Cackle Hatchery - Hatch Date: 3/12/2023

[Folly's place]

Not so about medicated chick feed! Chicks vaccinated against Marek's disease, or not, may need amprolium medicated feed to help them develop resistance to coccidia. Two separate issues entirely.
It's the coccidia 'vaccine' that is eliminated by the amprolium.
Mary

 

[BastyPutt]

Not so about medicated chick feed! Chicks vaccinated against Marek's disease, or not, may need amprolium medicated feed to help them develop resistance to coccidia. Two separate issues entirely.
It's the coccidia 'vaccine' that is eliminated by the amprolium.
Mary

Aside from the fact that medicated food loaded with heavy metals which can have long term effects on a chick, especially one as frail as a bantam, it does protect against things like general cocci, but certainly not all strains and comes with a caveat.

If you have an established flock, and assuming you don't tend to them, then come directly into your brooder, a chick is going to be the least likely to be exposed to Cocci during this time of its life, compared to others as it is generally transmitted through contaminated water, feed, etc. in other words, a chicks brooder is a pretty controlled environment by design and concept.

By feeding medicated food, it is going to be doing the majority of the work in defending the chick, and natural resistant properties the chick has will take the day off. Once you discontinue the medicated feed, and release the now pullet/cockerel into the flock or anywhere outside where cocci can be present in dirt, the chicken now has very little naturally occuring antibodies and no medicated feed.

This obviously isn't specific to Cocci or a chicken for that matter, it is the basis of an immune system. Medicated food or any sort of medication aids that immune system in times of need, but does nothing to improve its effectiveness. A great example would be having a fever and using Tylenol to control the fever. The fever is literally your body fighting whatever the problem is, yes it can get to be too high and harmful, but if that isn't the case - by suppressing your fever for comfort, is in turn prolonging your sickness as the Tylenol doesn't treat the underlying problem.

Keeping a clean brooder, feed fresh and water daily, practice good hygiene between your chicks and other animals - and keep stress levels to a minimum and your chicks will "medicate and vaccinate" themselves

 

[BastyPutt]

Chicks vaccinated against Marek's disease, or not, may need amprolium medicated feed to help them develop resistance to coccidia. Two separate issues entirely.

It's the coccidia 'vaccine' that is eliminated by the amprolium.

True - and vice versa - it is also a live vaccine which can weaken a new chick to the point of the death, and combined with it unknowingly being negated with medicated feed is why it is rarely offered.

 

[Whittni]

Not that it has bearing on the crossbeak, but I would be skeptical of feeding medicated starter to new bantams, especially if they are vaccinated.

Medicated chick starter is to prevent Coccidiosis. They're vacinated for Mareks, not Cocci. This is fine.