[edessex]

I'm not sure what I'm looking for here, but I'm sure someone will know what I'm going on about.

I know if you leave poultry in one area too long there can be a build up of bacteria in the soil, which can kill the poultry.  But I read somewhere about a chemical you spray onto the soil to kill that specific bacteria.

Does anyone know what I'm going on about, where I can get it, and is it any good?

[funkyfish]

Is it coccidiosis your thinking of?

[edessex]

That sounds quite familliar!    You wouldn't know the chemical would you?

[Marches Farmer]

We use lime on the lambing shed once i's empty.

[funkyfish]

bio-cyst sounds familiar. Cocci isn't a bacteria. but a protozoa. Its the oocycts that live in the enviroment. Putting Apple cider viniger in the water helps acidify the guts to make it less easy for the protozoa to survive. There is an enviromantal treatment, but it depends on which type of cocci it is.

I think thechickenvet site has info,

[HesterF]

I asked the vet about this because he was picking up high levels of worms and coccidiosis from our chickens even though they'd only been in the (very expensive) pen for 3 months. He reckoned nothing unless you were going to clear all the livestock out for a couple of months and lime it. A prolonged period of cold weather should disrupt the lifecycle of worms but not sure what effect it has on coccidiosis.

The cider vinegar is a problem for me because I've got a metal drinker and the ducks make such a mess of the water, most ends up on the ground. I did have a plastic drinker to begin with but hated it on many levels. Is there any way of doing the same job through food or dosing the chickens directly?

H