Chicken layer feed, no eggs and broody hen vaccinated with medicated chick feed

I’ve become a bit confused after reading about chicken feed and was wondering if someone could help me !

My hens are currently eating Barastoc Darling Downs Layer (http://www.ridley.com.au/products/barastoc/poultry/packaged-layer-range/darling-downs-layer).
The issue is, that one of my hens is broody and since she has gone broody, all the other hens have stopped laying too.

My question is, if none of them are laying and they are all eating the Barastoc Layer food, will this damage their kidneys as they are eating all this calcium in the feed ?
And for winter, if they stop laying for a while, they will still be eating this food. Will this hurt them ?

My other question is when the chicks hatch, the mother hen will be eating the chick starter food with anti-coccidial in it.
As the mother was vaccinated when she was a chick and didn’t eat medicated food, will it affect her vaccination or should she eat unmedicated food ?

Thanks !

Also one more thing, as the chicks will be raised with their mother in the coop / run on a dirt floor, will they need medicated feed ?

I have fed layer over the winter and haven't found it causes a problem with the hens. My roosters eat it too and they're certainly never laying eggs, but it doesn't harm them. If you're worried you could switch to a finisher feed and offer oyster shell free choice on the side.

On the topic of medicated feed for vaccinated birds, you shouldn't feed it to chicks who have received the vaccine because it will render their vaccine null. That's because what they do to vaccinate the chicks is infect them with coccidia - a low danger strain, but that's literally what happens. They idea is that they fight them off and then have immunity. If you feed them medicated it will kill this strain before that can happen and so you'll have ruined the vaccine. It's also worth noting it's not really a vaccine, it's just called one.

Your hen is past the danger of getting coccidiosis, it's mostly a danger for young chicks. She should be fine eating medicated feed.

As for whether they need medicated feed, that will depend on your area. If you have cocci in your soil, then yes, it's advised to feed medicated. I don't have cocci so I don't feed medicated and my chicks do fine.

RooChick said:

I’ve become a bit confused after reading about chicken feed and was wondering if someone could help me !

My hens are currently eating Barastoc Darling Downs Layer (http://www.ridley.com.au/products/barastoc/poultry/packaged-layer-range/darling-downs-layer).
The issue is, that one of my hens is broody and since she has gone broody, all the other hens have stopped laying too.

My question is, if none of them are laying and they are all eating the Barastoc Layer food, will this damage their kidneys as they are eating all this calcium in the feed ?
And for winter, if they stop laying for a while, they will still be eating this food. Will this hurt them ?

My other question is when the chicks hatch, the mother hen will be eating the chick starter food with anti-coccidial in it.
As the mother was vaccinated when she was a chick and didn’t eat medicated food, will it affect her vaccination or should she eat unmedicated food ?

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Many people keep their birds on Multi-flock all the time due to their concern about the calcium content in layer. A multi age flock, or a flock with roos can eat multi-flock all the time. All you need to do is supplement with free choice oyster shell. As for the chicks, you can give mama and chicks a multi flock chick starter, or an unmedicated chick starter. The whole flock can eat either of these products.

As for the vaccination: Your treatment of her now will have no bearing on the coccidiosis vaccine she received as a chick. Many of us choose not to use medicated feed, and never vaccinate. It's your choice re: medication and vaccination, and you should choose what you are comfortable with. You are correct in that if vaccinated, the chicks should not receive a coccidiostat.