Can rooster eat layer food?

[appps]

you feed scratch as food? I was always told this is a no-no that it is a treat and should not be fed daily as a food staple. someone else mentioned to cut down on it if you have high production egg layers...

So how much is too much? The kids have been grabbing handfuls and throwing it near their feet when they go in the pen. Probably two or three adult handfulls a day between 4 bantams
Is that okay?

 

[appps]

L

 

[windzbreezy]

When we eat sea food I throw the shrimp shells such in the food

 

[HershelMS]

I have two separate coops. Rooster in both.... both roosters are young white leghorns... One coop i feed non medicated grower finisher (as it just has better crude protien %) that coop i incubate and brood the babies... The other coop is strictly for producing eggs. if i had another place for this rooster, i wouldn't even have him in there... this coop gets layer crumble, scratch on the side just to keep im happy, and a hand full of meal worms a couple days a week. The coop getting the layer crumble seems as happy and healthy as the other coop getting grower finisher, scratch and meal worms a few times a week. Just a reminder... it is always a good idea to keep an abundant supply of oyster shell (calcium) in the pin you are feeding the layer formula. Egg laying robs the gals of much needed calcium. The suppliment will keep the shells stong and not weaken the bones of your hens... I also put a D3 suppliment in the water for the layer pen... It helps (along with good sunlight), the hens to absorb the calcium better... Just a hint... It has worked for me the last 32 years...

 

[jasonakers4]

i bought 6 arucanas 3 golden wyandottes 3 silver wyandottes and 12 barred rocks (didnt think i got tha many barred rocks lol) but i got a rooster from the arucanas at rural king and a rooster of the golden wyandottes. my roosters seem to eat whatever is offered, since i let them ALL range all summer last year and winter. i now have no grass and will be putting them in a new pen when i can make it weather depending. ill be letting them out when the grass becomes established. my roosters eat anything i give them and defend the hens no matter what. we had a falcon and the two roosters F**KED that falcon up to the point where he wont be back again...... and that was before i attempted to deter the falcon from my flock..... I personally stronly reccomend multiple roosters per flock for the simple protection factor. if you dont need it more power to you but if you do.... regardless of feed they WILL eat enough and WILL help protect ALL of your flock.

 

[MamaKitty913]

I'm new to this myself, so I know how you feel. I feed 1 feed, layer feed. My rooster does just fine on it, even though he has yet to lay the 1st egg.

 

[Susan49]

Not sure if this post is still being read by anyone, but I'm wondering about where to put my 9 week old rooster, in regards to feed.

I have my main flock of layers (about 100 gals) with one rooster who is quite tame and friendly. They all get layer pellet, supplemented with free choice oyster shell and kelp meal, plus free range and lots of garden produce.

My youngsters are in another area. There are 30 of them that are 14 weeks old, with 3 roosters who were supposed to be pullets but we all know that story lol! They all get grower crumble and a few treats and garden stuff, but mostly the crumble for the protein.

Anyway, I was given this 9 week old roo which I want to raise as a possible breeding bird as I have hens of the same breed. At first I put him beside my smaller flock because a) they're closer in age and b) I thought he should have the grower crumble. My plan was to integrate him into this flock for ease of feeding.

However, one of the roosters, a RIR, has taken over the head honcho position in the smaller flock, and instantly took a dislike to the new kid on the block. He's been aggressively picking on him right through the fence (he's in a very small pen beside them) and just won't give him any peace.

So then I thought that maybe expecting 4 young roosters to get along one day, even with an adjustment period, might be expecting a bit much and that maybe he'd do better with the main flock. My reasoning is that there is only the one roo who's pretty easy going, and there'll be a lot more room for the young fellow to get out of the way if he gets picked on during his settling in period.

Which brings me to my question...Given that he's still young, does he need the grower feed if I want to blend him in with my established flock eating layer pellet? Or will he be ok with the lower protein layer pellet, given that he'll have access to an acre of range with greens, bugs, and other goodies.

My older rooster has always had the layer pellet, but in this case, with a younger rooster, do I need to make sure he gets extra protein?

 

[Den in Penn]

Susan49: That is one dilemma you have. At nine weeks he is a little young to put in with the adults yet. Could you house in is a partitioned area in with the adults for a couple of weeks? That will do two things one is to let him grow a little more and familiarize him to the flock. It also has the added benefit of giving him more time without the exposure to layer. After that you will be in the same dilemma. Sure letting him finish out without the calcium is ideal, but in the real world there are trade offs. To me with the pasturing and the added vegetables, the food he is eating will be dilute the calcium in the layer to, maybe, a level where the damage if any will take years to take effect. I would put him in just to simplify my life. With the understanding that there Tare a lot of other things that can happen to him way before the calcium has a chance to hurt him. The other thing you can do. You were thinking about breeding, If you make you breeding pen now you could raise him all the way in that. He may not have the social skills that way, but he wouldn't have the calcium.

 

[Susan49]

Many good points to consider Den, thanks. I do have a fairly large portable pen that he's in right now, and I could move that inside my run where the layers are. It would mean feeding and watering him separately for a while, and locking him up in one of my broody breakers at night against predators, but as you say it would allow him to get to know the hens and to get a little bigger before mixing.

I wonder, would it work to switch from layer pellets to grower for all the layers when I'm ready to let him mingle? The hens do get free choice oyster shell but I wonder is that enough calcium or do they need what's in the layer pellet as well? And is the protein of the grower going to be too high for them, again considering that they spend all day on range and they get loads of fresh produce as well.

I can't see building a breeding pen until fall or winter...we just finished building two brooding pens last month to let a couple of hens hatch out eggs, and now we're into the season where everything on the farm needs to be done yesterday, so new construction is on hold until we catch our breath. :O

 

[Den in Penn]

Many do feed a grower to a mixed age flock with success. So you could try it and monitor the egg shells. The higher protein isn't a problem with everything else the get, in fact it may increase the size of the eggs a little.