At what age can chicks start eating pelleted food (as opposed to crumbles) like All Flock?

[Karen Glatz]

I'll have to mix my new chicks with the hens soon. They are 8 weeks and have been outside with a fence between them and the hens for 3 weeks. The hens try to steal food, but don't seem to try to peck the chicks through the fence. And I have a really excellent cochin rooster who keeps everyone pretty calm. Total 8 hens, 1 rooster and 5 new chicks in a 3000 sq ft yard with two coops that can handle 10 to 12 chickens each (the chicks are now in a doghouse sized mini coop in a fenced off 40 sq ft area and the 2nd big coop is new and as yet uninhabited).

I'm planning on feeding everyone All Flock pellets with oyster shell on the side. Can 8 or 9 week chicks handle pelleted food? It would be too hard to feed them separately once they are loosed with the hens. And they really seem to want to join the flock, their little area is starting to feel cramped. They get on top of the coop and try to jump the fence (there is bird netting over them to keep them in and in case there are hawks around).

I'm retired so I can be outside with them all day when I take down the fence. I'm planning to move them at night from their current little coop to the new big coop so that they will see it as their own. And I'll give them some hidey holes to zip into if they think they are being chased.

I have a plan, but I need to figure out when and food is a part of it.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

A lot of time All Flock feed comes in crumbles or you could just feed everyone chick starter until the chicks are able to handle pellets.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Depends on how large the pellets are (and the chicks, if these are standard or bantams). Some brands are bigger than others. My husband has accidentally put out layer pellets when we had chicks 4 weeks+ and they had no problem eating them until I realized the error.

 

[Karen Glatz]

They are standard Easter egger, cochin, and Novogen browns. Just 8 weeks. And the pellets are pretty average looking, like my rabbit food, and layer pellets. They have grit and have been eating grass and weeds and blackberry leaves as well as scrambled eggs and one ate a small snail when I threw a bunch for the hens and one went into their pen.

They are fully feathered and very active. I looked at the All Flock bag and it said birds over 8 weeks. So maybe I'll put a little in their crumbles and see if they eat it. And when I release them to the flock, I could mix the rest of the crumbles into the all flock, though the hens seem to really like the crumbles - they are always trying to stick their necks through the fence and steal from the chicks.