medicated feed

[only one lay]

Box chicks came in has the sticker on it that chicks had been vaccinated and not to use medicated feed. When ordered I stated I will be using med feed. Will the birds be ok if I can't get unmedicated feed till morning?

 

[Bullwinkle]

Quote:
Did you order your chicks from McMurray? It is ok to use medicated feed if the chicks were vaccinated for Mareks. The medication in medicated chick starter is to stop the growth of Coccidiosis in the chicks intestines. Feeding a chick that has been vaccinated for Coccidiosis won't hurt the chicks, but would make the vaccination for Coccidiosis a waste of money (the chicks develop resistance to Coccidiosis from the vaccine because the vaccine gives them a controlled dose of Coccidiosis. Feeding them medicated feed prevents them from developing the resistance).

If you do begin feeding them medicated feed, I would recommend keeping them on the medicated feed for the prescribed time period (some folks feed it anywhere from 8 weeks to when they start laying. I'd feed it till they are 16 weeks old or start laying).

I had mine vaccinated on purpose so that I wouldn't have to use medicated feed since I also have ducklings and goslings which can't tolerate the medication and may eat too much of the meds.

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I have no idea how long the chicks were in transit, so I would be inclined to not wait till tomorrow to feed them. If you can't find unmedicated chick starter, you might get a small bag of game starter (higher protein but unmedicated). I get my unmedicated starter from Tractor Supply Company. My last bag though I got from a smaller feed company. The feed was produced by ADM.

If you have your invoice or proof that you told them you'd be feeding medicated feed, you might contact the hatchery and ask for a refund on the vaccine... then just go ahead and feed them the medicated feed....