The answer to my question may be in here but I have not seen it. I have 13 month old Black Austrolops, been feeding them medicated chick starter. The sack says they can be on that for 8 weeks. Tractor Supply said they are ready for non medicated Grower feed now. All very healthy and active. Any experience on this?
I'm assuming you mean 13 weeks, not 13 months.
People often get hung up on feed and they really don't need to. There is a basic rule to follow. Do not feed growing chicks excess calcium. There are plenty of studies that show excess calcium can damage the internal organs of growing chicks. That means don’t feed growing chicks Layer because Layer has extra calcium for the egg shells of laying hens. If they are not laying, they don't need the extra calcium. Also, do not sprinkle or mix oyster shell, crushed egg shells, things rich in calcium on their feed. If you need to feed laying hens extra calcium, offer it on the side.
That's it. That is the only rule. Anything else works. At 13 weeks old, I suggest looking at the label to see what the percent protein the feed has and feed them something between 15% protein and 20% protein. It's just personal preference but I tend to feed chicks that age in the lower percent protein range. I want to slow their body growth a bit to give their internal organs a chance to mature and their skeleton a better chance to develop before they grow too much. This tends to delay egg laying a bit, which is fine with me. But as I said, this is just personal preference. Plenty of people feed on the higher end of this range and are very happy with the results.
The medicated is a little more controversial. First, look on the bag. The “medicated” part is probably Amprolium. It’s possible it can be something else but it is almost certainly Amprolium in the feed you are most likely to buy. If it is not Amprolium or if it is something in addition to Amprolium, what I’m about to say obviously does not apply.
Purina will tell you that you can feed Amprolium-medicated feed to laying hens without a problem. Others will tell you that you need to withdraw the medication for a while before you use the eggs. I personally think there may be some confusion in the dosage in “medicated” feed used to help reduce the chances of them catching Coccidiosis and the higher dosage in medicines used to treat confirmed cases. But I like what an Avian Vet said. Since it is not well absorbed through the intestines it probably is not a problem, but a one week withdrawal is reasonable due to the conflicting recommendations.
I don’t feed medicated feed to start with. Not because I think it does any harm but because I don’t need it. My chicks do not come down with Coccidiosis. Personally I don’t think it hurts.
They will develop immunity to specific strains of Coccidiosis when they are exposed to it. If yours have been in contact with the ground for three weeks or so, they should have already developed the immunity they need so they really don’t need the medicated feed. In my opinion, you have done absolutely zero harm to them, but it is probably a good time to switch. Just make the switch when your current bag of feed runs out. No desperate rush. It’s not something to stress over.
