Medicated Feed?

[Chester Hen]

Hello!

I am a total newbie at all of this. I got six chicks at the Feed & Seed 8 days ago...they are now 9 days old. The lady there said that medicated feed was not necessary, so I got the unmedicated kind. Now I am second guessing after reading a little about coccidiosis.

I set up their brooder in a large dog crate in the dining room. For the first week, I used newspaper with paper towels which I changed twice a day, along with wiping out the crate with a damp paper towel every morning. Yesterday I started using a thin layer of pine shavings (1/2 - 1 inch) over newspaper which I will probably change out daily. I have been washing out their feeder with dish soap about every 4 days and washing their waterer with dish soap daily. For the last couple of days I also rinsed the waterer with a little vinegar in the water. For the first week, there was poop in the waterer every time I cleaned it. Now that I have it elevated on an old phone book, they are not pooping in it so much. I'm worried about the poop they have surely ingested while drinking the water and also that they will be in the brooder past 3 weeks. I have already fallen hard for these little babies and cannot stand the thought of something happening to any of them.

Am I just paranoid, or should I be doing things a little differently or using the medicated feed? Any advice welcome. Thanks in advance.

 

[Momagain1]

Medicated feed: Yes, most of us agree

Waterer/feeder; its up..its good..

they are gonna eat their own poo; its just natural...dont worry about it..IMO..

mine are 11 wks old and are just fine...
but yes; I did have my water/feeder up a bit..they will still find a way to poop on it...

lol..WELCOME and relax!!

 

[Chester Hen]

I think I will go back and get some medicated feed today. Thank you!

 

[Aemelia]

I bought unmedicated feed on accident and I worried about cocci through the whole bag. At least it's almost gone now. I have a big bag of medicated feed for them next. Stupid chickens I worry about them as if they were my own babies.

 

[capebird]

I'm also new to this.... and I had a question about using medicated feed. What I determined
from speaking to a few "sources".... if the chicks have been vaccinated you don't necessarily
need to use medicated feed. If the chicks have not been vaccinated, yes.. you should use medicated
feed. However... if they've been vaccinated and you still use medicated feed.... this is not bad...
but it will negate the vaccination.

 

[zookeeper15133]

Instead of wasting the feed you have, you can just get the medication to put in their water. Corid 20% Soluble Powder. 4 oz. to 100 gal of water. I think that works out to about 1/4 teaspoon per gallon, there should be directions on the package.

 

[PrettyCoy]

"If you do choose to vaccinate your birds, you shouldn't give the chicks medicated feed. The vaccination requires several cycles of infection, which the medicated feed will prevent. Your chicks won't be harmed, but you will have wasted your money since the vaccine will be nullified" I found this from what appears to be a knowledgeable source. I think most chicks are vaccinated for Marek's, not Cocci though (at least that's the option I saw when buying chicks).

 

[Lady EE]

Medicated (in my view) may be harmful, because it kills every single bacteria in the chicks' guts, even the good bacteria. But then again, if you have 20+ chicks, and can't change the water every time one poops in it, it's probably necessary. But if you have fewer, you can use unmedicated. Whatever makes you feel better.

 

[drowningcreek]

When using medicated feed, we give our chicks yogurt that has probiotics in it.