To Probiotic or not to Probiotic?

[Northern Flights]

I was new to chicks when I got mine in April and was beyond overwhelmed with all of the information out there (a lot of it conflicting!). I took the less is more approach as some of the others above and treated chick waterers with Nutridrench after shipping for a few days then switched to plain old water. I keep a separate waterer with electrolytes in the coop during the summer when the temps rise. I do used ACV, but have avoided it in the higher temps.

Using pre or probiotics was important to me for gut health, but with all the supplements on the market I found that using a feed that included both (added in a controlled environment) took the guesswork out for me.

Ask 10 people how they raise their chickens and you'll get 10 different answers What's important is that you ultimately choose to use what's best for your flock! Good luck!

I too benefited from probiotics after having to take some fantastically powerful antibiotics. Fortunately mine were by prescription and that ensured the quality and fidelity of the compound.

My concern is with the complete lack of any kind of oversight of the myriad "health" products being sold for livestock. As Mary wisely notes, if the human supplements industry has issues, well...

It is imperative to take the time to verify anything that may affect the health and well being of yourself, your family and the critters that depend on your judgement for their very lives.

 

[slippednfell]

maybe ask if people that use either use them in combination.

I currently use a combination but it is only temporary.

I got my chicks in the mail just over a week ago. When they first arrived, I gave them a combo of SAV-A-CHICK VITMAINS/ELECTROLYTES &
SAV-A-CHICK PROBIOTIC right off the bat. They can be used in combination with each other. The chicks perked right up.

After a couple days of this, I switched to ACV. Two days ago, I had some chicks (maybe 1/3) with poop dried on their butts. Like it was runny and stuck to the feathers and dried. I cleaned and dried their butts, put a little Vaseline on that area and I went back to using the electrolytes and probiotic in additional to the ACV, in two different waterers.

I checked them a few hours ago and only one still has the issue and it is the runt of the group.

Honestly, in my opinion, I would use the electrolytes and probiotics the first day and then go to plain water unless you see an issue. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

 

[MissMarple]

Thanks for all the info, everyone. It isn't that I feel that I *must* do something, it's that I keep reading about people doing things like electrolytes and probiotics as standard practice for overall health as opposed to in the event of dehydration or illness and therein lies the confusion. I'm much happier to not supplement or give them anything when it isn't necessary. Out of 18 chicks, every single one has, so far, survived and thrived. In fact, and I don't know that this is necessarily a good thing, some friends of our got chicks the same day we did, from the same bins and ours are much more feathered, larger and overall look healthier. We haven't had any issues with Coccidia/Coccidiosis that I've noticed. Nobody has had any symptoms and they're all on medicated feed because they weren't vaccinated. Please understand that I don't feel the need to pump my chicks full of anything that isn't needed. If I could figure out the healthiest way to properly mix and formulate all the things necessary to their diet, I'd even skip manufactured feed all together. I'm someone with a child who has a vaccine injury and I hate the idea of adding things to fresh clean bodies that don't need them. I was just concerned that my lack of doing/adding things was over the top and I was missing doing something that is actually beneficial or needed. That's the only reason I asked. And maybe I wasn't quite clear on that in the beginning. (I was having a conversation, at the same time, with my husband about how different air conditioning systems work; heat pumps vs. heat exchanges and more. Life of an HVAC wife!) I'm just trying to learn as much as I can, still, and if less is more, I'm *great* with that as well! I greatly appreciate all the advice and explanations! Confusion has been cleared up! But I'm always open to learning more and new things! And of course, I'll keep reading everybody's opinions! =) And just because... here's a couple of pictures...

...because I can't get over their gorgeous little faces!

 

[slippednfell]

15 of my chicks are phoenix like the two you chicks you have.

I can't get past how stinkin' cute they all are at that age!!!

 

[MissMarple]

15 of my chicks are phoenix like the two you chicks you have.

I can't get past how stinkin' cute they all are at that age!!!

