THE TELOSPORASIDA AND THE COCCIDIA PROPER 



221 



cleaned at least weekly with hot water and 

 detergent. The waterers should be placed 

 on wire platforms over floor drains, and 

 the feeders should be raised high enough 

 to prevent their being fouled. Enough 

 feeders should be provided so that all the 

 birds can feed at once without crowding. 



Chicks raised on wire have much less 

 chance of contamination than those raised 

 on the floor. However, the wire should be 

 cleaned regularly. 



Flies, rats and mice around the poul- 

 try houses and yards should be eliminated, 

 since they may carry coccidia mechanic- 

 ally. Damp areas around the poultry house 

 should be filled in or drained. 



Feeding a coccidiostat during times 

 when the birds are especially susceptible 

 may also be helpful. The drug may be fed 

 until the birds are 8 or 9 weeks old, after 

 which they have ordinarily become im- 

 mune. In addition, it is often recommended 

 that a coccidiostat be fed to pullets for the 

 first 2 or 3 weeks after they have been 

 moved into laying houses. 



If an outbreak of coccidiosis occurs, 

 all sick birds should be removed from the 

 flock and placed in a separate pen. They 

 should be given ample food and water, but 

 it is useless to attempt to treat them. The 

 remaining, apparently healthy birds should 

 be treated with a coccidiostat in the dosage 

 recommended by the manufacturer. Birds 

 which become ill should be removed. The 

 litter should be kept dry and stirred fre- 

 quently. 



All dead birds should be burned. The 

 litter should also be burned or put some- 

 place where chickens will never have 

 access to it. 



Care should be taken not to track coc- 

 cidia from sick birds to healthy ones. 

 Special rubbers or overshoes should be 

 put on before entering pens containing sick 

 birds, and should be cleaned thoroughly 

 after each use. Veterinarians going from 

 one farm to another should disinfect their 

 boots before leaving each premises. 



The use of old, built-up, deep floor 

 litter has been recommended by Kennard 

 and Chamberlin (1949) and others to reduce 

 losses from coccidiosis. By this method, 

 the litter is not changed when new batches 

 of birds are placed in a house, but some 

 fresh litter may be added from time to 

 time as needed to keep it in good condition. 

 The litter is stirred every 2 or 3 days for 

 the first 8 weeks and every day thereafter. 

 Every 2 to 4 weeks, hydrated lime may be 

 mixed in with the litter at the rate of 10 to 

 15 lb. per 100 square feet of litter, but 

 this is not necessary. The litter will keep 

 dry for 8 to 16 weeks. Using this method, 

 Kennard and Chamberlin (1949) observed a 

 mortality of 7% as compared to a mortality 

 of 19% in chickens kept on fresh litter re- 

 moved and changed every 2 weeks. 



On the other hand, Koutz (1952, 1952a) 

 found that many coccidian oocysts and 

 nematode eggs remain alive in deep litter. 

 Horton-Smith (1954), too, pointed out the 

 dangers inherent in its use. He noted, 

 however, that the ammonia produced would 

 kill many oocysts. Long and Bingstead 

 (1959) found that chicks on old, built-up 

 litter did not gain as well as chicks on 

 wire or new wood shavings, and that coc- 

 cidia appeared in them earlier. Because 

 of the dust, ammonia fumes, and danger 

 of other diseases, the use of built-up litter 

 in raising chickens is not recommended. 



Edgar (1955a) developed a coccidiosis 

 "vaccine" which is said to be highly suc- 

 cessful in immunizing chicks. It is a 

 mixture of sporulated oocysts of E. tenella, 

 E. necatrix, E. maxima, E. acervulina 

 and E. hagani (Libby, Bickford and Glista, 

 1959). It is recommended for use when 

 the chicks are 3 to 5 days old. They are 

 starved for about 3 hours and then given 

 feed freshly mixed with the commercially 

 prepared oocyst culture. The chicks are 

 supposed to develop light infections and 

 seed the litter with the oocysts which they 

 produce. These oocysts produce reinfec- 

 tions in turn. It is recommended that a 

 coccidiostat be fed at a low level until 5 

 weeks after vaccination, i.e., until the 

 birds are 5^ to 6 weeks old. Under these 

 conditions, the birds are said to become 



