medicated starter feed

Hi friends,

Would appreciate anyone's thoughts on this who's done some research or experimented with it.....

I have 5 week old chicks and 2 1/2 week old chicks. Older chicks were sprayed with the cocci vaccine at 3 days old and put on non-medicated feed from the start. Younger chicks are separated by wire from the older ones and on medicated feed as I did not have vaccine for them. I know they suggested feeding medicated to 8 weeks of age but that means I can't integrate them with older chicks until then and I can't brood two separate groups for much longer as I am running out of space.

What is the minimum amount of time I can feed them medicated before I remove it so I can integrate them and older birds don't have access to it?

Also, if they show signs of getting coccidiosis, what should I have on hand to treat them immediately with?

Thanks so much.

It is not going to hurt your older cocci vaccinated birds to eat chick starter. They just say that the medication can nulify the vaccine. I think you would run more risk stopping the medicated feed in your younger birds too early than nulifying the vaccine in your older birds now.
If you suspect Cocci I first treat with Amprol liquid in their water, if that doesnt work then I would step them up to Sulfa in their water. I just find using the amprol liquid is easier and doesnt seem so hard on their little bodies.

Thanks Hidden. That's so great. What place do you go to, to buy Amprol - vet, Farmers store? I know where I can get Sulfa from.

Some farm supply stores may carry it, I had to order it in from my vet. It comes in a 4L jug so will last forever and is kind of pricey. But I think it is worth it because I had cocci last year and it kicked it right away, no issues again after that.

Yes, I heard it works quickly. Thanks for that. I'll give my vet a call as I'm pretty sure our Farmer's Supply store doesn't sell it.

Thanks so much Jayme. See you soon!

Hey Jayme,

Should I remove the non-medicated feed then and switch completely over to medicated or offer both?

up to you but you would be diluting out the amprol that is in the mediciated feed by mixing them. If you want to use it up then I would wait till the young ones are 4-5 weeks then mix the two.