When do I switch from medicated starter to reg chicken feed?

[ears73]

wait a sec, back to the feed posting.... I thought medicated feed shouldn't be used for layers and that you didn't want to eat the eggs if they were eating the medicated food. I don't know for certain,. just something I heard. I was told to mix layer feed into the medicated chick feed at about seventeen weeks, so that when they lay - 18-20 (I hope!) they will be on layer feed totally.

 

[MissBHaven]

Hmmm, well; I am extremely new to living with chickens.

I went to my local Agway, told them I was getting 15 (received 16) Bantam Silkie Chicks that were a day old. I had nothing for them, no cage, no coop, no food, no warming light, absolutely nothing. He took me around the store, and set me up with 50 lb bag of medicated starter, a rabbit cage, feeder/ waterer, and an infrared heat light. He said he would recommend using a second bag of medicated starter before switching to the regular food to make sure they were off to a good start.

My babies have been eating this for 5 weeks now, growing like the dickins, no problems at all.

 

[All about the EGG]

What kind of medication? Amprolium? If so, everyone I talked to says it a non issue regarding ingesting it from eggs.

 

[MissBHaven]

You know, I never checked to see what kind of medication would be in it. I think they'll be eating regular long before they begin laying any eggs. Besides, once they start laying the eggs are a little bigger than a quarter right??? (Silkies) Probably wont be eating the first few....dozen.....lol.

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
You feed medicated starter/grower until 20 weeks or until you get your first egg; whichever comes first. In some places (like where I live) it's possible to get seperate grower feed, which is also medicated; but you still switch to layer @ 20 weeks. It's not medicated. The medication in question is amprolium, used to treat coccidiosis. You won't be eating the first few eggs, as MissB stated, anyhow.

 

[ears73]

Quote:
Hmmm, why not? I have full sized chickens... Another post on the egg layer board said you can eat all first eggs...

confused a bit...

 

[All about the EGG]

This whole medicated thing can be confusing...on a bag of Kent chic go it states "feed until the point of lay." This food contains amprolium. No where does it state you have to wait until you can eat an egg. What would the business farmers do? Destroy eggs for 2-3 weeks? We did not eat our chickens first eggs because some were rubber balls, shelless, too small etc. I have searched and searched, asked and asked...would someone please find the info that says I have to wait until the meds are out of the chickens system?

 

[bigzio]

It is important to feed the medicated starter for at least 8 weeks for it to be effective. Since it isn't more expensive than a grower feed if you have part of a bag left then it's a good idea to feed it longer until it's gone.

6 weeks of feeding won't give the flock the protection you are after.

bigzio

 

[keljonma]

According to the Merck Vet Manual, Amprolium is structurally similar to Thiamine (Vit B1).

 

[MissBHaven]

I'm not super sure about the medicated details, according to our Agway store, for my 16 chicks I should be purchasing another 50 lbs bag. My chicks are 5 weeks old, we have at least another 2 weeks left to the bag we're using now, that would make them est. 14 weeks old after a second bag, so I may even need to buy a 3rd bag if 20 weeks is recommended.

I do know we had alot of wasted food in the beginning due to my chicks being in too small a cage, and they were playing, pooing, and spilling alot of their food. Once I put them in the coop, all that nonsense stopped..(thank goodness)

As for not eating the first few, what I meant was, bantam silkie eggs are very small, so the first few will be "extremely" small, about the size of a quarter (I've been told). Not sure if they are worth heating up the frying pan for....