Medicated chick starter and worming??

[Albanese07]

I don't know if his is the correct forum but I have a question about using medicated chic starter crumbles - if using do you still need to worm the chicks ? Will adding de to thier food work and how old do they need to be to add it if needed? Thanks!

 

[BuffOrpington88]

If the chicks have a worm problem, yes. The medicated feed contains coccidiostats, which do nothing to the worms. DE is not very effective, and it can cause respiratory issues.

 

[CMV]

Do they have worms?

DE is pretty much useless. I wouldn't waste my money on it or my time looking for it. I used to be a religious user of DE when I first started keeping poultry, but noticed no benefits. The only thing it is really good for is knocking the stink down in a soggy run. Useless as a wormer, and only questionably effective as a preventative for external parasites.

 

[flowerchild59]

I relied on natural remedies for my flock and wound up getting a yard full of sick birds with lots of parasites. I still use DE as a food additive because it has trace minerals, but I do not use it as a wormer. As a wormer, it did nothing.
I have my flock on a alternating wormer schedule. I would worm them at 14 or 16 weeks with valbazen, then use another type of wormer. There is lots of info on here regarding worming.