HI. I'm newly starting chickens, just got a few chicks. I got the medicated chick starter, the one recommended for pasty butt at the store, and the only one in 50# bags. now I want to start with ff. If I understand correctly, I can't use medicated feed for ff, I need to give this bag away and get something else? I get my feed at southern states.
I started the chicks on acv water today, hopefully it will clear their butts. no mucus or blood, but this is a week old...didn't think i'd be back to 'diapers'! Lol! Thanks for any ideas!!!
It won't hurt anything to use the feed.
Medicated feed won't cure pasty butt.
The medication is amprolium or possibly a sulfa drug which is a thiamine (B1) blocker to limit the growth of the coccidia protozoa in the intestine.
It does nothing else.
Bacteria in the ferment produce vitamin B12
The only conflict I can imagine is if the fermentation increases other B complex vitamins in the feed.
It's also known that the level of thiamine in feed will affect the growth of yeast. The more thiamine the faster the yeast growth. I believe I saw a study where yeast growth was affected by amprolium.
Coccidia are 50 times more sensitive to the limitation of thiamine transport as is the host animal but I don't know if the yeast in the FF is negatively affected.
Still, I wouldn't worry about it. Use the feed.
It's fairly easy to limit coccidiosis by keeping the brooder bedding bone dry and feeders at least half full, precluding the need for medicated feed.
http://www.corid.com/Pages/Coccidia.aspx
Chick grit can help to limit the pasty butt. In the meantime, keep wiping those butts.
I'm pretty sure it wasn't root fibers. It was on top of root base, white and fuzzy. When I pinched it out, it was soft and cottony for lack of a better word. I used wheat and boss.
Same here.
.... A lot of pasty butt is caused by a too hot~ or uneven temps in~ the brooder, so you may want to tone down the heat. After you start the FF for them, you'll not need the ACV in the water any longer, so keep that in mind. Try to mix it very dry if they are already having pasty stool, you won't want them to consume more liquid than they need to do.
X2
Hi logic was this: roo gets on female; female lays egg which passes through and is coated by the rooster juice. No, really- he 'splained it to me.
As silly as his fear is and the fact that the egg is coated with cuticle from the hen, there is a sliver of truth to what he says. After mating, semen is stored in sperm storage glands in the vagina. When each subsequent egg passes, some is squeezed out and then makes it's way up the magnum toward the infundibulum where they will fertilize the next follicle. It's thereby possible some may be on the egg but - big deal. These storage glands are common with animals that don't do the penetration thing: chickens, turkeys, frogs, toads.
http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1628&context=usdaarsfacpub
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6091084
He still sounds like a hypochondriac.
If you want to feed sprouted grain along with fermented feed just use it quicker than 4-5 days. You still get a LOT of goodness out of 3 days. Treat it as part of your grain ration instead of trying for fodder.
X2
Even grain just soaked overnight is an improvement over dry. I usually just sprout till the little tails start to grow.
if the laws are prohibitive, tell him where he can seek help. If the laws are permissive or non-existing, tell him you've posted his ways all over the Internet on a chicken discussion forum!!
