Medicated vs non medicated chick starter feed: which should I get?

[bellachicks]

Hello! I am brand new to chickens. I am waiting for books I ordered from the library and barnes and noble, but meanwhile have the urge to get ready for the new arrivals. The feed store has Medicated and NonMedicated feeds. Which should I use?
Thank you!

 

[farmer boy]

well there is something that chicks can catch and it can kill all of them but i don't know if its true or not but i saw it some wheres i feed mine medicated just in case its true

 

[bellachicks]

I'd rather be safe than saddened!

 

[Weasleymum]

I use unmedicated. I buy all my feed from an organic-only place that doesn't have medicated, so it wasn't really an option (I mean, without going somewhere else, obviously). In general, I don't believe in treating for stuff before it happens, or in over-treating-- I don't put flea/tick poison on my dogs, for example, if I haven't seen any evidence of fleas. I'd rather give my chicks unmedicated feed and just keep a very close eye on them, and treat if I see any signs of illness.

That said, I have a very small number of chicks (3), and got them from a small-time breeder. If I had a lot of birds, or if I was getting them through a hatchery or big box store or something, I might go medicated. It really depends on situation, just like everything does, really.

 

[Fred's Hens]

The medicated is merely a blocker. The coccidosis "bug" is starved of thiamine, I believe, which prevents it from overwhelming the chick's immune system. That's all it is. It doesn't treat anything, but is used to assist the chick's immune system in battling cocci exposure.

It's a choice and a decision for the flock keeper. Some areas are rife with cocci in the soil and the chicks are dead within days of being put on the ground. Literally. Some folks never have an issue.

 

[cafarmgirl]

The medicated is merely a blocker. The coccidosis "bug" is starved of thiamine, I believe, which prevents it from overwhelming the chick's immune system. That's all it is. It doesn't treat anything, but is used to assist the chick's immune system in battling cocci exposure.

It's a choice and a decision for the flock keeper. Some areas are rife with cocci in the soil and the chicks are dead within days of being put on the ground. Literally. Some folks never have an issue.

X2.

Also, medicated feed contains such low levels of Amprolium that chicks can still come down with coccidiosis, so the value of it is debatable. No matter what you feed you need to keep a close eye on chicks for signs of coccidiosis. There is certainly no harm in feeding medicated, you just need to familiarize yourself with how Amprolium works and how cocci work.

 

[farmer boy]

well since i been raising chicks / chickens i never had a problem with any of it and i always used medicated i don't get small amounts of chicks i hatch my own from my eggs so there are not small number when mines hatch so i feed them medicated if i had like 3 chicks i wouldn't use medicated but with bigger amounts of birds / chicks i would .. i bring mine out everyday so they will be healthy .. i free range all my birds to keep them healthy

 

[farmer boy]

and i also feed them table scraps like veggies with my chicks they find their own stuff i don't feed them treats until their older i let them eat anything outside like worms ants grass berries anything they would eat if they were with a broody hen .. i like my hatching's from broody hens but i use a bator to but not as much i mostly wait for broodys

 

[bruce89123]

When my chicks arrived from the hatchery they came with the instructions to use medicated feed if the chicks were not vaccinated, and use non-medicated feed if the chicks did have vaccinations. Maybe an expert will explain why you can't use medicated feed wit vaccinated birds.

 

[DuluthHomestead]

I am by no means an expert, but it's my understanding that the vaccine gives the birds a very mild dose of cocci so that the birds can build up their own immunity, while the medicated feed contains medicine that would fight cocci, so if you feed medicated feed to a vaccinated bird the medicine will fight the vaccine and kind of nullify it. Maybe somebody else can chime in with more details.