MEDS and COCCI - a few questions

[sherpagirl]

I have a few questions:

1) Has anyone heard that you should not give chicks vitamins if they are on Medicated feed starter because the thiamin interferes with the amprolium? True or False?

2)You should not feed a lot of protein if a chick has cocci because the cocci "feeds" on it? True or False?

3)When treating chicks (that are eating med. chick starter that has amprolium in it) with Sulmet , should i change the starter to unmedicated?

 

[Erica]

1. True.
2. True.
3. I'm not sure what the official answer is, but I would probably keep up the medicated feed just because it's what the birds were used to. One possibility is the bugs are now immune to the amprolium, but it's also possible (if there were warm wet conditions) that there were simply too many cocci oocysts for the preventive medication to handle.

If cocci happens regularly in future despite medicated feed then perhaps resistance is the problem and you could look at changing medications or going to an all-natural approach (early regular staged exposure at a sub-clinical level).

Erica

 

[sherpagirl]

I think the med feed didn't work because i was giving them too many vitamins. I am going to rethink the med feed starter, I'd rather be more natural. I'm new to chickens and jumped in over my head real fast, there is sooo much to learn!