Medicated Starter Grower vs Organic Starter Grower

[MissChessy]

Is it safe to give chicks Organic Non Medicated Starter Grower feed?

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

I don't use medicated feed - *if* coccidiosis (condition that the medicated feed is designed to address) presents itself it can be treated, however, management (ie small exposures to dirt from your property while the chicks are in the brooder) can keep this from being an issue by helping the chicks to build a resistance just as the medicated feed does, without pumping them with medication every day in their feed.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I never use medicated feed, I prefer to raise my chick in early summer when the ground is dryer and the risk of cocidiosis is around zero.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

I don't have problems with cocci in this area. My grow out pen and coop are movable too so they are never on "poultry sick" soil. I don't use medicated feed, when raising chicks each spring the entire flock switches to non medicated starter/grower until the chicks are about 12 weeks then entire flock goes to turkey finisher pellets (all flock type feed). Oyster shell gets tossed in laying birds run once a week for the calcium they need.

 

[donrae]

Yes, it's safe.

to decide if non-medicated is best for you, you need to research cocci. That's the issue *most* medicated feed is geared toward. It tends to be a warm and wet kind of thing, so I'm not sure if it's an issue much in Texas. If you decide to go non-medicated, you'll need to research the signs of cocci and it wouldn't hurt to know ahead of time where you can obtain Corid on short notice if you do have problems. Cocci isn't a problem for everyone, but once chicks get over-exposed they can go downhill rapidly.