12 week chicks

[Meece31]

Have 12 week chicks that I'm putting in with older girls. They have been in a pen around the older girls so they can see but no touch for awhile. Curious about food. Old and new girls have to be fed the starter food correct( still medicated)? My understanding that the young ones should not have layer food till older, correct?
Thanks!

 

[Ryguy3684]

Correct, the 12 week olds should not have layer feed. You can feed them all chick feed, or an all flock feed, but layer feed has too much calcium for the little ones. You'll need to offer oyster shell grit, in a separate dish, so the hens can get calcium for egg shells. If they have been see, but not touch, for a while, they should be fine. Just keep an eye on them for a little while, when you first put them together.

 

[BrickCoop15]

You are correct. It is best to feed them all either chick starter (I would go with unmedicated) or an all flock feed like purina Flock Raiser. The young birds do not need the extra calcium that is found in layer feed until they are actually laying eggs. You will need to provide a separate feeder with oyster shell so your older girls will have access to the calcium they need for egg production.

 

[Meece31]

Correct, the 12 week olds should not have layer feed. You can feed them all chick feed, or an all flock feed, but layer feed has too much calcium for the little ones. You'll need to offer oyster shell grit, in a separate dish, so the hens can get calcium for egg shells. If they have been see, but not touch, for a while, they should be fine. Just keep an eye on them for a little while, when you first put them together.

Thank you. Do I still continue with the medicated feed?

 

[Ryguy3684]

You are correct. It is best to feed them all either chick starter (I would go with unmedicated) or an all flock feed like purina Flock Raiser. The young birds do not need the extra calcium that is found in layer feed until they are actually laying eggs. You will need to provide a separate feeder with oyster shell so your older girls will have access to the calcium they need

It must be good advice. We both typed the exact same thing at the same time.

 

[Ryguy3684]

The medicated won't hurt, if that's what you have already. The "medicated" is usually low dose amprolium, which in large doses, helps treat coccidiosis. I always give it until I run out of the bag, then switch over. I use flock raiser, but that's because I have roosters, hens, and chicks, at any given time.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Thank you. Do I still continue with the medicated feed?

I'll copy something I wrote several years back that kind of explains how medicated feed works if the medicine is Amprolium. If the medicine is anything other than Amprolium, it does not apply.

A quick summary for those that can't read that much is that medicated feed does you no good if they have not been exposed to the bug that causes Cocci. If they are exposed to that bug for two to three weeks they develop immunity to that strain so medicated feed no longer does any good. But it doesn't do a lot of harm either.


First you need to know what the "medicated" is in the medicated feed. It should be on the label. Usually it is Amprolium, Amprol, some such product, but until you read the label, you really don't know. Most "medicated' feed from major brands for chicks that will be layers uses Amprolium, but there are a few out there mostly for broilers that use other medicines. I'll assume yours is an Amprolium product, but if it is not, then realize everything I say about it may not apply. And it is possible that the "medicated" is Amprolium AND something else.

Amprol is not an antibiotic. It does not kill anything. It inhibits the protozoa that cause coccidiosis (often called Cocci on this forum) from multiplying in the chicken's system. It does not prevent the protozoa from multiplying; it just slows that multiplication down. There are several different strains of protozoa that can cause Cocci, some more severe than others. Chickens can develop immunity to a specific strain of the protozoa, but that does not give them immunity to all protozoa that cause Cocci. Little bitty tiny baby chicks can develop that immunity easier than older chickens.

It is not a big deal for the chicken’s intestines to contain some of the protozoa that cause Cocci. The problem comes in when the number of those protozoa gets huge. The protozoa can multiply in the chicken’s intestines but also in wet manure. Different protozoa strains have different strengths, but for almost all cases, if you keep the brooder dry, you will not have a problem.

To develop immunity to a specific strain, that protozoa needs to be in the chicks intestines for two or three weeks. The normal sequence is that a chick has the protozoa. It poops and some of the cysts that develop the protozoa come out in the poop. If the poop is slightly damp, those cysts develop and will then develop in the chick's intestines when the chicks eat that poop. This cycle needs go on for a few weeks so all chicks are exposed and they are exposed long enough to develop immunity. A couple of important points here. You do need to watch them to see if they are getting sick. And the key is to keep the brooder dry yet allow some of the poop to stay damp. Not soaking wet, just barely damp. Wet poop can lead to serious problems.

What sometimes happens is that people keep chicks in a brooder and feed them medicated feed while they are in the brooder. Those chicks are never exposed to the Cocci protozoa that lives in the dirt in their run, so they never develop the immunity to it. Then, they are switched to non-medicated feed and put on the ground where they are for the first time exposed to the protozoa. They do not have immunity, they do not have the protection of the medicated feed, so they get sick. Feeding medicated feed while in the brooder was a complete waste.

I do not feed medicated feed. I keep the brooder dry to not allow the protozoa to breed uncontrollably. The third day that they are in the brooder, I take a scoop of dirt from the run and feed it to them so I can introduce the protozoa and they can develop the immunity they need to the strain they need to develop an immunity to. To provide a place for that slightly damp poop, I keep a square of plywood in the dry brooder and let the poop build up on that. I don't lose chicks to Cocci when they hit the ground.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with feeding medicated feed to chicks, whether the protozoa are present or not. It will not hurt them. They can still develop the immunity they need. But unless the protozoa are present, it also does no good.

If you get your chicks vaccinated for Cocci, do not feed medicated feed. It can negate the vaccinations.