Organic chicken feed vs medicated

[mamabeth]

I know there have been a couple threads on this....just wanted some other opinions. I had planned to get organic chick feed for my coming chicks (next week) but have been doing some reading and am thinking now that I might want them to be on medicated feed for a few weeks and then switch to organic. Any thoughts? I am so new to this, and do not want to have sick chickies. They seem so fragile, you know? thanks mamas.

Oh we are "expecting" four chicks, two buff orps, two barred rocks.

And is there a chicken thread or tribe anywhere? It seems like that might be fun since there are a lot of MDC mamas with chickens....

[lobster]

I opted for unmedicated feed for my chicks. I ordered five chicks, and now at two weeks old they are all just fine and dandy. I don't like the idea of medicating, for my family or my animals, especially as a "preventative" measure.

[darling_deedee]

Hey there.

For whatever its worth, we use medicated feed for the first month and then switch to an all-vegetable feed. Its not organic (because we can't afford the organic stuff that's sold here in town) but its not packed with chemicals either.

-Dee

[Pepper44]

I've raised lots of chicks and never used medicated feed. If they do get cocci you can quickly treat them with liquid amprolium/corid from the feed store and they'll be fine! Besides, they could get cocci from the soil outside and won't while in the brooder so there wouldn't be much point to feeding medicated feed right at first anyway...

[mamabeth]

Thanks y'all, that is helpful. I do not like medicating unnecessarily either, it was just hard to wade through the info to make a good decision for the little guys (er, girls). It is nice and warm where we live so we will have them outside some after they're a few weeks old, but I will make sure our feed store carries the drops just in case.

And really, does anyone want to start a chicken tribe?

[momtoalexsarah]

We grow organic chickens and turkeys - moderate size flocks and have NEVER used medications in them. A good non- medicated started that include a mineral supplement in it should be good enough. If you are really worried the get some cheap probiotic capsuals and sprinckle them on the feed as well (yes human ones work for birds too) this will help prevent Cocci

[mamabeth]

Thanks. I checked our local feed store and they (the good old boys that were working there) were very much like, "no, ma'am, all we have is medicated feed." So that's disappointing because it's RIGHT down the road from me but luckily I found another one not too far away that carries all organic, and hopefully I can ask THEM some questions and get some good answers in person about raising organic chickens. Thanks mamas. I was able to get a feeder and waterer and some bedding. SO excited!

[Nursingnaturalmom]

We have 26 chicks and have not used medicated feed for them. We use an all vegetable chick feed and I have vitamins that I add to their water. For the first week I did add apple cider vinegar because that can help with their immune system. Everyone is healthy and happy and they are 6 weeks old now

[swd12422]

I'd love to see a chicken thread started, b/c we're thinking about getting a few laying hens for our yard. (I'm slowly warming DH up to the idea of a suburban farm...)