Medicated Chick Starter

[TwilightMom]

If I keep my chicks on medicated chick starter until they lay eggs can we eat those eggs? Does it affect humans? It doesn't say anything on the bag about this. Thanks!

 

[PunkinPeep]

If the medication is Amprolium, you should know that it is a thiamine blocker. It blocks the absorption of vitamin B. I don't know how much the small amounts in medicated feed translate to humans through the eggs. I personally do not feed medicated feed.

 

[chauqg]

Really depends on the type of vaccination. What type was given to your birds?

 

[dumb_cluck]

Although any information about the affects of eating medicated chicken eggs has never been published (that I am aware of), I would NOT feed the medicated food nor would I personally eat or sell the eggs for consumption. I also opt NOT to vaccinate.

It seems that the disease is caused by contaminated litter. So, a preventative measure without medication is to keep the litter clean.
I know it takes a bit more time, but it is a more natural method to stop or prevent the disease in the first place.

Free range and chickens raised on wire usually never contract it. In fact, they get immune. Dirty litter that they pick though when scratching is the culprit.

I would rather keep the litter clean than "go get meds" to solve the problem. Too many drugs being used because it's "easier".... and the drug companies LOVE the profits!

 

[PunkinPeep]

Quote:
While i agree that for me, getting meds is not the best solution, it is also a misconception that clean litter is the best way to protect against coccidiosis.

Unless a chicken is raised away from soil its entire life (which is totally unnatural), it will come in contact with the protozoa and needs to have contact with it in order to develop resistance. Early exposure is (in my opinion) the best way to naturally protect your chick against coccidiosis. Clean litter is important to any animal - in that overexposure (lots of poop in a small enclosure) will overwhelm their natural defenses.

 

[95yj]

chick starter should only be fed while their chicks. not exactly sure of the time but for a couple of months max, that goes for medicated or unmedicated, then you wean them onto adult food slowly by mixing it with chick feed. I'd suggest feeding 1 bag of medicated chick starter, then if they are still young 1 bag of unmedicated chick feed then adult feed. By the time they are six months old the meds will be long gone. Also even with giving the chicks medicated feed they will still build up an immunity, and the above post is completely correct, you never want to keep your brooder overly sanitized, this goes for the litter too. So long as there's enough carbon to absorb the nitrogen of the chickens waste it should not smell at all. Sometimes drugs are useful, and there is such a thing as taking the whole natural thing too far.

 

[95yj]

Quote:
immunity comes from small amounts of contact with the disease, your saying that by never accessing infected materials the birds will build up resistance? A bird that never comes into contact with cocci will probably experience it eventually, and be killed since its immune system had no prior experience.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I agree with all that Punkinpeep said. Before anyone can accurately respond to your question, they need to know what the medicated in the medicated feed is. It is probably (but not always, without a doubt, absolutely certain, I would bet my family's health on it) Amprolium, but it could be something else. I don't know if it is safe or not safe to eat the eggs if the laying hens are eating Amprolium, but I would not do it.

There may be a good reason you are feeding starter to yours until they start to lay. I don't know your circumstances. The suggested way to do it is to feed starter for the first 6 weeks, switch to grower until they are ready to lay, then switch to layer. At my feed store, the combination starter/grower is all that is offered, so I use that. The grower has a little less protein content which allows the pullets bodies to mature a bit more before they start laying. This can delay the first egg a week or two, but reduces the chance for egg bound or prolapsed hens and normally gives the hen a better chance of a more productive life in the long run.

Amprolium is not an antibiotic. It blocks the reproduction of some of the protazoa in the digestive system of the chick so the protazoa does not overwhelm the chick and damage the digestive track. It does not stop all the reproduction , just inhibits it so the chick can still develop an immunity.

There are several different protazoa that caused cocci. I have no idea which ones are in your soil. Immunity to one does not give immunity to all the others. The life cycle of the protazoa is that the chicken eats the eggs or larva (not sure which) in the soil. The protazoa grow and develop in the intestines of the chicken and lays eggs. The eggs pass from the digestive track of the chicken and develop for a day or two in damp or wet soil and manure in the brooder, coop, or run. Then the chicken eats the eggs or larva and the cycle continues. I think they can hatch and develop even if they stay in the diestive track and never make it out. They can reproduce in wet manure/dirt in the run without going through the chickens system. It is no big problem for the chicken to have some of these in its system. The problem comes when there are so many it overwhelms the chickens system.

Chicks can and need to develop an immunity to the specific protazoa types they will come in contact with. It takes about two weeks of them going through the protazoa life cycle, eating the eggs, the protazoa developing inside them and all that, for them to develop that imnmunity. It is a lot easier for the chicks to develop this immunity than grown chickens. Feeding antibiotics to young chicks will prevent them from developing this immunity and put them at risk when you take them out of the brooder and let them loose on the ground. It does not absolutely guarantee that they will die when you put them on the ground, but it does increase the risk.

You will see posts on here where people raise their chicks on antibiotics and don't have this problem. You will also see posts where chickens die when they are put on the ground. I suspect cocci or coccidiosis is a standard reason for this. Chickens are pretty tough critters, but I like to give them the best chance I can.

Good luck with yours.

 

[Chris09]

Buckeye Feeds recommends feeding there starters the first 12 weeks of life then switching to there grower and feeding that till they start to lay..
The medication that Buckeye Feeds uses in there feed is Lasalocid (Avatec) and there is no withdrawal because Lasalocid is confined to the alimentary canal
of the bird.

Chris

 

[TwilightMom]

Thank you everyone for the information. I now realize I need to do some homework in chicken raising. I did not know any of this as I am new to chickens. My chicks are about 6 weeks old and outside in the coop and run. They also get to run around the backyard twice a day. We want them for eggs and pets so I think I may do some more research on food. I appreciate all of your input.