I officially trust no signs on bins at TSC after the non-chicken owning associates called my two CornishX chicks Marans. I was in no way prepared to cull anybody early on. I'm at a loss as to what everyone is at this point so I'm waiting until everybody is older to say for sure what they are. If we're going by the signs, the six in the box picture were labeled as (chipmunk fuzzy faces, 2) Americana, (golden/tannish, 3) either Buff Orpington or Calico Princess and (solid black that's hiding under everyone else who I have named Nevermore) a Black Sex Link. As for the big girls, 6 black/black and yellow chicks were labeled Australorps, my 2 gigantic yellow chicks were labeled Marans but are most definitely Cornish, 3 brown semi-chipmunks were labeled Barred Rocks and One random black chick that looks exactly like the Australorps was labeled a Cuckoo Marans. After pouring over hundreds of chick pictures and lists of breeds and all the info I could find, driving myself absolutely insane, I gave up and decided I wasn't calling anybody anything until they were old enough to actually be able to tell for sure.

 

[Northern Flights]

I officially trust no signs on bins at TSC after the non-chicken owning associates called my two CornishX chicks Marans. I was in no way prepared to cull anybody early on. I'm at a loss as to what everyone is at this point so I'm waiting until everybody is older to say for sure what they are. If we're going by the signs, the six in the box picture were labeled as (chipmunk fuzzy faces, 2) Americana, (golden/tannish, 3) either Buff Orpington or Calico Princess and (solid black that's hiding under everyone else who I have named Nevermore) a Black Sex Link. As for the big girls, 6 black/black and yellow chicks were labeled Australorps, my 2 gigantic yellow chicks were labeled Marans but are most definitely Cornish, 3 brown semi-chipmunks were labeled Barred Rocks and One random black chick that looks exactly like the Australorps was labeled a Cuckoo Marans. After pouring over hundreds of chick pictures and lists of breeds and all the info I could find, driving myself absolutely insane, I gave up and decided I wasn't calling anybody anything until they were old enough to actually be able to tell for sure.

Nevermore... What a great name.

"Tell me what the lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore."
Quoth the raven, "Nevermore"

Bloody brilliant.

 

[MissMarple]

The on

Nevermore... What a great name.

"Tell me what the lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore."
Quoth the raven, "Nevermore"

Bloody brilliant.

Yes, yes, yes, yes!!!!! I was going to just call her Raven but she loves to roost up high and she is extra vocal already and every single time I see it happening, I cannot help but hear, "Quoth the raven, 'Nevermore!'" in my head (half the time, I say it out loud). EAP is my absolute favorite!!!

 

[MissMarple]

Ignore the bare light switches in the background. I bought switchplates but missed getting one. *facepalm* this is Nevermore! @Northern Flights

 

[slippednfell]

The two chicks in the box that have the dark stripes are what my phoenix look like. I have Silver Duckwing Phoenix, Black breasted Red Phoenix and Golden Duckwing Phoenix. I will have to get some photos for you to see. I can only tell which are the Silver so far. Mine are just over a week old.

I don't trust TS after reading so many posts about them not knowing their breeds but I also got some from a local farm supply store and they didn't know what they were selling me either. I buy from a hatchery now.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

I'm all kinds of about natural remedies....
But the best natural remedy is life itself. There's nothing natural about processing down laboratory grown bacteria into X many CFU per Mg and dosing it out in measured amounts.... Wild chickens don't have access to unpasteurized ACV or nice ground corn for that matter. They're not going to crush garlic into their water either.
Which is not to say these aren't useful. If an animal is unwell I'll give probiotics, especially if I am giving antibiotics or any sort of oral medication since that can throw gut flora off. If an animal is unwell electrolytes can be life saving. If a chicken's not eating well the extra calories from a molasses water will go a long way... And if a chicken's not drinking enough water a wet mash is great.
And having said that animals absolutely seek out certain foods when they are unwell. And so sometimes I will spend a week giving TLC to my flock seasonally. An extra boost of protein during a molt, a few days of pumpkin seeds during the spring when parasite counts rise with warm weather. Wet mash in the summer when it's hot and the hens dehydrate easier. A snack of corn in the winter for a few extra calories to warm things up.

But it's not a requirement by any means. Some people still just release their chickens onto their acerage and throw them some scratchgrains once a day and it works for them quite well. Do what works best for you. Life, uh, finds a way.
Also, FYI, your "americanas" are probably easter eggers. Just throwing it out there.