Coccidia Health & Maintenance!!!

What have you tried treating with so far?

I used Corid per my vet at 1 1/2 cc per day for 5 days for 10 week old fawns and it took care of it. has not returned.

I don't think you will ever wipe it out completely as all deer have tolerable levels of coccidia. Our goal as farmers and what we should strive to accomplish is keeping the levels at a tolerable level for the animal.



If its a severe problem or ongoing problem then you may need to go with a stronger and broader range anticoccidial agent.



You might want to try some Deccox, or Deccox-M for bottle feeding. Deccox acts at 5 developmental stages of coccidia, and provides the widest range of action of all the anticoccidial agents. Although it does not kill coccidia, it stops the growth of it.



Please be sure to check with your Vet before using/trying Deccox on your animals. Although it is labeled safe for "other animals" I am in favor of checking with a vet before giving any animal medications.







Good luck!!

John,

What would be bringing the levels up on one farm but not the next.....I ask this as I have had my share of troubles as well.........i treat my fawns at birth with the C&D Anti and then again I give them their boosters......i treat them with corrid in the water once a month..........I don't know what more i can do........does coccidia live in the soil? could it be in the pen that they are being raised in? It is a large 1/2 acre pen........Sshould I heavily treat the pen with Lime?

I know the website is about sheep and goats, but you need to understand the way coccida works...and the best way to prevent it getting to fawns....ect...



What I do...

That works for me...

I give tri-lution...It binds to the coccida and takes it out of the body with the stool instead of it staying in the body, that way the numbers don't get to a dangerous level...also it is not a medicine, so I don't need to worry as much...It is very important when weaning like the website said...If one seems like it is having problems I treat with sulmet.

Vaccinations are not for Coccidia

Amprolium(corid) can kill if used to much so be careful

Did you do a stool sample check so you know it is coccidia...

If so what was the oocysts count

The main thing is keep food and poop seperated...

Feed up off the ground and away from wild birds or (chickens if not treated)... Keep water up where they can't poop in it... rotate fields if you can the more deer you have pooping in an area with grass they are eating the more problems you have... normally

Sorry call if you want...

Deer eat where they poop and poop where they eat. That's the down fall to raising any grazing/browsing animal. It's hard to break the life cycle of parasites.



Several years ago we had a really bad run with coccidia. We came to realize the farmer who rents our farm spread liquid manure within 15 feet of our pens, and on the uphill side. So our pens became heavily contaminated through rain runoff. Also, birds carry coccidia and can spread it in the droppings.



We had the vet out and he suggested we use Deccox for 28 days topdressed. Keep in mind, you need to break the life cycle. By using a short term product that kills the coccidia in the animal it does not kill the coccidia in the soil, which is where the deer browse/eats from. You need to run a long treatment to completely break the life cycle in both the animal and the soil. You will never completely eliminate coccidia, but you can control the level of infestation.



In the spring, we top dress deccox or anytime during the summer where high levels are possible, like damp rainy weather. We have also used corid in the water as to help prevent a resistance to deccox.



This is just what has worked for us.



Good luck...

John

I don't have that much experience but can share what I've learned from others. Lime, regualarly with pulvarized Lime, Preferably drop spreader. If not already doing so.

Bovatec in the feed starting several weeks before first fawns are born. This way, everyone is getting it at a constant level right thru spring, summer and early fall. Up to you if you want to run it year round. If you have an outbreak, then treat with Sulmet, Corrid or some of the other things suggested by others on here. Your on the right track, by seeking others experience.

I keep my pens mowed. This idea was given to me by a respected deer farmer and it made sense to me. By keeping the grass and weeds short it lets the sun get to the ground and feces and dries it out and kills bacteria. plus it has other benefits. Less mosquitos and I think the deer like to eat the shorter grass more than they do the tall tough grass.

I havn't had any coccidia problems yet. But then again I have only been raising deer for one and a half years. I have 10 deer on two acres. My pens are also on well drained soil.

redwood_river_whitetails said:

Thanks Garden State.....I'm glad you mentioned Bovatec. That was another product I found while searching for info on Deccox in John's post.

Click to expand...

I agree with bovatec as well as a few other feed grade products. Keep in mind though, bovatec is also a growth stimulant used to increase weight gains in meat cattle. Some feel that long exposure to high levels reduce the life and fertility of the animal.



These products are designed to finish out "non breeding" animals for slaughter and are not intended to be fed for extended periods to a breeding herd. Bovetec has been documented and advertised for use as an estrus supression aid in heifers.





Just something to think about....







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We do get the occasional case of coccidia but albon or corid usually clear it right up. Its possible you have "carriers" that dont get a strong enough treatment to totally kill the parasite and you may have some that have built a resistence to what youre using. Just a thought. If so, with 16 deer in a 1 acre pen its possible theyre just passing it back and forth and eventually the weakest die.



I dont think there is much info out there on coccidia preventatives for deer, just treat it when you see it. Decoquinate, lasalocid, monensin, and sulfaguanidine are all listed as preventatives in ruminants but like John said some of these preventatives have their drawbacks because they havent been tested on deer and the side effects could be detrimental or fatal to the animal in a "preventative" full time use. Hopefuly now that the industy has caught fire and major universities are studying deer more closely they'll give us the answers we want in due time.



Between the decoquinate, corid, and the di-methox you've done everything I would do. We do lime around our feeders in the spring but I'm in a much drier climate than you so the circumstances in my pens that lead to my animals getting coccidia are probably different than yours. I would suspect there's something going on in your pens thats allowing the parasite to thrive. It could be as simple as runoff or birds as John suggested spreading it from pen to pen. You get it treated in one pen but before you kill the cycle its spread to the next and a few weeks later it shows up. I dont know what to tell you, John had the best tidbit of info in his 28 day treatment. A tip on that would be only put a days feeding in a trough and topdress it every day and cut off access to other feed other than hay and browse, that way you know theyre getting it all..... Just some thoughts.....