BackYard Chickens › BYC Forum › Raising BackYard Chickens › Raising Baby Chicks › Integration and Feed question.
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Integration and Feed question.

post #1 of 6
6/22/12 at 3:34pm
Thread Starter 

So my 9 week old Australorps are now almost the same size as my 2 PR hens.  So they are starting to integrate, and so far everything is going fine.  Theres a bit of scuffling since Frightful thinks she is "all that".

 

My question is, can my 9 week olds eat layer feed, and if not, how do I keep them from eating the layer feed and the hens from eating the grower feed?  Or does it even matter?

 

Should i mix the feeds?  I know that layer has calcium and I dont want it to hurt my chicks.  Should I be concerned about them eating it?  Or should I switch everyone over to grower until the chicks are older?

1 Blue JG and 1 Black JG,1 Penciled Rock Rooster.  1 Blue cross chick, one Brown cross, 1 Cornish chick, 5 light Sussex, 2 black australorp chicks, 1 blue australorp chick, five BO chicks, 10 meaties, 2 red comet chicks and one wild kitty!  

 

Chicken Math strikes again!   

 

 

Reply

1 Blue JG and 1 Black JG,1 Penciled Rock Rooster.  1 Blue cross chick, one Brown cross, 1 Cornish chick, 5 light Sussex, 2 black australorp chicks, 1 blue australorp chick, five BO chicks, 10 meaties, 2 red comet chicks and one wild kitty!  

 

Chicken Math strikes again!   

 

 

Reply
post #2 of 6
6/22/12 at 4:31pm

I would just offer the grower (wonder if that's like our Flock Raiser???) to everyone, with oyster shell or crushed egg shell offered free choice so the laying hens can get the calcium that's lacking in the grower.  Whether my girls are laying or not, I begin switching over to layer at 16-18 weeks, usually by mixing in, since I always have left overs of both...

Caretaker of a lovely mixed flock including: australorp, plymouth rocks, wyandotte, d'uccles, silkies, EEs, andalusian, and a few seramas, plus a golden retriever, great dane, and three cats.  I always swore that I wouldn't succumb to chicken math.  I lied.
 

Reply

Caretaker of a lovely mixed flock including: australorp, plymouth rocks, wyandotte, d'uccles, silkies, EEs, andalusian, and a few seramas, plus a golden retriever, great dane, and three cats.  I always swore that I wouldn't succumb to chicken math.  I lied.
 

Reply
post #3 of 6
6/22/12 at 5:51pm

Feed everyone grower and offer the calcium on the side, usually oyster shells.  Easy as pie.

 

 

Practicing Sustainable Agriculture At The 45th Parallel

Reply

 

 

Practicing Sustainable Agriculture At The 45th Parallel

Reply
post #4 of 6
6/23/12 at 4:23am
Thread Starter 

Thanks Fred, I did that this morning.  I tore down the temporary enclosure, since the ladies have met the babies a few times already.  theres a little pulling of feathers but nothing terrible.  My older hens were debeaked before i got them, so that actually might help in reducing any real damage that they might cause.  they only real damage they seem to be able to do is grab feathers and pull, they cant peck.  I have the oyster shell out for them, hopefully the chicks dont think its grit lol.  I put grit of both sizes ut for them too in a separate dish.  So we will see how everything goes!!

 

fl.gif

1 Blue JG and 1 Black JG,1 Penciled Rock Rooster.  1 Blue cross chick, one Brown cross, 1 Cornish chick, 5 light Sussex, 2 black australorp chicks, 1 blue australorp chick, five BO chicks, 10 meaties, 2 red comet chicks and one wild kitty!  

 

Chicken Math strikes again!   

 

 

Reply

1 Blue JG and 1 Black JG,1 Penciled Rock Rooster.  1 Blue cross chick, one Brown cross, 1 Cornish chick, 5 light Sussex, 2 black australorp chicks, 1 blue australorp chick, five BO chicks, 10 meaties, 2 red comet chicks and one wild kitty!  

 

Chicken Math strikes again!   

 

 

Reply
post #5 of 6
6/23/12 at 4:45am

Thanks for the info ... I posted a silimar question late last nite but should have read this one first... I'm on my way out there  to get ride of the temporary area for our 8 week old RIR's wee.gif the chicks will be happy to roam about the country!!!

Reply
Reply
post #6 of 6
6/23/12 at 9:48am
Thread Starter 

Good luck!

 

So far mine are doing great.  the older girls are still huffy and Frightful is witholding her egg of the day.  But over all I think they are happy.

1 Blue JG and 1 Black JG,1 Penciled Rock Rooster.  1 Blue cross chick, one Brown cross, 1 Cornish chick, 5 light Sussex, 2 black australorp chicks, 1 blue australorp chick, five BO chicks, 10 meaties, 2 red comet chicks and one wild kitty!  

 

Chicken Math strikes again!   

 

 

Reply

1 Blue JG and 1 Black JG,1 Penciled Rock Rooster.  1 Blue cross chick, one Brown cross, 1 Cornish chick, 5 light Sussex, 2 black australorp chicks, 1 blue australorp chick, five BO chicks, 10 meaties, 2 red comet chicks and one wild kitty!  

 

Chicken Math strikes again!   

 

 

Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Raising Baby Chicks
BackYard Chickens › BYC Forum › Raising BackYard Chickens › Raising Baby Chicks › Integration and Feed question.