X-post/repost: Help with confusion over medicated feed and electrolytes?

[tickens33]

I am copying and pasting this post I made in the raising baby chicks forum because I thought this might be a better place for it. Mods can let me know if this isn't allowed, I'm new here!
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Hello! My partner and I are raising a flock for the first time. We have 4 Buff Orpingtons and 3 silver laced Wyandottes. They are 2 weeks old as of yesterday and from everything we can tell, they seem to be thriving! I have a couple of (hopefully quick) questions about their feed and water.

When we first got the chicks, we started them on Purina medicated feed. However, we were also using Rooster Booster for electrolytes which we realized contains thiamine, and we learned the thiamine makes the medicated feed ineffective.

My first question: Since realizing the rooster booster had thiamine, we have taken them off the medicated feed. In my understanding, they were effectively not receiving the medication due to the supplements. Since the medicated feed is only effective if started in the first couple days of life, it seemed like it didn't make sense to continue with it. However, we are still mixing some of the medicated feed in with the regular feed so as not to waste it. Could anyone confirm if our thought process is accurate here? Should we just toss the remaining medicated feed?

Second question: During this research into the medicated feed, we also learned that electrolyte mix shouldn't be used for more than a few days at a time (the mix container did not say this anywhere, but we found the info on the rooster booster website). We had the chicks on it for about the first 10 days of life and they seem to be doing great; to be cautious though, after learning this, we switched them to plain water immediately. Would it now be appropriate to start putting ACV and herbs in their water as a natural supplement? Anything I might be misnderstanding here about the purpose of electrolytes for the birds' water?

Thank you in advance for sharing your experience and knowledge

 

[chicken mama 0908]

Would it now be appropriate to start putting ACV and herbs in their water as a natural supplement?

I can't see why not.

 

[tickens33]

I can't see why not.

Another user did mention in my original thread that these natural remedies can do more harm than good if used inappropriately/improperly dosed/etc. I will need to do a little more research into that to find out what makes the most sense as far as risk/reward goes for our personal situation.

If you or anyone has personal stories to share about what herbs and supplements ("natural" or otherwise) have and haven't worked for you, I'd really appreciate it!

 

[Brooks_]

Since the medicated feed is only effective if started in the first couple days of life

That is not the case. Medicated only works when the chicks are on the soil, and then it still takes a couple weeks

Would it now be appropriate to start putting ACV and herbs in their water as a natural supplement?

I would not count on herbs or ACV to do anything.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Since the medicated feed is only effective if started in the first couple days of life, it seemed like it didn't make sense to continue with it. However, we are still mixing some of the medicated feed in with the regular feed so as not to waste it.

Untrue, the "medication" (generally amprolium in the US) only works while it's in the system. It does not pretreat for anything, it's meant to starve off the coccidiosis parasite and keep the levels low in their system.

That said, I would not mix feeds - giving them a low dose of coccidiostat could mean some parasites (if there are any) would survive and become more resilient to the amprolium.

we also learned that electrolyte mix shouldn't be used for more than a few days at a time (the mix container did not say this anywhere, but we found the info on the rooster booster website). We had the chicks on it for about the first 10 days of life and they seem to be doing great; to be cautious though, after learning this, we switched them to plain water immediately. Would it now be appropriate to start putting ACV and herbs in their water as a natural supplement? Anything I might be misnderstanding here about the purpose of electrolytes for the birds' water?

Electrolytes of any type are meant to help counteract stress (shipping, moving to a new home, high temperatures, etc.), so not meant to be used as a regular additive since its high in sodium.

I don't add anything to my water unless I'm treating for something specific, and that's a pretty rare occurrence.

 

[K0k0shka]

If they are thriving, why are you giving them rooster booster, electrolytes, etc.? Healthy chicks don't need anything other than their feed and clean water. Those supplements and additives are meant to help chicks in distress - sick, weak, shipping stress etc. - not as a daily thing for healthy chicks. Medicated feed is most useful in the first couple of weeks once they go outside, but it's impractical to buy a whole bag just for 2 weeks and waste it, so what people usually do is feed it from the start and let the chicks finish the bag so it doesn't go to waste, making sure they've been on it at least 2 weeks after going outside. Then after that you can switch to non-medicated starter, or grower, or an all flock feed etc.

Vinegar, herbs, and other concoctions aren't necessary or effective, and like you mention, can be harmful if overused or used incorrectly. A nutritionally complete feed and clean water is all that your chicks actually need. And then grit and a source of calcium once they get older and start eating other things or laying eggs. The rest is fluff.