How long can chickens stay on start/grow feed?

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People back then had other guides to designing a feed. People these days don't have the background and experience to do the same. And we don't have the same feedstuffs; grains aren't as wholesome as they were then because the soils upon which they're grown are becoming more depleted, farming practices being different Back "in the day" you could feed more grains, but then again the type of people who had chickens often had a milk cow on the premises and many people gave milk products to their chickens for the protein and the benefits (tho they didn't realize it) of the bacteria that was still in the milk then.

Doing so today would be kind of silly - though quite a few of us do find that feeding yogurt (which DOES still feed the yogurt) as a supplement helps give us that improved vigor and resistance to disease that was found in studies back in the old days on feeds supplemented with buttermilk, condensed milks, etc.

To be honest, these days many people are so far removed from chicken keeping that they have to be told to clean the water, and not feed things like birthday cake and shrimp tails.

Thanks. Is it a good additional feed for chickens....

Yes, I kind of know that, but it is hard not to joke a little. But I remember when I was raising my son, and all of the different formulas came out. Funny thing is that they have since found that most of them weren't really good for the kids after all. Even though there a was a big movement to switch over to them.

I think it is best to give the chickens a good balanced diet including a lot from the pasture. And yes, I have been giving mine a yogurt and starter mixture every few days. They love it, especially if I add a couple of eggs to the bowl.

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I agree. We do get hooked on things that come in a package without really knowing why things are mixed that way. Ahhh well.

My feed store sells only Purina starter/grower combined. Do I feed this until 20 weeks? I hatch my own Barred Rocks, then to a brooder, then to a 100 gal. Rubbermaid water tub on an enclosed porch. Only 20 chicks at a time, with a heat lamp reducing temp. gradually. Then at 3 wks. or sufficient feathering I put them in a raised wire pen w/ perches inside my barn. At 8 weeks I put them out in my 6 x 12 PVC chicken tractor w/automatic waterer made from 5 gal. bucket. Love it. These chicks have grown better than I ever raised before. I live in Florida so weather is not an issue, but I do put them in at night for protection from predators. I have to walk them at past dusk from the tractor to the secure housing. I walk with a headlamp and they line up and follow me inside. I don't know how long that will last. Rather than drag the tractor back to the barn, this seems easier. I hope all this sounds ok. I have 10 old New Hampshire layers that produced these eggs from a Barred Rock rooster, they all look like Barred Rocks. This is a most wonderful site. Thanks for all you help.

weaveagarden said:

It's amazing that chickens managed to live before the pre-mixed stuff.

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Better to let their muscles and bones develop naturally with a little bit of what has been their normal diet for 100's of years.

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Chickens in the last 50-75 years have gone from laying 50-100 eggs a year to laying 300+. They have very different nutritional requirements than they did then.

As to normal diet, chickens are as domesticated as things get - there is no real natural/normal analog. They're very different from their ancestors (Red Jungle Fowl).