Eating birds that have been medicated

Feather Dust

In the Brooder
11 Years
Jan 31, 2008
43
1
24
Medford,NJ
I have some chicks that I hatched. I use medicated feed for my chicks until I know which ones are hens and roos. The roos I move to a 2nd cage and feed a non medicated feed. How long do I have keep them off of the medicated feed until I can eat them? Is it safe to eat them?

Thanks in advance!!
~Feather Dust
 
I am using Purina Mills Start & Grow Sunfresh MP 0.0125% Medicated. I looked on the tag and I can't find anything about it on there. I feel so dumb! Maybe I'm missing it??
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My opinion is that there is not much reason/need to medicate beyond 3 weeks, as any birds you may lose beyond that point are probably not going to die from disease.

Additionally, some states' health codes do not allow anti-biotics to be used on food animals less than X weeks before slaughter. I believe it's 4 weeks, here (Michigan), but I'm not certain. Of course, if you're slaughtering yourself, it really doesn't matter, but a month of non-medicated feed is probably not a bad idea.

My last batch of broilers was not medicated at all, and I only lost 2 out of 27 as chicks. I later lost 3 more due to the extreme heat we had last summer.
 
Thanks for your opinion Uncle Hoot! They are a good 3 months old. And it will be 4wks this Sunday off of the medicated food. So I guess they are almost ready.

~FD
 
I have a friend who is a vet, and he told me that if you are just using regular medicated feed, there is no withdrawal period, because the dosage level is so low. I have the tag from my feed bag in front of me, and it doesn't say anything about a withdrawal period. So, I would bet that at 4 weeks you are well past any need to wait.

Good luck, I am looking forward to processing the Cornish we have, and not having to worry about them any more. The RIR and the BR are so much nicer to have around.
 

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