Medicated starter non medicated what to do?

[Going Quackers]

My chicks are 7/8 days old today... at this very moment they are on a non medicated flock raiser it's in a crumble form so they are eating it just fine.

The trouble is i am somewhat confused and conflicted on whether to buy them a medicated starter. I even called my hatchery i got them from to discuss the issue, he seemed mixed saying my flock raiser would likely be fine since it was in crumble form.

I read varying things on the subject and frankly, i am at a loss of what to do? My other birds here are ducks.. all Muscovy and i use the flock raiser because i have birds as young as less than a week to almost 1.5yrs plus drakes lol

The chicks are in my house, in my brooder... Can i medicate the water instead of going a medicated feed route, is that an option that even exists? THey all seem a-ok and this is the third day using my feed with them but as per usual i worry lol

 

[wildriverswolf90]

I would feed starter non medicated. As long as their brooder is clean and the water is clean, the won't need medicated feed. Medicated is only a preventitive for cocci and at this age if they're going strong, they shouldn't need it.

 

[jrsckn]

It is a hard decision and I struggled with it as well. I ended up going with medicated and it payed off when a very sick stray cat was found hiding in my run lumber 1 week before the chicks were scheduled to move outside. But, we have a high number of stray cats in my area that probably carry cocci so it works for me and my peace of mind. If you are confident in the cleanliness of your chicken area then don't worry about it. I prefer playing it safe rather than losing my chicks to something that was easily prevented. By the time they are laying all that medication is fully out of their system; I keep them on medicated for 2 weeks after they're outside to ensure their immunity is built up.

 

[Going Quackers]

Thank you both for your thoughts. My one feed mill the one i get my horses grain from is organic so they don't sell a medicated feed.Period. The other one where i get my flock raiser from(it's purina) only has medicated starter in a 50lb bag, there are 4 chickens? and were hot as heck i don't see that keeping very well.

The chicks are in my house, the only other birds are Muscovy and they are not being housed with them... actually we are still in a build for there home, the area it's going has a huge wooden planter/pond sitting on it right now.. so no birds have ever been housed there either.

I have a farm cat so he chases off anyone that is wanderer besides my dog yard is going to be parked right beside where the girls will have their coop... they are not free ranging, they will have an attached pen and then i may consider a tractor, we have hawks and i own drakes so free ranging wouldn't yield good results.

I can try this weekend to locate a smaller supply of medicated starter but by that time i am unsure if there would be much point? ugh so torn lol

 

[BackyardBeauty]

I didn't use medicated feed. I did however, when they were about 2 weeks from going outside, purchase the vitamin electrolyte tablets from TSC and put it in there water to reduce their stress and increase their immunity. I think if you had a large or older flock I would suggest doing it, but in my opinion feeding them medicated reduces their ability later to fight off infections and disease.