Feeding non medicated chick feed

[ChickieBooBoo]

At my feedstore you can't even buy unmedicated feed unless you feed duck/goose starter. I've always used medicated.

Keep in mind that medicated feed is only a prevention, your can chicks can still get cocci on medicated feed, although the risk is smaller then if you were feeding unmedicated. Once your chicks are sick, medicated feed alone won't make them better, you'll need to buy the medication for them.

 

[Supermommy486]

We never use medicated since our first batch who got cocci anyways, but we also get dirt from our coop and put it in the brooders with the baby chicks. Someone on a post a long time ago offered that tip and we have done it ever since.

 

[Gypsy07]

I've never fed medicated crumbles, I've never put outdoors dirt in my brooder, and I've never had a single case of cocci in my chicks. I've never had a sickly chick and I've never had a chick die on me. I usually move my growers from their own shed out into the adult coop when they're about 8 weeks old and I've never had any problems with illness. I'm not saying that medicated feed is completely unnecessary, just that it's obviously not essential for the successful rearing of healthy chicks!

I've been told by a few people that scrupulous brooder hygiene and good brooder management is much more important than medicated feed when it comes to keeping chicks healthy and preventing cocci, and I'd imagine that they're probably right. Feeding medicated crumbles will not guarantee healthy chicks. If you know you have cocci in your soil and you've previously had chicks suffer from it, it's probably sensible to feed medicated, otherwise, it's probably just a matter of personal preference and whatever gives you peace of mind.

 

[cubalaya]

we always used medicated but will not use it this year. if the chicks don't get cocci then we will stay away from the medicated for good.

 

[Ridgerunner]

With medicated feed, I think it would be real good to know what the "medicine" is in the medicated feed. Usually it is an Amprolium-type product, but sometimes it can be something else or Amprolium combined with something else. When my kids were sick and needed medicine, I ddn't just grab any old medicine and give it to them. I made sure I knew what medicine I was giving them. Medicated chicken starter usually uses an Amprolium-type product, but I don't like to assume. Amprolium is not an antibiotic. It inhibits certain protazoa from reproducing. That's all it does and it is only for Coccidiosis.

With that legal disclaimer out of the way, Coccidiosis is caused when a certain protozoa gets out of hand. This protozoa can live and reproduce in the chicken's intestines. That is not the problem. The problem comes in when the numbers of protozoa in the chicken's intestines get too high. The Amprolium in the dosage in medicated feed does not kill the protozoa. It inhibits it from reproducing, thus helping keep the numbers down. It does not totally stop reproduction, but inhibits it. Some reproduction still takes place. The chicks still develop immunity.

If the protozoa stays in the chick's system for two or three weeks, the chick will develop an immunity to that specific strain of protozoa. There are different strains of this protozoa and they have different strengths. Also, immunity to one strain does not give immunity to other strains.

This protozoa can also live in the soil. That's probably where they get it to start with, the soil. It can reproduce in wet, warm, manury soil. Often you get the problem when the brooder or run is wet and manure is present. The protozoa population explodes and chickens are always pecking at dirt and manure. The injest enough protozoa to get the numbers up to a dangerous level. That's where brooder management comes in. A wet brooder is a dangeous brooder, and not just from a Coccidiosis threat. The warm humid conditions in the Southeast US makes that a prime area for Coccidiosis to be a problem. That does not mean it is not a threat other places, just that is is more likely to be a problem in some places than others.

If the protozoa is not present, you will not have a Cocci problem. Young chicks can more easily develop that immunity than older chickens. The time of highest risk is when they are first introduced to the protozoa. If you raise them in a brooder and they are not introduced to the protozoa until they hit the ground, feeding them medicated feed as a preventative in the brooder does no good. If you have a fairly mild strain of the protozoa and conditions are relatively dry when they hit the ground, you will probably never know they had it. If the first time they see dirt is after they are out if the brooder, that may be the best time to feed the medicated feed. There are a lot of "ifs" involved.

In spite of the dry weather we had here last summer, I'm one that introduces dirt from the run into the brooder by the time they are 3 days old. It can get hot and wet here. I do not feed medicated feed. I keep the brooder fairly dry, but I do put in a piece of plywood where I allow the poop to build up enough where they can eat each others poop. I want them to share those protozoa so they can all build that immunity. That's also a way for them to share probiotics and introduce grit, but those are other issue.

Foothillsfiber, the best thing I can think of is to keep the brooder fairly dry. In my opinion, that will go further than anything else in keeping them healthy. If you have a history of Coccidiosis problems or anything else, of course you need to address that. Medicated feed does not hurt them if it is an Amprolium product. There is absolutely nothing wrong with feeding it to your chicks. I think for most of us it's unnecessary, but that does not mean anything is wrong with feeding it. If it makes you feel better, there is value in that.

 

[Tallulah Chicklet]

I started with medicated chick feed against my instincts because it was my first chicken experience and I was nervous. Then switched to Countryside Organics feed, ACV, and give my girls kefir that I make myself that has LOTS of beneficial organisms. When I adopted a lone chicken from a friend (the rest of her flock got killed), I had her stool and my girls' stool tested while she was in quarantine. Lo and behold, she was clean and my girls were colonized with coccidia. From the soil? Wild bird droppings? The avian vet at the lab advised against treating them. I then let my newbie wander around the yard where the girls had been so that she could build up immunity and did what I could to boost her immune system, decrease her stress. My girls all seem really healthy, and it's good to know they have some immunity, so if they get stressed out (like when I move the "furniture" in their coop around), they are less likely to get sick.

 

[jbs]

There are some good threads on BYC on how to gradually expose your chicks to the cocci in the soil, toss a handful of dirt into the brooder from time to time, get them out on the ground within the first few weeks, etc. I followed this advice and my chicks were fine on Countryside Organics non-medicated starter. I had people telling me that I was crazy, and a horrible chicken mama to experiment on my birds with non-medicated starter, but I'm glad that I did. I did buy Corid in case they got sick, and I was constantly monitoring their poo for signs of blood, but I never needed the Corid.

I also read on one of these threads that if you start chicks in winter, you don't have to worry so much about cocci, that it's more of a warm weather thing. Chicks started in winter will be gradually exposed to cocci as it warms up in spring.

 

[AlienChick]

My very first batch of baby chicks were fed medicated starter because I thought that's what you're supposed to do.

After doing more research I discovered that medicated feed was not necessarily needed, so now I feed non-medicated.

The only thing I watch for is the protein level since I want a higher protein for the Silkies.

 

[foothillsfiber]

Thanks for all the information
I have decided to go ahead and feed the non medicated and put acv in the water.