Medicated chick feed and vaccinated chicks

[6chick*start]

My 6 chicks are 8 weeks and have been on medicated feed. I had planned to keep them on this until the first eggs show up.
Tonight I am going to pick up some Polish hens that are a week older than mine. I was told they had been vaccinated.
Should I change to something else now or can the new vaccinated girls have the medicated feed as well ?
Thanks.

 

[Erica]

If the new birds have been vaccinated for coccidiosis then you'll need to only feed them unmedicated feed. However the chicks you already have may not have built up enough immunity yet (against coccidiosis) and you may want to keep them on separate medicated feed for a bit longer.

In any case it's always best to keep new chickens quarantined for a month. That will give you time to change the original chicks' diet gradually to unmedicated feed if you want to do that.

Hope this helps,
Erica

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

Quote:
Ditto- but I wanted to ask if you've been putting any dirt in their brooder? When I brood chicks inside I bring in a little dirt from the coop to help expose them. I've never had to deal with cocci, so it must help. If you have been letting them have access to dirt in their brooder, or if you've been taking them outside for the past couple of weeks they really should be fine to wean from the medicated feed. If it were me though, I would keep keep your newbies separate so you can watch for illnesses. Good luck!