Poll of sorts - medicated or non-medicated, and why?

[ssledoux]

I'm just doing a poll of sorts based on the discussions about difficulties of finding non-med feeds (especially in certain areas).

So, do you feed medicated or non-medicated, and why do you make the choice you do?

 

[warmfuzzies]

 

[ssledoux]

Okay, I must be missing something. What's the deal with the popcorn?? I'm fairly new here and don't get it...

 

[Laskaland]

Medicated... Farm stores in the area only carry that. Plus, I like the extra piece of mind. I have not had to mess with cocci and I really DO NOT want to!

 

[CovenantCreek]

I haven't raised any meat birds yet, but when I do I'll be using non-medicated feed. One of the reasons I want to raise my own food is to keep my daughter from being over exposed to the medications that are being fed to our commercial meat animals.

As near as I can tell, whatever goes into the bird goes into the meat or eggs, and then into the person who eats the meat or eggs. The chicks I have now are getting lots of nutrient rich fruit juice to help build their immune systems.

 

[mamaginabean]

Quote:
I'm new here too, but on most boards it means that the person is just watching and waiting to see what everyone has to say

 

[Laskaland]

Quote:
It's like we are waiting... to see the answer. Like your watching something- like a movie and are really interested!!!

 

[ssledoux]

Tell me more about the fruit juices. That sounds really interesting. I put apple cider vinegar in the water last year and I'm planning on doing that again.

 

[moduckman]

Chicks get medicated for the first few weeks, then it is non-medicated.

 

[jaku]

I go non-medicated. Otherwise, what's the point in raising your own? You certainly don't save money raising your own chickens! Not to mention, medicated feed doesn't guarentee your birds won't get sick- it doesn't even guarentee that they won't get cocci. Cornish X's are prone to dying, and you can't stop that. I don't like the idea of feeding my baby a chicken that contains what the govt. defines as an "acceptable" level of chemical residue. Non-medicated is easy to find. Personally, I've never even SEEN a bag of medicated broiler feed.