Medicated or Unmedicated Chick Feed?

[gritsar]

I fed medicated. I feel that it's worth it. It's insurance against an overwhelming infestation of coccidiosis.
I learned from someone here on BYC (silkiechicken, maybe?) that when you feed medicated it's also important to get them on the ground/dirt as soon as possible.
The med. in medicated starter is a coccidistat (sp?). It will help them build an immunity to coccidiosis, but they have to be exposed to the cocci in order to start building an immunity to it.
My chicks were on the ground starting at 2 1/2 weeks old, fed medicated starter and I had no problem with the cocci.

 

[bibliophile birds]

you should always do what you think is right. if you don't and something goes wrong, then you will always think "what if."

on the other hand, medicated just isn't an option for me. we're organic, but even if we weren't i wouldn't use medicated. i just don't like the possibility of breeding stronger and stronger strains of bacteria that will become medication resistant.

as we've all seen with this whole swine flu thing, it's not so hard to do. the problem with the swine flu wasn't that it was so much worse than the regular flu, but that it was UNTREATABLE with the medications we had. it took months to get vaccines made that were specific to swine flu. medicating without an illness being present is what causes these things to happen.

you have to weigh the issues for yourself. for me, it's more important to be natural and risk loosing chickens. but that also means i have to be willing to be a lot more vigilant about cleaning and monitoring my flock.

 

[muell112]

I used medicated chick starter and all my chickens are thriving. I wanted to prevent rather than treat any diseases. This is my first year with chickens - we had meaties and have the layers as pets. I guess it's worth thinking through why you would/wouldn't use medicated - being a novice I just wanted to have a smooth experience starting off.

 

[gumpsgirl]

Quote:
Well if your gut is saying to do it, then you better go with your gut feeling.

Always trust what you are feeling.

It doesn't hurt to use it anyways.

 

[honeydoll]

Thanks for all the replies. Really appreciate your opinions and guidance.

 

[rstampa]

Quote:
That's exactly what I do. The medication they put in the feed is an anti-biotic and will pass through their system in a few days. It is not stored in anyway in their body's. Just as it isn't stored in our body's when we have to take an anti-biotic. Some people think that by feeding medicated feed to their chickens that they will somehow have a depleted immune system. This is false. That may occur if you feed the medicated feed to them for a long, long period of time. But 8 weeks isn't that long at all.
An ounce of prevention is always best in my opinion.
Have a great day.

 

[silkiechicken]

Cocci is more prevalent at higher concentration in some soils vs others just due to local weather and soil conditions. That said, if amprolium is the coccidiostant, it is just a thamine blocker that prevents the cocci from breeding inside the bird. Doesn't kill it, just keeps their numbers down so the birds can gain an immunity to it as they grow. Chicks on medicated feed still need to be exposed to the protozoa so a bit of dirt starting on day one is a good thing. Just in moderation. Think of amprolium as cocci birth control.

 

[rstampa]

Coccidia are microscopic, spore-forming, single-celled parasites belonging to the apicomplexan class Conoidasida.[1] Coccidian parasites infect the intestinal tracts of animals[2], and are the largest group of apicomplexan protozoa.

Coccidia are obligate, intracellular parasites, which means that they must live and reproduce within an animal cell.

Sulfonamide (medicine)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sulfonamide functional group
Hydrochlorothiazide is a sulfonamide and a thiazide.
Furosemide is a sulfonamide, but not a thiazide.There are several sulfonamide-based groups of drugs. The original antibacterial sulfonamides (sometimes called simply sulfa drugs) are synthetic antimicrobial agents that contain the sulfonamide group. Some sulfonamides are also devoid of antibacterial activity, e.g., the anticonvulsant sultiame. The sulfonylureas and thiazide diuretics are newer drug groups based on the antibacterial sulfonamides.

Sulfa allergies are common, hence medications containing sulfonamides are prescribed carefully. It is important to make a distinction between sulfa drugs and other sulfur-containing drugs and additives, such as sulfates and sulfites, which are chemically unrelated to the sulfonamide group, and do not cause the same hypersensitivity reactions seen in the sulfonamides.

 

[blueheaven]

i think the less medicine the better. why not let them build 'natural' resistence. however, to prevent cocci - just make sure to clean the bedding routinely.

my chicks have never had medicine and they are all happy and healthy!!!

good luck.

 

[Akane]

I used nonmedicated game bird starter all this year with hundreds of chicken chicks and quail. I lost a few but only one of age to get cocci to an unknown cause. The rest I knew why they died or they died within the first few days for unknown reasons. I found my bantams did much better on the 22% nonmedicated starter than they did on the medicated 18% chick starter. Since I can't get nonmedicated chick starter here I can't compare just taking out the medication. I didn't notice much difference in the standards. Generally if you keep things clean and don't crowd the brooder or pens you shouldn't have a problem with cocci. Some areas though seem to have a much higher level and make the chicks very prone to getting it. In those cases using a medicated feed is pretty much required since the effort to keep their exposure low enough is probably more than anyone wants to do.