My first batch of chicks I fed medacated chick starter(that powdery stuff) but I would like to go with medicated chick crumble this time because they are in the house for quite awhile and the other tends to sift through the house.And how long do you feed the medcated chick starter?Seems like I had them on that for a long time but I was new at it and did what store told me to do.I am so excited we are having out first ever chicken swap where I live May 23rd,I will get to see breeds that I have only seen in pictures and maybe get to buy some silkies.
Which do you like
Don't use it myself, green, but I don't think it was to be used longer than 2 weeks. Hopefully someone will post better info...
I've always fed the starter until they started to lay then changed to the laying pellets. That is the recommendation on the bag. Kind of expensive though.
The recommendation I got from a book by Damerow was at about 10 to 12 weeks (?) to start adding crimped oats to the starter and gradually work up to about half and half--over a few weeks. Then gradually move them on to layer. If you can get them to eat pelleted layer instead of crumbles, it saves a lot of waste. None of mine would.
I prefer non-medicated crumbles--but I've recently had some problems with cocci and am using medicated for the first couple weeks and then moving them off it before they go outside. The problem with medicated is that they don't build up gradual immunity to cocci which they will be exposed to outside.
I think if you keep their bedding very clean and VERY dry and you don't have too many chicks, you don't need the medicated. If they do come down with cocci (fluffed up, miserable and bloody poop) switching them to medicated won't help....but putting the right antibiotic (e.g. .05% Sulfadimethoxine, 0.268 grams per pint of drinking water for 6 days) will.
I was using medicated when they get ready to go outside.. just for the last week or two that they are inside..
Since Catscan gave me some of that Sulfadimethoxine, I will not use medicated feed anymore.. that stuff works wonders! I saw some bloody poop in my little guyz pen.. one day and it was gone.. I still medicated them all for the recommended 5 days.
I read somewhere that the medicine in medicated feed withholds vitamin uptake.. I do all I can to pour the vitamins to my babiez early on.. I don't want some "medicine" stopping that.. I kinda feel like.. if it's not sick, don't medicate.
I'm lucky enough to have several feed stores in a 25 mile radius so I can pick and choose where to get my feed. Some only offer chick starter in mash(powdery stuff) while others offer chick starter in crumble. I, too, prefer the crumble to the mash.
i prefer the crumbles too..never had to use the medicated tho. i seem to have good luck with peeps..(knock on wood)..
good luck
cindy
Mine love the crumbles.
Mine love the crumbles too, but the only starter crumbles my feed store sells are medicated so that's what I feed. I don't know whether they need it - probably not.
Thanks so much guys
I have a question??? Maybe ignorance is bliss, not sure.
I have never used any chickstarter. I have a vita-mix machine and I have always bought layer crumbles. I put a quart at a time in the machine and on half speed it breakes it down to a finer crumble. If i have any sick birds I turn up the speed and make a mash out of some and mix it with water and feed with an eyedropper. So far it's worked. Is this a mistake? And if so what do you recommend, also what about the vitamins ZZ's? So much to learn. Haystack
I understand that layer rations have too much calcium for chicks (egg shell material). My layer pellets and crumbles actually say not to feed it to birds under laying age.
I just use the vitamin/electrolyte mix from Jeffers..
http://www.jefferslivestock.com/ssc/product.asp?CID=2&mscssid=TQ679AKV27LN9GR8WALLEJK77CTC19RA&pf_id=11710
1/4 teaspoon to a gallon.. so like it's gonna last the rest of my life! LOL
I give it to newly hatched chicks for the first few days.. and once a week outside to everyone else when I bleach and scrub the waters.. otherwise, they just get clean regular water.
What I meant by "pouring the vitamins to them" is that I want them to get a strong start.. no meds, nothing to keep them from absorbing all they can get for the first week or two for sure.
I've given all my chicks boiled egg yolks for the first few days too.. Then when they are out of kindergarten, not yet big enough to go outside.. I sprout alfalfa sprouts just to get em on the greens. :)
Just my thoughts.. not proven or anything..
Well ZZ's I just happen to like your thoughts, so thanks for sharing. Is there a chick starter thats non-medicated? I never have heard that layer crumbles were not to be fed to babies under laying age. Wow. I'm going to read the bag closer and see if what I buy says the same thing.
The bag at walmart says medicated chick crumble,next time I go I will have to read the bag and see what it says,thought it was for baby chicks like day old ones.
It can be hard to get unmedicated chick starter, but it is available. One of the local feed stores only carries the medicated, the other, only the unmedicated.
OMG! They carry chicken food at a Wal-Mart?
Not at my Walmart. hehehe
Yes also cow feed in bags and horse supplies,They have chicken scratch and laying feed,oyster shell and sometimes grit.The medicated is for baby chicks I checked it out.We are so rural that we don`t have a lot of stores to choose from so walmart sells a little of everything here.As some would say we live in the sticks.
LOL I am glad my walmart is like yours green, that is were you told me to look when I had my chicks... Now I get my quick grow crumbles from the feed store, they seem to like it...
Crazy!