themselves.

This means that your birds might appear happy and healthy, but as they go around doing their thing they are surely infecting the rest of your flock. And as mentioned, coccidiosis is incredibly infectious!

Fecal Tests Can Confirm Infection

If you suspect that any of your chickens have the disease, you need to be sure. A sample of feces from your chicken can be taken to a vet or lab for a quick analysis under a microscope.

As long as the technicians know what they are looking for, the coccidia “eggs” can be spotted under a microscope.

Getting this information early can inform your treatment protocol and likely save the lives of some of your birds.

Treating Coccidiosis in Your Flock

If you are sure or heavily suspect that your flock is infected with coccidiosis, it is critical that you act with all haste to curb the outbreak and cure infected chickens.

The longer you wait, the worse it will get and the worse the prognosis will become. Do the following:

If One Bird Has It, Assume the Whole Flock Does

Coccidiosis is so infectious that many keepers and poultry vets recommend treating the entire flock preemptively if even one bird is confirmed to have it. Chances are pretty good that most will, in fact, have contracted it by the time you detect the first case!

Treat With Amprolium, Toltrazuril, or Sulphonamides

You got several options for directly treating coccidiosis, and all of them are effective but have different applications.

Amprolium or “ampro” and toltrazuril are specialized anti-coccidial agents that will eliminate the nasty little critters and get your birds on the road to recovery. Sulfonamides are also effective for the same purpose.

Ampro is administered directly, while toltrazuril is administered through the water supply for the entire flock.

Make sure you follow the manufacturer’s dosing instructions for both of them to the letter, and pay particular attention with toltrazuril that you don’t give any B vitamin supplements or B vitamin-rich foods because it can interfere with the effects.

Administer Antibiotics to Prevent Secondary Infection

Although not always called for depending on how far along the infection is, secondary antibiotics might be needed to help tame secondary infections, particularly the even more devastating and often lethal necrotic enteritis that usually follows hot on the heels of a bad coccidiosis infection.

Tylosin and amoxicillin are often indicated for the job. Again, follow dosing instructions to the letter.

Encourage Affected Birds to Eat and Drink

If possible, try to encourage any affected birds to eat and drink normally. They will need the nutrition to help fight off the infection, and dehydration will be a major killer on its own due to the diarrhea and loss of plasma.

Sick birds often get picked on by healthy birds, so consider separating sick individuals into their own small quarters or containers if they will tolerate confinement. Give them easy access to food and water, keep them calm, and try to get them to eat and drink as much as possible.

Test Affected Chickens After Treatment to Check for Presence of Oocysts

Once you administered a full round of anticoccidials and, if required, antibiotics have your chickens retested for the presence of oocysts in their feces to make sure you’ve gotten the outbreak under control.

Deep Clean Entire Coop and Run

It will be nasty and gross, but a wall-to-wall and floor-to-ceiling deep cleaning of the coop, run, and any surrounding areas is called for after you’ve dealt with the infection.

Most birds will be immune after they get it one time, but anytime their health takes a dip or they get another infection it can reoccur, and the coccidian eggs can persist in the soil and other surfaces for a very long time otherwise.

Make sure you use specialty sanitizing agents that are rated effective for destroying the parasites and their eggs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdDINl0HGpA&pp=ygUUY2hpY2tlbnMgY29jY2lkaW9zaXM%3D

Preventing Coccidiosis

As always, prevention is priceless, especially when you’re dealing with something as violent and potentially deadly as coccidiosis. The following procedures will help keep your flock from catching it in the first place.

Keep Coops and Runs Clean

Coccidia thrive wherever there is filth. Give your coops and runs an occasional deep clean to remove lingering eggs, and stay on top of routine maintenance.

Change Bedding Regularly

Moist, soiled bedding is a particularly likely vector for coccidiosis. You should be changing this stuff out for your birds routinely if you aren’t using a deep litter method.

Replace Contaminated Food and Water

Anytime your flock’s food and water get contaminated by feces, you must replace it. If you don’t, every last bird will be infected in short order.

Give Chicks Medicated Starter Feed

As mentioned, coccidiosis is especially devastating to chicks and often fatal. Reduce the likelihood of them contracting it in the first place by giving them medicated starter feed as a preventative measure.

Let Young Chickens Forage as Early as Practical

Believe it or not, controlled exposure to various coccidia will give chickens a degree of immunity. They typically get this exposure by foraging.

As soon as chicks can tolerate the temperature and go out into the yard safely, letting them do a little bit of foraging while they are growing will help facilitate natural immunity and reduce the severity of outbreaks.

Quarantine and Test New Birds

Recall that coccidiosis is incredibly infectious and that many chickens will be carriers and capable of spreading it days before they show any symptoms themselves.

If you’re adding any new birds to your flock, it is imperative that you quarantine them and observe them for symptoms, and preferably test them ahead of time. I recommend giving them no less than 10 days in quarantine, but 14 is better.