Help!

[Carissa4446]

I am new to the chicken life and chicken math has got the best of me. I am REALLY wanting to purchase a frizzle calico Cochin bantam… He’s a rooster who is 20 weeks old, the problem is…. I currently have 19, 4-5 week old Americauna’s and Wyandotte’s.
Can I introduce the rooster to them??
I have them on a medicated feed. How do I keep the roosters food separate? Can he have the medicated feed?

Thank you

 

[Debbie292d]

The chick starter/grower crumbles won't hurt him, medicated or not. In fact, they are higher protein, less calcium than layer feed so they'd be good for him. You could take the chicks off of medicated now if you wanted to though or just use it up. We just do two weeks and then get them outside usually.

Our roosters are nice around younger chicks, but he's new and you do not know him so I'd watch like a hawk for an hour or so with them together.

 

[Carissa4446]

The chick starter/grower crumbles won't hurt him, medicated or not. In fact, they are higher protein, less calcium than layer feed so they'd be good for him. You could take the chicks off of medicated now if you wanted to though or just use it up. We just do two weeks and then get them outside usually.

Our roosters are nice around younger chicks, but he's knew and you do not know him so I'd watch like a hawk for an hour or so with them together.

 

[Carissa4446]

Thank you!!! I believe we have about 2 weeks left worth of food.. then we will take them off medicated. I will buy him then and watch him like a hawk.

 

[Debbie292d]

Thank you!!! I believe we have about 2 weeks left worth of food.. then we will take them off medicated. I will buy him then and watch him like a hawk.

Awesome!

Oh, and by the way, welcome to BYC!!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Welcome to the forum. Glad you joined!

I have them on a medicated feed. How do I keep the roosters food separate? Can he have the medicated feed?

I'll copy something I wrote about "medicated" feed a few years back. It is not exactly your situation but it will save me a lot of typing and go into detail to support what I'm going to say.

Have your chicks been exposed to your soil? Unless they have been exposed to the bug that causes Coccidiosis then feed medicated with Amprolium does no good. If you feed that medicated feed (with Amprolium) for two to three weeks after they have been exposed to that bug (if you even have it on your property) then it will help protect them while they develop the immunity they need.

That cockerel can eat the feed medicated with Amprolium. It will not harm him.

If the medicine in the feed is not Amprolium (should be on the label) then none of this applies.

Now the write-up:

First you need to know what the "medicated" is in the medicated feed. It should be on the label. Usually it is Amprolium, Amprol, some such product, but until you read the label, you really don't know. Most "medicated' feed from major brands for chicks that will be layers uses Amprolium, but there are a few out there mostly for broilers, that use other medicines. I'll assume yours is an Amprolium product, but if it is not, then realize everything I say about it may not apply. And it is possible that the "medicated" is Amprolium AND something else.

Amprolium is not an antibiotic. It does not kill anything. It inhibits the protozoa that cause coccidiosis (often called Cocci on this forum) from multiplying in the chicken's system. It does not prevent the protozoa from multiplying; it just slows that multiplication down. There are several different strains of protozoa that can cause Cocci, some more severe than others. Chickens can develop immunity to a specific strain of the protozoa, but that does not give them immunity to all protozoa that cause Cocci.

It is not a big deal for the chicken’s intestines to contain some of the protozoa that cause Cocci. The problem comes in when the number of those protozoa gets huge. The protozoa can multiply in the chicken’s intestines but also in wet manure. For them to reproduce they need some moisture. Slightly damp isn't an issue, soaking wet is. Different protozoa strains have different strengths, but for almost all cases, if you keep the brooder dry, you will not have a problem.

To develop immunity to a specific strain, that protozoa needs to be in the chicks intestines for two or three weeks. The normal sequence is that a chick has the protozoa. It poops and some of the cysts that develop the protozoa come out in the poop. If the poop is slightly damp, those cysts develop and will then develop in the chick's intestines when the chicks eat that poop. This cycle needs go on for a few weeks so all chicks are exposed and they are exposed long enough to develop immunity. A couple of important points here. You do need to watch them to see if they are getting sick. And the key is to keep the brooder dry yet allow some of the poop to stay damp. Not soaking wet, just barely damp. Wet poop can lead to serious problems.

What sometimes happens is that people keep chicks in a brooder and feed them medicated feed while they are in the brooder. Those chicks are never exposed to the Cocci protozoa that lives in the dirt in their run, so they never develop the immunity to it. Then, they are switched to non-medicated feed and put on the ground where they are for the first time exposed to the protozoa. They do not have immunity, they do not have the protection of the medicated feed, so they get sick. Feeding medicated feed while in the brooder was a complete waste.

I do not feed medicated feed. I keep the brooder dry to not allow the protozoa to breed uncontrollably. The third day that they are in the brooder, I take a scoop of dirt from the run and feed it to them so I can introduce the protozoa and they can develop the immunity they need to the strain they need to develop an immunity to. Since I keep my brooder extremely dry and the water clean the protozoa can't reproduce so every three days I give them more dirt from the run so they get more protozoa and can develop immunity. I don't lose chicks to Cocci when they hit the ground.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with feeding medicated feed to chicks, whether the protozoa are present or not. It will not hurt them. They can still develop the immunity they need. But unless the protozoa are present, it also does no good.

If you get your chicks vaccinated for Cocci, do not feed medicated feed. It can negate the vaccinations.