are you using a non-medicated starter?

[midwife mama]

Please help me decide!

We plan to raise our chicks as naturally as possible, free-ranging them and supplementing with organic feed (probably one that make), as well as garden foraging. The feed store was adamant I go home with medicated feed but I'd really like to hear arguments supporting non-medicated feed, as well as factual risk information. Thank you!

 

[Illia]

I never do medicated feed, as it is mainly just for Coccidoisis. . . Except right now all I have to offer to the chicks are Medicated feed, because that is all the stores offer for 100 miles.

 

[Henferno]

Yesh. I'd rather make my own than go medicated (which I've done). It seems... unnatural. There's a lot of unnecessary antibiotic in there, IMO. I've never tried the medicated, but we've had great luck with the plain stuff where we could get it, and I've used Pullet Grower + hardboiled egg yolk + teeny little dandylion leaf shreds on occasion and got good results... I bet that'd be no trouble for someone whose prepared to make her own hen feed.

High-5 for that!

Those feed store people, I think, are ordered to try you to coax you into medicated feed. I dunno why. Mine are like that. They don't even CARRY nonmedicated Starter. Don't feel like you have to listen to them...

 

[Cluckin'Along]

I pay a ridiculous price for 50lb of Organic non-medicated, but I somehow feel that is better for the little guys...
Closer to Natural maybe? (If factory produced could be natural

?) SO far non of mine have had issues! Good luck!!

 

[alpinefarm]

There are basically 2 schools of thought: Medicate them to kill any bacteria they might pick up in their world...or feed them a healthy diet so their immune systems are strong and they can cope with any bacteria they might encounter. I choose the latter!

I have had really good success for baby chicks from birth using simply small whole grains (quinoa, flax, millet, amaranth--which I get at a health food store) plus larger ground-up whole grains/seeds (brown rice, wheat, barley, sunflower--I use a little cheapy hand-grinder, designed for coffee beans--to crack the grains up). I only use this for the 1st 10-14 days, then start graduating them to non-ground whole grains...which is what I feed my older birds.

I also give babies sprouts, chopped up spinach, grass, lettuce, tomato, peas, apple, banana...a little yoghurt, butter, minced garlic sometimes...and I like to also add to the butter or yoghurt a powdered wheat grass (from health food store) for added greens, phytonutrients. I do not add synthetic vitamins...

Remember to include grit, of course, to help them "grind" their own grains...I use both parakeet grit (almost like sand) and Hi-Cal grit (for cocketiels?) from PetSmart until they get to be a couple months old.

I start chicks on outdoor ranging as soon as possible, for a few hours to begin with, within a few days of hatching if the weather is decent. I also don't give them tap water...or if I have to for some reason, I let it sit overnight or boil it first to get rid of the chlorine.

 

[speckledhen]

Medicated feed is amprolium, a thiamine blocker, not an antibiotic. Coccidiosis is caused by a protozoan, like Giardia, not by bacteria. HUGE misconceptions about medicated feed abound. I've even heard someone say that chicks they sent to someone else that were showing signs of Mareks couldn't be because they were raised on medicated feed.

All I can say is WRONG!

I cannot get non-medicated feed in my area. Doesn't matter because the oocycsts are rampant in my soil and the damp weather makes it worse. They get it anyway about a week or two after they are on the ground and I treat with Corid.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

Speckledhen, thank you for posting accurate information. I know most people don't really understand what the medication is or what it is trying to treat.

It's important to watch for signs and be ready to treat if they develop a problem, no matter what you are feeding.

If you decide to come up with your own feed mix, just make sure your read up on their nutritional needs. You need to provide more than grains, to give them protein that has a more complete amino acid profile, plus all the vitamins and minerals they need. Just grains won't cut it. Legumes like peas or beans (beans need to be cooked or heated to be safe to feed) or other sources of protein, need to be fed along with the grains. Fresh foods can provide things like the beta carotene that they need, plus other nutrients.

 

[alpinefarm]

Quote:
A whole grain/seed diet is absolutely not deficient in vitamins, minerals, amino acids or proteins. And what they offer is nature's version of nutrition, not synthetically made nourishment. The soybean-based commercial feeds, including chick starters, are not high quality protein.

I'll certainly read up and adjust my thinking about what medications are actually in the medicated feeds, and for prevention of what types of "bugs," so thank you for the heads-up there.

In my experience and research, animals that are nutritionally well-supported with nature's foods are much less likely to need de-bugging, as their immune systems and digestive systems do not harbor, and are simply not as vulnerable to, parasites, viruses and bacteria.

And medicated feed just smells bad...toxic/chemical odor...that I can't bear to have around.

 

[nancypo]

I'm using non-med. feed, as it's cheap and what the feed store sells. Since mine will be inside in the extra bedroom for several weeks (unless we take some vacations in the back yard when it's warmer) and I clean their area 2xs a day, hopefully they'll be fine.

I like the idea of adding natural supplements, like ground up flas, etc. for immune health, easy to do... Why wait til they're sick?

 

[387026]

I feed nonmedicated, never problems. I do keep my chicks in our basement in crates away from adult chickens and off the ground for the first month so that helps.
Also supplement with raw yogurt and clabber for extra protein.
Wash hands before and after handling, keep dishes clean and crates clean.
They are than put in portable pens so there is not a build up of poop on grass during the day, back in crates at night till a few months old.