Agrimatrix

Signs you chickens may have Coccidiosis

1. Bloody faeces/ droppings: You will be seeing blood inside the faeces with your eyes 'korokoro' no be dem say.

2. Weakness: Your chickens will look and act weak.

3. Reduces feed intake: They won't be eating food as usual.

4. Ruffled feathers: Chicken feathers go just rise and puff up like better puffpuff wey them put plenty yeast.

5. Poor weight gain: Dem go just dey chop food dey s**t blood. No weight.

6. Pale combs: As dem dey lose blood, dem go come get anaemia. Everywhere wey bin red before like their come go come dey turn white.

7. Sudden death: If you no treat Coccidiosis on time for your farm, na so so dead chickens you go dey pack for your farm everyday. The disease no come joke with anybody.

So, once you notice any of these signs, contact you vet and start treatment sharp sharp.

So, I had a client one time who had a farm around Kubwa axis. A middle-aged man. The farm was a layer farm.

When he got to know me as a vet, each day, he did call with complaints of inconsistencies in the number of eggs layed each day.

I enquired about the feeding, water, health of the birds, you know everything I was supposed to ask.

All the information he gave me couldn't explain why he had such discrepancies in the number of crates gotten each day.

From experience, i hastily concluded that it was farm theft.

He scheduled a visit with me to come to the farm and see the birds.

I arrived the farm in the afternoon in the heat of the scorching Abuja sun, we greeted and I went ahead to check the birds, there were no feed in their feeders.

I asked why. The man and Uzo, his attendant said," They just finished eating few moments ago."

The birds were spreading their wings, panting uncontrollably in 'Portable- style' and hopelessly pecking on the ni**le drinker without a single drop of water dripping down.

I asked my client about the water situation in the farm and he started stammering and stumbling as he explained how he rations the water twice a day for the birds on days like that very day when there was water scarcity in the vicinity. Once in the morning and again in the evening.

I was beyond stunned.

Dehydrated birds in the heat of the sun and my client was looking for eggs!

How?!!!

I had to educate him on the essence of regular clean, cool water to chickens especially in a very hot weather as ours.

Eggs are 75% water, a dehydrated, thirsty and heat-stressed birds cannot lay eggs.

At most, it is fighting for its life, struggling to survive and be alive.

A chicken cannot give what it doesn't have.

That was how I helped the farmer defeat underproduction of eggs in his farm.

Now his layers have access to cool drinking water at all times and lay predictable quantity of eggs everyday.

Have you ever dealt with a flocks of chickens that didn't produce enough eggs?

How did you deal with the situation?

This can cost you millions of naira in losses in your poultry business if you don't know the difference between the two.

To most farmers, they are the same and interchangeable.

But no.....

A is Wood shavings

B is Sawdust

Sawdust may save money initially but it predisposes your chicken flocks to:



Coughing- because they are very dusty and chickens can breathe them in very fast quickly causing respiratory problems.
Poor ventilation- by causing decreased airflow

Wet litter- sawdust cakes quickly when wet and frequently produces ammonia build up in the pen and ammonia burns in chickens

Poor growth- can stick to feed and water, leading to poor growth when repeatedly ingested

Mortality- All these issues compounds and causes increased death in chickens.

Side things are always sweet.

The way side money from poultry by-products unexpectedly hits one is shockingly sweet.

One minute, you are complaining of the inconvenience of the big mountain pile of poultry droppings in your premises.

The next minute, an agent is begging you to send account number for immediate payment for bags of manures.

Mad oh!

E dey sweet gan!

Good reasons to change your chicken feed

- Your current feed is not of good quality. Your chickens are not growing or laying well.

-Presence of mold in feed in your current feed.

-Transitioning to next stage of feed, for example, starter to finisher.

-Current feed is always scarce to find. You don't want to be doing back and forth with different feeds.

-You found a more cost-effective feed. A cheaper feed that delivers great results.

Make sure you only proceed in changing feed when your chickens are healthy and stress- free.

Make sure that during feed change, your birds are not sick, recently vaccinated, experiencing heat stress, or just gone through transportation stress.