Worms / cocci

[NeilA]

That is scary.

It shocked me and I was stuck doing it for a week
I put no food down for 3 days and still he had food in the trays on the floor
I never fed the stock birds once there was no need it was all over the place
To meet the bloke you would never have thought his set up was left to run with mice when I handled his birds other than the weight and that they were not light there was nothing to tell you there was a health issue just he was off the pace and always had a few very poor yb training tosses every year

[CHARLTON34]

Before I race again. no.
After I race again, probably.
A couple of years ago I took a team of youngsters to the marking for the first race. Oooh, they were good
While waiting to put mine through I had a sneaky peek and saw another bloke's birds standing on cardboard, in watery, bubbly shit.
Why do we even bother?

Exactly my view Murray racing week to week will mean you are coming into contact with problems . Even mild issues unseen to fanciers by there eyes can knock the pigeons off and there be off the pace
I had a member in my club who had birds with soft feather condition nothing I could see wrong but he was behind most weeks I thought it was his pigeons were just not winners
When he went on holiday he asked me to
Feed his birds
I got to the loft to meet him you could smell mice from outside a little but once inside the smell knocked you and the food was in front of them 24/7
He had 7 traps set in unused nest box’s and said could you empty them for me I said how many do you get he said 2 or 3 a day normally
So his birds obviously couldn’t have been right with mice piss all over the floor food etc
You wouldn’t know to see them Friday
So when people don’t treat I always think are you just waiting for obvious worms or lumps of yellow in the throat or dirty wattles

Morning Neil, I think you've answered the question already from this post, a build-up of dropping has been allowed to develop, e.g pigeons eating contaminated food & water probably damp conditions is a recipe for Cocci to spread plus mice all these have been allowed to establish.

[NeilA]

With Cocci though Dave if it’s in the pigeons how do you break the cycle even if say your loft is perfect and you treat for cocci
I guess I’m comparing it to worms and wormer not killing the eggs does cocci not work the same to reproduce
That’s the bit I don’t know
I will have a google on how it reproduces

[MIL]

Pigeons can and will race successfully with certain levels of cocci

For instance

In the 2024 YB season Gordon's knew something wasn't 100% with the YB. Their instincts told them that. So they did what any good fancier would do and got the droppings analysed rather than treat blindly. The results came back 48 hrs before basketing with "moderate levels of cocci" and I told them "still send - you'll be fine, but treat on return"

That weekend they were 1,8,9,10,25,29,31,39 Open 18,479 Birds

On return they treated with Baycox. Within 48 hrs or so the birds were noticeably better. The next weekend

1,2,3,4,5,6,12,13,15,16,17,18,19,21,22,23,24,25,27,34,37,38,39,40,54 Open (523 members sent 15,785)

(You'll notice the team performance was notably better)

Droppings analysis after that 2nd weekend showed cocci levels at next to zero

So if you can improve something, why wouldn't you improve it that's my question?

[NeilA]

With cocci though Mike how do you break the cycle apart from clean lift etc and baycox
I got the worms thing 12 days apart two treatments due to eggs etc but do the cocci just give birth the live young or multiply in another way that are killed in there mums with baycox
Are they a worm or a parasite and do parasites not have eggs ?

[MIL]

I'm afraid I don't know the answer to that one

When I see my niece I'll ask her (she's the Senior Vet at a practice in Walsall)

[NeilA]

I'm afraid I don't know the answer to that one

When I see my niece I'll ask her (she's the Senior Vet at a practice in Walsall)

That’s handy and well done her

[CHARLTON34]

Hello Neil, in both clinically infected & recovering birds shed Oocysts in droppings which contaminate feed, dust, water, litter, & soil.
Oocysts maybe transmitted via loft equipment or personal e.g.shoes as well as the presence of insects ( e.g.flies & rodents) .
Hope this helps.
Regards Dave.

[NeilA]

Hello Neil, in both clinically infected & recovering birds shed Oocysts in droppings which contaminate feed, dust, water, litter, & soil.
Oocysts maybe transmitted via loft equipment or personal e.g.shoes as well as the presence of insects ( e.g.flies & rodents) .
Hope this helps.
Regards Dave.

How does it breed though Dave I can see how it spreads but what process allows it to produce more from itself I’m not understanding that

[CHARLTON34]

With Cocci though Dave if it’s in the pigeons how do you break the cycle even if say your loft is perfect and you treat for cocci
I guess I’m comparing it to worms and wormer not killing the eggs does cocci not work the same to reproduce
That’s the bit I don’t know
I will have a google on how it reproduces

If your loft is cleaned regularly to keep on top of this issue & has been disinfected then it's time to get the burner out Neil, that will break the cycle so all surfaces, perches, boxes etc, also disinfect troughs, & water fountain.