I have Jumbo Cornish Game Hen Crosses and I need to switch them from the medicated chick starter to something else so I can butcher them in a month. I checked out 3 different stores (Agri Farm Supply, Southern States and a local feed store) and the only chicken feed they carry are the chick starter, layer pellets or crumbles and scratch grains.

So I guess I'll just feed them the layer feed and scratch grains and hope for the best until I can butcher them

-- anita (anitaholton@mindspring.com), October 02, 2001

Answers

Stick with the medicated chick starter. We switched to non-medicated grower feed and they started dropping dead - 2 or 3 a day. The old timers at the feed elevator told us that most of their customers kept their broilers on the chick starter all the way to finish. The medication will not affect the meat quality. Keep them on the electrolytes in the water too, for the added B vitamins.

-- Jean (schiszik@tbcnet.com), October 02, 2001.

We put our broilers on medicated game bird. It is for the faster growing birds, and puts the weight on that you don't get with the chick starter. We also mixed in developer to help them gain in size.

-- Wendy Antes (phillips-anteswe@pendleton.usmc.mil), October 02, 2001.

I use 16% nonmedicated turkey feed for all my poultry from the turkeys down to my silkie chicks

-- tracy (murfette@stargate.net), October 02, 2001.

Purina Meat Maker.

-- Mark in N.C. Fla. (deadgoatman@webtv.net), October 02, 2001.

Anita, if the medication is amprolium for coccidiosis, it gets out of the system quickly from what vets and the feed store guys have told me. I don't like to use it clear through either, but you could feed it to within a few days of slaughter then switch to a non med feed for the last few days. I use home made scratch grains (corn, oats, milo and BOSS) with a wet mash of clabbered milk, soy meal and bran plus TM salt. I raise mine in a "chicken tractor" so they get all the greens they want and some bugs to help balance the ration.

-- marilyn (rainbow@ktis.net), October 03, 2001.

Supplementing with dry dog food can up the protein quite considerably when feeding scratch grains.

-- daffodyllady (daffodyllady@yahoo.com), October 03, 2001.

Anita, have you tried looking for a Purina dealer in your local phone book? Here in IN I have 3 dealerships within a 1/2 hour drive. Even if it is a pet store, that sells Purina dog food, they can order the Meat Builder for you. I don't know how many chicks you have, but I could burn through a skid (40 bags) pretty quick with 200. It is more economical than feeding starter all the way through, and better for the developing bird. Purina has the formulas that everyone else copies. I tried Salatin's formula one year--mixing my own. It was much more expensive, and I lost more birds to leg problems. You also might try going to Purina's website ( I'm sure they have one ) and see if you can find a dealer that way. I also heartily endorse using a chicken tractor of some kind after 3 weeks, or after feathers mostly cover the body. Not only will the chicks get some much needed greens, ( and will cut your feed bill a little ) they will stay cleaner, healthier, and you will not have a TOTALLY NASTY chicken house to clean at the end. Sorry to be so long, good luck!

-- Judy in IN (whileaway3@cs.com), October 03, 2001.

What's the protein percentage on the Purina Meat Builder (Meat Maker?) I haven't seen it anywhere in my area but we do have Purina dealers here so I'm presuming they can order it.

I'm wanting to go with a higher protein poultry feed and letting my hens free choice on grains, oyster shell, and a high protein feed. From what I've been reading elsewhere it seems possible to lower consumption of the more expensive feeds by allowing the birds to get their calcium and carbohydrate needs from cheaper sources.

={(Oak)-

-- Live Oak (oneliveoak@yahoo.com), October 03, 2001.

Apparently we do a lot wrong. We keep our chickens on commercial starter for as little time as possible and get them out to the tactors as soon as possible. We feed them the same ration that we feed our pigs ($8/ hundred lbs) and while growth is a bit slower, the ground they graze makes up for a lot and we have almost no leg or mortality problems. But, what do we know?

-- ray s. (mmoetc@yahoo.com), October 03, 2001.

I don't know about the Cornish, but many of us keep our flocks on Chick Starter their whole lives. The eggs and meat are eaten without withdrawal time. I feed 17% Chick Starter with Amprolium from hatching to death to the chooks and guineas, and my birds are with me until they die a natural death.

The amount of Amprolium in the feed is small, not like the amount in Corid, given for coccidiosis.

-- ~Rogo (rogo2020@yahoo.com), October 04, 2001.

I meant to add this. 'Medicated' Chick Starter comes two ways ~ with Amprolium or with antibiotics. I personally see no sense in giving the birds antibiotics.

-- ~Rogo (rogo2020@yahoo.com), October 04, 2001.