how do you choose medicated or non chick starter

[crysmom]

My chicks should hatch next week and I want to feed them non- medicated starter. A big reason for raising my own chickens is I don't like medications or pesticides at all and want to keep it as far from my families food as possible. BUT I don't want any unnecessary deaths

Do people have good success with non med starter? any additional precautions? I know that wet environments breed disease our climate is really cold all winter and pretty dry (actually we are quite dry year round)

Any additional measures we should take with the chicks with non medicated starter?

 

[speckledhen]

If you get the medicated with only Amprolium, that is not antibiotic, but a thiamine blocker. There isn't even a withdrawal time. It just helps them resist cocci. The problem is finding that feed without bacitracin or ethobate or whatever else they put in them. If they get cocci, then you'll have to dose them with Amprolium or Sulmet anyway. Without even Amprolium, you will have to be right on top of the sanitation, and even then sometimes they do get cocci. Dryness will help, though.

 

[MissPrissy]

When I order hatchery chicks I do get the vaccinations. I do not feed my flock medicated feeds. I try to let them build a natural immune system. So far I have never had a sick chicken. I count myself VERY fortunate.

 

[LoneCowboy]

I brought home my new 7 week old chicks and the next day they had cocci. I don't know if it was the stress or not, but I keep my pullet layers on medicated here until they are 18 weeks old then put them on unmedicated. It's very dry in Colorado, but still I figure that by the time I switch them over they will have plenty of time to get it out of their systems before they start laying.

Other options, have them vaccinated for cocci at the hatchery, and then don't feed them medicated. Problem I have is I can't get unmedicated here. Except for the meat bird feed by Purina is unmedicated, and I guess I could feed that to my little layer pullets. I'd like to go unmedicated too if I could.

 

[NewGuineaChooks]

What does it mean "there isn't even a withdrawl time" for the chick feed with amprolium?

 

[LoneCowboy]

Normally you have to give chickens a certain amount of time before they start to lay or you process them to let the meds in the food get out of their system. With the other you don't have to wait.

 

[speckledhen]

They say there is no withdrawal with Bacitracin, but it is antibiotic, albeit a mild one. Usually, if you dose birds with antibiotics you cannot eat the eggs for a period of weeks, that's what I was referring to. With Amprolium meds, if they start laying while on their chick starter/grower, there is no withdrawal time.

 

[NewGuineaChooks]

Thank you. I was wondering about that, since we are still using amprolium start& grow for some of this summers pullets, but they -may- start laying soon. Wondered if we could use up the bag we have....

 

[speckledhen]

Sure, use it up, no problem. If they start laying, you could get some layer feed and mix what's left of the start&grow in with it to finish it off.

 

[ManOfTheJerseyGiant]

I feed my chicks the Purina Mills medicated untill they are 6 weeks old by then they build a immune to it.