Baby chicks- crumbles vs pelleted chick feed

[ADoty]

long story short- pelleted non medicated 20% chick starter/grower feed was accidently ordered instead of (what I usually get) medicated starter/grower 20% crumble ..Is it okay for baby chicks to be fed pelleted starter/grower? I've never fed it out before.. I feel like they would choke on it

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Also- considering it's not medicated- do y'all put Duramycin in the water?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

You can grind up the pellets a bit in a blender, not too much or you will make a mash, tedious but not hard. Duramycin I believe is an antibiotic, most medicated feeds have stuff in them for cocidiosis, so not the same thing. I never use medicated because I don't have problems with cocidiosis, so it's not always necessary.

 

[Choco Maran]

How old are the chicks? As long as they have had at least a week of medicated feed they should be fine on the non-medicated stuff. Like oldhenlikesdogs said I do not use medicated feed either. But I normal get my from a hatchery and all ways have their shots. If you got them from a feed store it is hard to say. But as I mentioned earlier as long as they have had at least a week on medicated they should be fine. As far as the pellets go if it is for chicks it is designed for their little becks and crops they will be fine.

 

[rottlady]

my 8 week olds won't touch any pellets and I accidentally bought a bag of pelleted starter. solution was to soak it and they love it

 

[Pendragonz]

The solution is to feed fermented feed. Just cover it with water and let it sit a day or two and it will start fermenting and will be loaded with probiotics. You don't need to feed medicated with fermented, due to the probiotics causing better gut health. It also starts breaking down, or predigesting, the food and makes more nutrients available to your birds. Just check into it and see if it may be for you. I highly recommend it, and do it for all my birds.

 

[donrae]

I think large fowl chicks can tear the pellets apart easily. If you're that concerned, get a small bag of crumbles and feed that until they're a week or so old. At that point they'll well be able to eat pellets.

Medicated chick starter in the US pretty much only has amprollium. It's not an antibiotic, it doesn't prevent "disease". It's a thiamine blocker that inhibits cocci growth, allowing the chicks's natural immunity to keep pace with it's exposure to the cocci. Medicated feed won't prevent anything else, and just a week of it won't do any good against the cocci, they need to have it for a few weeks after they're exposed to the soil. I don't think fermented feed will prevent cocci either, it's either in your soil or it isn't. Gut health isn't going to prevent cocci from reproducing. It's prevalent in warm, wet areas, so do a risk assessment and decide for yourself.

Chicks from a hatchery aren't automatically immunized against anything. If you do opt to get them immunized against cocci, don't feed medicated feed as the amprollium conflicts with the vaccine. If they're vaccinated against Marecks (I'm not aware of vaccinating for anything else), you're fine to give medicated.

 

[triplepurpose]

i would grind it a bit if you wish to feed dry. but probably easier to feed it wet so its softened, either fermented or just moistened.

no medicated feed here for 25 + yrs and chicks are always healthy. imho medicated feed is a gimmick at best, destructive at worst.

 

[amyschickens1]

Are your cickens large fowl or bantams

 

[rottlady]

I think large fowl chicks can tear the pellets apart easily. If you're that concerned, get a small bag of crumbles and feed that until they're a week or so old. At that point they'll well be able to eat pellets.

well mine won't touch pellets and they are 8 weeks old. They will however eat them fine soaked.
UN soaked and they stand around cheeping for food. I tried waiting them out, after 8 hours I gave in and realized they won't eat them. They have a feeder with crumbles and pellets mixed in 24/7 they never eat the pellets. They get a bowl of soaked pellets in the evening and it is gone by morning

 

[realsis]

IMHO pellets are too big. Crumbles for sure until older.