Can I feed unmedicated now and . . . .

[ColbyNTX]

I feed all my poults, keets, pheasant and quail unmedicated gamebird starter. My chicken chicks and peachicks get 20% medicated starter. Why, because that is the it comes around here! Don't have any problems with any birds.

 

[jc12551]

technically since cocci is a protozoan any coccidiostat would be an anti-protozoal and not an anti-biotic.

I looked when I was at the co-op and there were no gamebird or turkey starters with a coccidiostat added. The broiler feed had an antibiotic in it. I didn't check the chick feed.

I don't know what kind of feed commercial laying hens are fed. Whatever it is causes my son to be allergic to their eggs. We feed our adult laying hens purina sunfresh and he can eat all the eggs he wants without a reaction.

 

[Arielle]

As I understand the medicated feed, it is only fed for a short time during the growth phase and inital exposure to dirt and the protozoans it contains; afater sufficient exposure to create sufficient time to build an immunity, the medicated feed is not needed. Just thought I'd ask.

THanks for everyones answers!!!

 

[ShadyHoller]

Quote:
That's the way I understand it as well. Coccidiostats kill worms (protozal parasites), antibiotics kill microbes... except for antibiotic-resistant microbes... which are the only ones left after you kill off the weaker ones with antibiotics. So then you need stronger antibiotics to kill the microbes that became resistant to the first dose of antibiotics you administered. Viscous cycle.

Regardless, we use unmedicated starter, because we have never had a need to medicate healthy chicks. Now, if I had a bunch of chicks get sick, I would seek out an appropriate medicine to address the problem. I have no problem with using medicine to cure a condition... I just don't see the need to use it as broad-spectrum method for prevention.