medicated chick starter bad for hens?

[grammaschicks]

Will it hurt my old (6yrs) hen to eat the medicated chick starter I have out for my pullets? She gets into it occasionally when I have them all out together (trying to integrate). I have been putting it up out of her reach when I can, but sometimes I forget.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I don't think it will hurt her but I just wouldn't give medicated to any of them. It's only a coccidiostat to prevent the ill effects of coccidia.
Most people would still eat the eggs but I wouldn't.

 

[bnjrob]

No, shouldn't be a problem. The problem would be if the pullets were getting into some layer feed that was high in calcium before they were laying eggs.

The medication in the feed is not an antibiotic, it just interferes with how coccidia utilize thiamine in their bodies, making them die. Coccidia is always around, it's just the overgrowth that causes problems. So if the hen gets it, there shouldn't be a problem, since you can give chickens of all ages the medication found in the feed (it's called Amprolium, sold under one name as Corid), if you actually have a coccidia infection going on in the chickens.