Medicated vs non medicated chick food

[RJ3]

I'm hoping someone can straighten me out with this, should I only give my chicks medicated food if they are sick or do I feed it to them as a preventative? They are two weeks old and have been eating 20% chick starter from TSC, no where on the bag does it say medicated or non. The chicks seem to be growing well and I haven't seen any signs sickness.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

20% TSC (dumor) feed is non-medicated cause it's for more than just chickens. It would also say if there was a poison(medicated) in it.

Medicated feed is a preventative measure for Cocciodosis. It's a personal choice but I never use it.
Cocci is everywhere and is nasty but chickens raised on wire or free range rarely contract it. Small amounts make them immune.
If raising on bedding, keeping the bedding dry(limits the life cycle of the disease) and feeders full so chicks aren't inclined to eat poo will help.

 

[RJ3]

I knew I should have gone with my gut and gotton the none medicated! Rats, now I'll have to drag my hubby back to the store to exchange it, I'll be sure to remind him Mothers day is coming up

I would rather not medicated anyone if its not necessary. Thanks!

 

[speckledhen]

It doesn't matter, really. No matter what feed you get, you have to watch for signs of coccidiosis, even on the medicated feed. The med is a thiamine blocker that starves the oocysts that cause the cocci, which feed off that B vitamin.

 

[WhetzelMomma]

IMO it's best NOT to medicate until you see illness. Seems like a human taking an antibiotic without being sick. Eventually, it will stop working when you DO need it. Medicated feed doesn't prevent your animals from getting sick. It would only be treating them if they were already sick, or allowing resistance to the medication in your feed to build up in your chickens.

 

[sjmarshall87]

Just go through the bag of medicated and then switch to the unmedicated... that way you have enough in their systems to start them out.. No harm done and no exchanges necessary.. My chicks are three weeks and I hvae already gone through a bag of medicated and 2- 25lb bags of regular food..

 

[TreeHugger]

It's a personal choice. I've used medicated and non-medicated feed for my chicks. The chicks I currently have are on medicated because I couldn't buy a small bag of non-medicated and couldn't see the point of buying a 50# bag for three chicks. I've never had any issues with the chicks I've raised on either type of feed.

 

[Speceider]

Quote:
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Everything here is wrong. Medicated starter generally has amprolium which is a thiamine blocker for cocci. As a result, cocci doesn't reproduce as quickly and the chick can develop resistence (Not immunity) to cocci. Antibiotics (which medicated starter IS NOT) kill the bacteria and allow the immunbe respose to develop antibodies. This response is confusing teh immune response to exposure to allow the immune system to develop.

Clint

 

[WhetzelMomma]

Quote:
Well I kinda SAID it was my opinion... with the word "medicated" in the name, and no one explaining how it works (at least not in the way you have) in any books or information I've read (and I've read a lot) I was left to the conclusion that it was an antibiotic kind of prevention rather than the immunization kind of prevention that you explained. Makes a lot more sense to use it when you put it like that. I don't think "everything in here is wrong" is quite right... I still wouldn't medicate with antibiotics unless I saw illness. Now that I understand medicated feed better though, I wouldn't be opposed to using IT.