Coccidiosis is a disease commonly found in poultry and rabbit, and it is a major threat to farmers’ profitability. In broiler farming for example, the ability of a farmer to overcome coccidiosis throughout the rearing period will determine his success. Today, I will answer all your questions about how to cure coccidiosis in chickens if you read to the end.
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Coccidiosis is caused by the Eimeria species, such as Eimeria necatrix, E. tenella, E. acervulina, E. maxima, etc. These organisms and other species of Eimeria bring about chronic intestinal coccidiosis. Chickens are infected with coccidiosis after picking up oocysts from the ground or from their litter. These oocysts are usually passed out from other infected birds that might have recovered from the condition, and they can survive in litter for several month. Because of the ruggedness of oocysts, it is very difficult to completely exclude or eradicate them from a poultry farm, especially where birds are raised in deep litter.
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Sign that your chickens have coccidiosis
If you ask any poultry farmer, the first sign they will probably mention is that of bloody droppings, which happens as a result of damage to the intestinal wall. The bleeding intestine explains why chickens suffering from coccidiosis are often reluctant to eat. This, in turn, hastens their death if the condition is not treated with urgency.
Drugs used for coccidiosis treatment
Anti-coccidia drugs include sulfa drugs, Amprolium, Quinolones, and Ionophores. There has also been record of drug-resistant strains of coccidiosis. One way that farmers try to beat these resistant strains is to switch the drug used. Also, it should be noted that some drugs are more effective for certain species of coccidia.
Bitter Leaf is effective for coccidiosis treatment
It is said that coccidiosis spreads faster in intensive system of rearing but this cannot be the only reason why free-range chickens hardly come down with coccidiosis. Maybe the free range chickens just got a bite of bitter leaf as they scavenged for feed. It is believed that the access of free range chickens to some herbs make them overcome problems with coccidiosis and other common poultry diseases. Well, the good news is that the wonder plants have been sorted, and one of them is bitter leaf. Giving chickens bitter leaf extract in their water has been proven to take care of coccidia. You will soon find out how.
How to extract bitter leaf for coccidiosis treatment
I still don’t know why some people would prefer to use their hands to squeeze out the juice from bitter leaf. Here in this article, I will be explaining how I did the extraction with a kitchen blender for coccidiosis treatment.
- Gather some bitter leaves. The quantity depends on the volume of juice you are hoping to get and the number of chickens you want to treat
- Remove the leaves from the stem and rinse them in a bowl. Be sure to rinse properly but don’t squeeze hard
- Put the leaves in a kitchen blender and add just a little water. Just enough water to blend the leaves easily. What you need is a juice that is as thick as 5 Alive, so don’t add too much water at this stage.
- Blend until the leaves are cut into tiny particles
- Use a cheese cloth to sieve the juice into a container
- If you have followed the process carefully, the bitter leaf extract should be as thick as 5 Alive.
How to administer bitter leaf extract for Coccidiosis treatment
If you have been looking for how to cure coccidiosis in chickens, especially naturally, this is all you need.
- For prevention, add 20 ml of bitter leaf extract to 1 litter of clean water
- For treatment, add 30-40ml of bitter leaf extract to 1 litter of clean water
Bitter leaf extract added to chicken water will not reduce their water intake in harmful proportions. The last time I checked, they got used to it after a short while. You can see that in this video.
READ ALSO: How To Use Tagiri Extract For Poultry Diseases
That is it about how to cure coccidiosis in chickens. For more inspiring articles on organic poultry farming and lots more from Guidefreak, feel free to subscribe by clicking the bell at the bottom right corner of your browser.
READ ALSO: How to Use Papaya Leaf Extract as Organic Pesticide
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