Vitamins/Supplements for chicks?

[DreamingOfAFarm]

Hi gang,
I know I need to officially introduce myself at some point but just wondering my 8 little girls from Townline Hatchery; they just turned 3 weeks on Monday.

These are my first chickens so I'm learning as I go. Thankfully, my girls have all been super fun and patient with me.

I noticed that there are a couple sneezes every time I go out to check on them. Sneezes rotate around the crew. I don't want to give any antibiotics at this point because they're just little sneezes. No one is breathing heavy or wheezing. Everyone is bright eyed and alert. They are on a mix of 1/2 medicated & 1/2 unmedicated feed with cherry stone grit and DE mixed in.

What is the best way to give their immune system a boost? Are there vitamins or supplements that are easy to find that I can give them just to make sure they're immune systems are working the best?

Thanks!
Andrea

 

[DreamingOfAFarm]

I could really use some wisdom from some veterans...

 

[elmo]

First of all, chickens don't get "colds" the way humans do, and even if they did, antibiotics aren't effective against cold viruses. Antibiotics do kill the beneficial bacteria that live in an organism's digestive tract, however, so you really should be careful about the use and overuse of antibiotics.

What kind of bedding do you have them on? They may just be sneezing to clear their nares of dust from the bedding.

If they seem healthy to you, there's probably nothing to worry about. Think about how often you sneeze, and you're fine, right?

 

[cmom]

I would just keep them on the medicated started until they are around 8 weeks old. No need to add grit. I put grit into a separate dish for them and let them take what they want. They only need grit if you are feeding them treats other than their normal feed. For their first couple of weeks I do put vitamins with electrolytes in their water. If you buy the packets it will tell you how much the packets make (around 125-155 gallons). I downsized the proportions and put the recommended amount for chicks into gallon milk jugs. You can find the Electrolyte with Vitamins packets at most feed stores and TSC's. My last chicks came from Townline Hatchery. All are doing splendid.

 

[DreamingOfAFarm]

Elmo-thanks. I totally agree on the antibiotics. They aren't on any at this point nor will be unless they become ill and show more symptoms that make an infection diagnosable.

CMom-thanks for the vitamin info. That's exactly the info I was looking for. Found a woman who could help me hunt down the supplement at TSC tonight. Brought it home and DH helped me do the math in order to make sure we didn't overdue the dosage. The girls LOVE that stuff! I personally think it looks like Gatorade.

CMom-which ones are which in the picture? We went in and requested a combo including a RIR but think we may have received a Link instead.

 

[Judy]

Vitamins aren't going to hurt but you need to be careful about electrolytes. Unless it is very hot there, they can be overdone. They are really only needed in illness or high stress like 100 degree weather. Short term, in any case.

What would be very good is a probiotic. This can be bought at the feed store, you can give about 1 tsp per chick of live culture plain yogurt, or you can get capsules for people at the drug store. This helps them develop good gut flora so they can get the most nutrition form what they eat. Probably don't need to offer this more than once a week or so. In the wild, chicks pick up gut flora from their mothers (they eat some of the poo... I know.) If they don't get excited about the yogurt, mix it with a bit of the feed and let it soak a few minutes. Another good probiotic is organic apple cider vinegar in the water, 1 tsp to 1 Tbsp per gallon. Also keeps the algae from growing in the waterer.