We are the proud owners of a bunch of Australorp chicks. In the past we would buy only 20 or 30 birds at a time but this time we purchased 100 little guys. Here is my question. How long do we keep them on medicated feed. The feed store told us to feed it to them for three months. That was okay in the past but at $9.00 per bag, are they taking me for a ride or is this true? We have gone from hobby to business and we would like to keep some of the green in our pockets.

Mark or Brenda, You have invested in 100 beautiful chicks--and I would surely want to protect my investment. 100 are far more apt to have individuals that could be susceptible to coccideosis than 20 birds. Don't think your feed store is wrong! I keep my chicks on medicated Start and Grow until the pullets lay--5 months. Once disease breaks out you would spend a lot more on medications and probably end with weakened birds. You don't want your business to fail before you are in business! Good luck, CJR

If you are careful to follow good sanitation practices at all times, you can go to non-medicated feed as soon as you run out of your present supply. You could also have an elevator mix medicated feed for you to cut costs. I have raised many fine batches of Australorps with feed that had no medication in it at all. Coccidiosis is a disease of poor sanitary practice. The implication is that you have a clean building, clean feed and water, and that you keep your bedding clean. Vermin must be kept out, and ventilation must be good. When the new guys begin to get out and about, they should be able to pick in good clean dirt, not deplorable filth left by other animals. I have never fed medicated feed beyond two or three weeks, when it is time to reduce the protein level the first step. If you must feed medicated feed to preserve the health of your birds beyond this point, you probably have a sanitation problem that should be fixed immediately. Allow your birds to develop their own resistance to disease and germs naturally as you maintain good conditions for them, and they won't need continuous medication. Medicine should be saved for the outbreak of a problem, not used to produce resistance. Good luck!

I had read that it was good to keep them on a coccidiostat until the age of 14 weeks, when they should have developed an immunity to the disease. I took them off the starter ration at 8 weeks, and I purchased a bottle of Sulmet to put in their water. I have put it in a few times, but was uncomfortable with medicating them when they weren't even sick. I'm a more natural approach sort of person, if I can be. I change their water daily (or more often, as needed), dump out old, soiled food at least once a day and put in new fresh, and change the litter in the house once a month. Their run is full of chicken droppings, however, and I haven't figured out how to get all of those up off the ground yet (maybe a rake?). They've only been out in it since they were about 6 weeks old or so. Sometimes droppings are more loose than others, kind of a tan color. It's not a regular thing, and not all of them are like that. I feed them a little cracked corn, scattered on the ground in the morning, occasional watermelon, grass and greens, mealworms, bread crusts. I've attributed these extras to the occasional changes in their droppings.

The point of all this is ... does this mean I can skip the Sulmet, unless there are signs of a problem? I really hate to use it if I don't have to. Is my sanitation good enough? So many questions ... Thanks for answering them all.