Medicated Starter - Yes/No?

[enggass]

Looking for opinions.
Last year I got some chicks from a feed store and they sold me Medicated Starter. I was a newbie(still am compared to some here) but this year I am hatching my own.
I personally am not a big fan of anything medicated if uneccessary - thoughts?
What is a good brand of Organic Starter?
Thanks.

 

[chuckzoo]

My first chicks I raised on medicated starter because that's all that was available at the time.

My second lot was the same starter, I believe it was Manna Pro but I did not use the mediacted as I too don't like medicated stuff. They did just fine, in fact I felt like they grew better and are bigger than the others - my imagination?

 

[Beekissed]

Never use it, never lose chicks.

 

[A.T. Hagan]

Especially for newcomers I recommend the medicated starter.

 

[enggass]

Thank you all.
I think I will choose the non-medicated route.
Steve

 

[Iheartchicks<3:)]

Where do i get organic stuff that isnt to high priced?

 

[gryeyes]

I will always use the medicated feed for the first 8 weeks because there is a chance there is cocci-whatever it is in the soil around here. The medication is intended only to help chicks not raised by momma hens to develop resistance to it. Of course, the chicks need to be "on" the medicated feed when they hit the ground outside... it doesn't do any good for them to eat it only in the brooder and are on non-medicated grower feed at the time they are put outside.

 

[silkiechicken]

Quote:
Yeah, that.

If you have cocci in the soil, most places do, feed medicated feed along with a dust pan of future run soil and they will gain immunity to cocci. Medication is just amprol, a thamine blocker that prevents the reproduction of cocci, does not kill cocci at all, just stops it from breeding... so with high soil cocci, your birds can still get sick. It is a bigger problem in some places than others.

 

[Judy]

Understand that starter is medicated, usually, with amprolium. This is not an antibiotic. It inhibits thiamine uptake in the cocci, which slows their growth, while the chick builds its natural immunity to cocci. Chicks raised by a mama on the ground eat a bit of mama's poop to get the same help. I use medicated starter/grower til POL; cocci are prevalent in at least parts of Georgia.

I believe you can use amprolium and still be organic, but am certainly not sure.

 

[chickenman2k3]

i dont like medicated anything but if you use an incubator you kind of have too. a baby chick comes out of the egg with a natural immunity to everthing its mother had come in contact with. that lasts about 6 weeks after that they get coccidiosis and all these other diseases. chicks that are raised by hens do not seem to get them if the hen was immune. the whole thing of keeping them on medicated till 6 weeks is wrong too. it should be 12 weeks and then slowly wean them off of it till 15 weeks. 75% medicated for a week 50% medicated for a week and then 25% for a week and then over to straight non medicated.