Starting Guinea Keets on Medicated Turkey Starter - Is it okay?

[toomanyticks]

I have read mixed reviews about what to feed Guinea Keets. Some say you should start them on medicated turkey starter, others say that you should never start them on medicated starter. I have found some medicated turkey starter at a local feed store and the bag warns against giving the medicated feed to Guineas and that makes me even more nervous about using it. I am not using the Guineas for food or eggs, they are going to be our pets and pest control. We have raised chickens before, but never Guineas and we are hoping to do it well. If anyone can help me with this topic, before our keets are shipped and arrive that would be extremely appreciated.

 

[JanO]

Personally I won't use medicated anything with my chicks or keets. Turkey starter would be fine, but if you can get non-medicated it would probably be better.

 

[BarbaraNH]

If the bag label warns about not giving the feed to guinea fowl, I would heed the warning. Guinea fowl do great on feeds medicated with amprolium to help control coccidiosis. While other medications may not harm them, there are some (especially monensin and possibly lasalocid) that are considered toxic to guineas. You'll need to read the label to find out what medication is added to the feed in the bag you are considering using.

 

[JLeigh]

toomanyticks, What is the medication in the feed you bought? What is percentage of protein in the feed? I don't think anyone can answer your questions until they have that information.

 

[JLeigh]

Here's a post from an earlier thread from PeepsCA regarding medicated feed.

"Starter feeds medicated with Amprolium are safe for all types of chicks/keets/poults, as far as I know... it's the other medications that can harm or kill certains breeds...so be sure to read your label!"

 

[BarbaraNH]

Peeps is right. It is the other medications that can be harmful to guinea keets, but not all other medications are harmful. I have used starter feed medicated with bacitracin zinc and had no problems. I know that monensin, which is an ionophoric anticoccidial that is sometimes added to poultry feeds, can be toxic to guinea keets, especially if the dose is high. It is also toxic to horses. Lasalocid (brand name Avatec) is another ionophoric anticoccidial (as well as an antibiotic) and may also be harmful to guinea keets if given at the dose that would control coccidiosis. Most feeds with lasolocid do not contain enough of the medication to control coccidosis in guineas anyway, so it's best to avoid using it. Best to avoid all of the ionophores I'd say.

It's a good thing that the most common medication in poultry feeds is amprolium. Otherwise I'm sure we'd be hearing many more sad stories about keets dying from ingesting toxic medications.

 

[PeepsCA]

I lost a lot of keets on Turkey Starter medicated with Bacitracin years ago. That may not be the case for everyone that uses it but I no longer risk it with my keets. I never recommend anything BUT starter feeds medicated with Amprolium.... plus for those that eat their birds, Amprolium doesn't leave any nasty residual chemicals behind.

 

[BarbaraNH]

Are you sure that the cause was the bacitracin, Peeps? I suppose it could have been if more bacitracin was added into the feed than was labeled. It's almost impossible to know what ingredients are in any of the feeds without a chemical analysis. I've seen a study that concluded that bacitracin zinc was beneficial to keets. It helped them grow at a better rate than without it.

 

[PeepsCA]

A friend of mine that came by to pick up some free range Guinea eggs while I was grumpy about losing several keets over the past few days told me that she had lost a bunch of keets and chicks on that same brand of (bacitracin zinc) medicated feed once before too, and so after having that convo I went and bought a bag of the same Turkey starter feed in unmedicated form. No more brooder deaths the rest of the season. Pretty indicative of the medication being cause of it to me.

I haven't seen that (or any) study on keets and their growth improving when fed feeds containing bacitracin zinc, just one about it helping (commercially raised) Broad Breasted Turkeys and other commercially raised meat birds put on weight quicker (gross). A study is a study, but experience (good or bad) has a lot more value in my little poultry world.
Not that it matters now anyway, I won't/don't feed antibiotics to my keets, or any other baby poultry that I hatch and raise to eat or eat eggs from, and I'm not going to suggest that anyone else should (or can) either.

 

[BarbaraNH]

I'm certainly not suggesting that you recommend anyone use feed with antibiotics, nor am I recommending that they do. I just wanted to point out that others have used the feed without any problems. I did. We all have our own experiences to guide our practices. I would use it again if it were available, but I might choose something else with less protein in the future. I don't feel that gamebird starter feeds are the best feeds for guinea fowl. The protein level is too high, in my opinion.