Do you give supplements or vitamins to your chicks?

[kyeschicks]

Just wanting to hear from those who use supplements or vitamins for the chicks and why I'm talking like sav-a-chick (electrolytes), probiotics, apple cider vinegar.. etc.

 

[Aapomp831]

No - they have all they need right in their chick food. They certainly don’t need probiotics. Maybe some electrolytes when they first arrive / hatch, but even so fresh water is all they need.

 

[mmcspadden]

I do not want to feed medicated chick feed, but I do want to give my chicks a good start. I feed them regular Organic Chick food and got this recipe from Justin Rhodes (if you do not know him, check out on Youtube). Organic raw Apple Cider Vinegar, Organic raw Honey, Organic raw garlic cloves in their water for the first couple weeks. I do not recall the ratios, but I'm sure you can find it with a search. I believe the Honey is for energy and to help with taste. The ACV and garlic are to provide good digestion and health benefits against diseases. Due to an unexpected cold spell, my chicks were raised in a more harsh environment than I intended. Whether it was luck or the additions to their water, I do not know, but the only problems I ran into (besides keeping them warm enough) was pasty butt. And that was minor.

 

[50-45-1]

I only will use the save -a-chick on shipped or incubated chicks for the first 2 days of life. After that only clean water. Sick or weak chicks may get another dose
Chicks with a broody seem to not get sick at all.
Non medicated chick food for me.

 

[GC-Raptor]

Just wanting to hear from those who use supplements or vitamins for the chicks and why

I get day old Chicks from local farm and hardware stores and TSC. I feed Medicated Start and Grow feed for at least 10 weeks, then switch to a Non-Medicated Starter-Grower feed when bag is empty.
I add this

to the water for 10 days, following label directions.
Shipped Chicks are stressed so I like to help them out with extra nutrients.
After 10 days it's plain water and feed.
Out of 3 batches of Chicks, 19 total, I lost two.
My first batch of 6 chicks did not get anything added to the water. I lost one at 4 days, rest survived to lay many eggs.
All 7 of the second batch of chicks survived to lay eggs.
I lost one at day 9 in my third batch of six. 5 are laying daily.
I've never added ACV to the waterers or anything else after 10 days.

GC

 

[anvia]

We use non medicated chick crumb. I do crush an iron free (no iron is very important!) human multivitamin into their first water - so it’s very dilute. Most of our hatching eggs come through the post so I can’t always take a view on the health of the parent stock. I’ve found adding this vitamin to their first water helps hugely with early chick health, after this it’s just onto pure water & good quality chick crumb - not all foods are created equal.
If I’m hatching eggs from parent birds I’m confident in the health of we don’t tend to give any supplementation.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I give something right after chicks arrive to help them over shipping stress, especially since I usually get the chicks as soon as they've arrived at the feed store (like literally unpacking them from the box). I've done Poultry Nutri Drench, Sav-a-Chick, and some other dry electrolyte/vitamin chick mix - all have worked fine. Though probably sticking with Nutri-Drench at this point as it's also good for adult chickens that are stressed or lethargic or just a bit off, with no obvious cause.