Medicated or non medicated?

[cindip]

i'm interested in the fermented feed for the chicks. i've got babies coming around the end of march and they're my first! i really prefer NO medication and i pinned something on fermented chicken food recently. could you elaborate on the fermented chick food? thanks!

 

[cindip]

i'd like to know the same thing!

 

[cindip]

Congratulations on the new additions to the family. What a bunch of cuties they are.

I've been reading this thread with interest. Things have certainly changed since I last raised chicks and now that I'm looking at getting my new flock started this spring (8 Buff Orps and 4 Bantamsordered and paid for) I'm trying to catch up on what has changed. Since I'm buying from a private local breeder I plan to ask them what they do starting their chicks out right. Back in the day, cicks were put in a box under a brood light and fed starter mix until they feathered out and then they were put out in the coop and were on their own. The only time we ever lost a chick was when a young pullet managed to knock a screen over that crushed her. Not a bad record. Chickens were not fed medicated anything. They were fat and sassy. Nobody was sick or wormy when we butchered a few. My preference is to go as naturally as possible with my new flock. I would prefer for them to build up their immunity naturally over medication.

With that thought in mind at what age will they tolerate the "clup of dirt and grass" that was suggested earlier?

hmm, ok; think i was going about asking questions the wrong way! i'd like to know the answer to the dirt clump as well!

 

[cindip]

Medicated feed has Amprolium, which is a thiamine blocker. It blocks uptake of thiamine in the coccidiosis organism, so it can't replicate. It also blocks thiamine uptake in the chick. Coccidiosis is in the environment everywhere. My preference is to NEVER give my chicks medicated feed. In my area, that often means buying multi-flock raiser, because I can't buy unmedicated chick starter. The feed store employees will spend a lot of wasted time telling me that my chicks will all die if they don't get medicated feed. I've never had a chick with coccidiosis. They all start with fermented feed, and are exposed to the soil organisms within the first few days of life, so they develop a healthy gut and a natural immunity to the coccidiosis that is common to my soil.

i'm asking this again with a quote attached! i'm very interested in the fermented food and how you introduce it. is that the ONLY thing you feed new chicks and i'm assuming they'd get some grit with it? i've got baby chicks coming the end of march and this is my first flock! thanks so much!

 

[song of joy]

I use non-medicated feed. This seems to work fine, as I keep the brooder clean and raise fairly small batches of chicks (6 to 12).

 

[cindip]

I use non-medicated feed. This seems to work fine, as I keep the brooder clean and raise fairly small batches of chicks (6 to 12).

thanks for the reply! i'm especially interested in hearing about how some of the folks use fermented feed as well

 

[lazy gardener]

Sorry guys... I'm just now catching up with this thread. If any one has a question directed at me, and I don't respond, feel free to PM. I start my chicks out on FF on day one. They go straight from the bator to the brooder after they're dried off. The brooder is set up with a good layer of pine shavings, which is covered with several layers of newspaper with paper towels over the newspaper. (kind of like a NP/PT lasagna.) That way, when they've soiled one layer, I can roll it up, and there'll be a fresh layer underneath. I sprinkle some of the starter crumble on the floor of the brooder, and also give them a dish of fermented feed. As soon as they're eating well, and I see that their crops are filling well, I give them some grit, again, sprinkled on the paper towel. Any time after that, I give them a clump of sod... about big enough to fill a pie plate. (I always want to start this in the first week.) I try to give them sod which is full of fine grass roots, and if there is any grass to speak of, I cut it short (1" or so). I actually put that sod upside down for them. Depending on how well the FF supply is going, I may keep crumble in front of them, and give them a bowl of FF several times/day. IMO, they do great if all they get for feed is the FF. I also like to give them scrambled eggs. I'm also a fan of Poultry Nutri-drench. Especially for any shipped chicks. The chicks may stay in the tote for 24 hours, or maybe even a day or two, depending on how many there are. Then they move to the big chick brooder which has no paper toweling, just lots of fluffy shavings, which is a 3' x 6' tractor. (This year, I'll be able to brood outside in a loft coop which is 4 x 8)

 

[CrazyTalk]

Medicated feed. To feed medicated feed effectively, one must have sick birds and a definitive diagnosis. Then you or more likely your veterinarian can prescribe the appropriate medicated feed. FDA is moving in the direction of requiring all antibiotics be prescribed by a vet.

