Medicated feed for poults?

[sashacat]

My poults will hopefully be hatching this weekend. I have some 27% protein feed for them, but was wondering if the medicated chick feed would hurt them if it got mixed. I will also have new chicks this weekend. I know you aren't supposed to give ducklings the medicated stuff, I've not heard anything about turkeys.

 

[kuntrygirl]

I don't feed medicated feed to any of my animals but the poults will be ok with it.

 

[sashacat]

Thanks! I did some reading around on here and found out the amprolium won't hurt anybody. I don't like to medicate unnecessarily either, but we have had a cocci outbreak---it was awful. I will feed the medicated stuff for a while, mixed in a little so the protein level stays high, and then slowly expose the little critters to the outdoor yards. We try to keep things clean, but with wet weather and a bunch of critters we still have trouble sometimes. I will also be sprinkling dried nettle and oregano in the feeders, extra precautions!

 

[Lagerdogger]

If you are diluting the medicated feed in order to maintain high protein levels, then you are also diluting the medicine, likely to the point that it is doing little good for your birds and possibly just making stronger bacteria. If you must feed medicated feed to your poults, you should really think about buying a bag of medicated game bird starter.

However, I also never use medicated feed. Like so many of our agricultural "advances," it just isn't really necessary most of the time.

 

[sashacat]

That's true, huh, never thought of it diluting the meds. Maybe I'll just stick to the high protein stuff for both till I separate them outdoors.