CHICK STARTER anitbiotic concern

[dianesusan]

Hello! I am a "new-bie" at this chicken thing.....part of the reason I am doing this is because of my concern for all the antibiotics and steroids in our store bought eggs.

This chick starter has antibiotics...seems to me this would not let the chicks natural immunities t kick in if they are inundated with antibiotics so early in their development. I understand why it is given to them...but I must say this concerns me!

Any thoughts on this matter would be appreciated!!

Thanks!! Dianesusan

 

[mwdh1]

Personally, I have been using the antibiotic feed to help prevent diseases, mine does not contain any type of steroids . My opinion is that by the time they are old enough to be producing eggs,or culled off for meat the antibiotics will be out of their system.

If you go non-medicated just be sure to keep things super clean until the chicks are hardy enough to fight off a mild infection.

 

[walkswithdog]

If they die of coccidia, they aren't living long enough to develop a normal immunity to everything else.

And it IS coccidia that kill MOST chicks that die in the first 12 weeks.

While you might get a very strong flock only using chicks that don't die of coccidia when unmedicated. The odds are ugly and losing whole batches isn't an option here.

It's about the only time I ever use anti-biotics. But I'm going to give them their best shot at getting old enough to have their own immunity.

Some people will not give anti-biotics and they have mostly good success. And it can be done that way.

It's not a risk I am willing to take. Not when actual production for my own food is an issue. Dead birds feed no one. But it is a very personal and individual choice.

Each person has to find their own way with this one. Neither is right or wrong.

 

[TXmom]

From what I understand, the way medicate feed works is...the chick ingests coccidia protazoa, and the medication in the feed prevents the coccidia from reproducing in the chick and killing it. The chick also develops a natural immunity to the coccidia, since it is still exposed to small amounts of it.

The medicated starter food does not prevent natural immunities, and does not treat any other disease. And I'm not completely sure on this, but it's not actually an antibiotic, is it???

 

[walkswithdog]

You're right, and I should have mentioned that it is a coccidia-stat, not a spectrum anti-biotic, and it is designed to REDUCE the coccidia load a chick has to deal with and prevent an overload of coccidia. It actually does allow for the chick to develop an immunity over time, just prevents death from overload while they're weak.

 

[speckledhen]

Amprolium is not an antibiotic and you can get feeds from Purina and Southern States that only have that. Others have small amts of bacitracin, supposedly to prevent necrotic enteritis, or so I've read.

 

[mwdh1]

sounds like the same starter I use

 

[Ladyhawke1]

What is wrong with prevention? Preventing cancer would do more good than trying to cure it. But then, the big guys wouldn’t be able to make those oh so nice profits off of the sick.

We are talking about biological systems here that are millions of years old. What is wrong with keeping everything clean especially the water supply and not crowding the animals as the big producers do? These are not mass marketing machines. They are biological entities with eons of built in safe guards that if allow develop as intended will permit the survival of the fittest. That is the way of the world.

Look around. Natural systems seem to flourish and advance better on their own without the assistance of artificial and sometimes harmful means. But then that is from my book “learnin’” and observation.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I think TxMom and Speckledhen have it right.

This Mississippi State site

http://www.msstate.edu/dept/poultry/extdis.htm

gives somegood info on coccidiosis. From reading this, to help your chicks develop immunity to the cocci protazoa they will definitely encounter when they join your flock, it may be worthwhile putting some dirt from your run in the brooder so they are exposed to the cocci in your flock and can develop an immunity while young. Just my thought. I have not seen this recommended anywhere.

I read, I think on a NC State site, that chicks raised on wire for the first week (they cannot get to the droppings of the other chicks to get exposed to the cocci they have) do not develop immunity to cocci. I think this is in reference to the cocci the other chicks have in their system and not all cocci. And from the MSU document, it looks like the droppings need to stay in the brooder a couple of days for the protazoa to mature enough to give the other chicks immunity.

I admit, the more I read on this, the more confused I get, but I have not given up yet.

And I just saw Ladyhawke1's post. I'll mention that raising chicks in a brooder is not a natural system. Chicks raised by mama with the rest of the flock naturally develop a strong immune system. That is the system I intend to use once my flock is established. I just can't do that yet. I totally agree with her on "natural systems", but a brooder is not natural.

Editted for bad typing

 

[Ladyhawke1]

Does anyone here know where kissing came from? Well, it came from the momma licking the baby clean. Thus, this passes on the natural gut bacteria to the baby when the face is licked. Because NOT all animals are able to” lick” the young…there are other means.

Whether it this is discussable or not, this is how it happens. Every animal that grazes, manages to pick up a certain amount of feces in its foraging. In a healthy environment, within this forage is found the friendly gut bacteria that start the young such as baby chicks on their journey. What confusion the system is thrown into when something foreign is throw into the mix so to speak.

No wonder there is so much disease out there. I want to use medications when my birds GET sick, not when they are healthy. But then, that is just me.