N Not all drugs are compatible with feed . For instance, heat labile drugs will be inactivated,especially if your feed is pelleted. In general, administering drugs in water is far more effective. Again, you must have a definitive diagnosis so as to administer the correct drug.
Second, do you plan to eat the birds or eggs they produce. If so, you must be sure the drug is cleared from the meat or eggs within the time frame you have in mind. This point is critical should you sell or donate the eggs or meat. Should anyone suffer an adverse reaction to drug residue in meat or eggs you have produced, you will probably face an enormous lawsuit.
Third, the poultry industry is moving away from growth-promoting antibiotics (medicated feed), organic meat and eggs are gaining in popularity (two companies now produce organic meat) and lastly, why incur un-necessary expenses?
Josh Hatkin.

Ugh. Medicated chicken food does not contain antibiotics - it contains a thiamine blocker. The above is just nonsense.


Use of antibiotics in the poultry industry is extrememly rare - and infact USDA and FDA testing of salmonella show we currently have the lowest rate of drug resistant salmonella in history.



Quote:

Again, medicated chicken feeds do not contain antibiotics. People need to stop spreading this nonsense.

 

[casportpony]

Medicated feed. To feed medicated feed effectively, one must have sick birds and a definitive diagnosis. Then you or more likely your veterinarian can prescribe the appropriate medicated feed. FDA is moving in the direction of requiring all antibiotics be prescribed by a vet.:/ N Not all drugs are compatible with feed . For instance, heat labile drugs will be inactivated,especially if your feed is pelleted. In general, administering drugs in water is far more effective. Again, you must have a definitive diagnosis so as to administer the correct drug. Second, do you plan to eat the birds or eggs they produce. If so, you must be sure the drug is cleared from the meat or eggs within the time frame you have in mind. This point is critical should you sell or donate the eggs or meat. Should anyone suffer an adverse reaction to drug residue in meat or eggs you have produced, you will probably face an enormous lawsuit. Third, the poultry industry is moving away from growth-promoting antibiotics (medicated feed), organic meat and eggs are gaining in popularity (two companies now produce organic meat) and lastly, why incur un-necessary expenses? Josh Hatkin.

Ugh. Medicated chicken food does not contain antibiotics - it contains a thiamine blocker. The above is just nonsense. Use of antibiotics in the poultry industry is extrememly rare - and infact USDA and FDA testing of salmonella show we currently have the lowest rate of drug resistant salmonella in history.

• In the critically important class of antimicrobials, the 2011 data showed no fluoroquinolone resistance in Salmonella from any source. This is the drug of choice for treating adults with Salmonella.
• Trimethoprim-sulfonamide is another drug used to treat Salmonella infections and resistance remains low (0% to 3.7%).
• Fluoroquinolone resistance in Campylobacter has stopped increasing and remained essentially unchanged since the FDA withdrew the use of this drug class in poultry in 2005.
• Macrolide antibiotic resistance in retail chicken isolates remains low, with 2011 results at 0.5% of Campylobacter jejuni and 4.3% of Campylobacter coli. The macrolide antibiotic erythromycin is the drug of choice for treating Campylobacterinfections.
• Multidrug resistance is rare in Campylobacter. Only nine out of 634 Campylobacter isolates from poultry were resistant to 3 or more antimicrobial classes in 2011. However, gentamicin resistance in Campylobacter coli markedly increased from 0.7% in 2007 (when it first appeared in the NARMS retail meat report) to 18.1% in 2011. Gentamicin has been suggested as a possible second-line therapy for Campylobacter infections, although it is not commonly used.
• Resistance to third-generation cephalosporins, which are used to treat salmonellosis, has increased in Salmonella from chicken (10 to 33.5%) and turkey (8.1 to 22.4%) meats when comparing 2002 and 2011 percentages. FDA noted this development in previous years and has already taken action by prohibiting certain extra-label uses of cephalosporins in cows, pigs, chickens and turkeys, and is continuing to closely monitor resistance to these drugs.

Again, medicated chicken feeds do not contain antibiotics. People need to stop spreading this nonsense.

This is misinformation! Some feeds *are* medicated with antibiotics. -Kathy

 

[CrazyTalk]

This is misinformation! Some feeds *are* medicated with antibiotics.

-Kathy

Which specifically? None of the ones available at the feed stores I frequent have anything but amprolium in them.