Feed questions

[Browniebird]

I am semi new to chickens. I've had adults for 3 years but just got chicks, and they are old enough now that I know two out of twelve are roosters.
The adults that I had for three years were inhereted. Never had chickens before them.
My MIL was supposed to he helping me learn, and teaching me chicken care, since lives 10 min away and is on our property every day anyway. Supposed to. I'm pretty salty about that one.


Anyway, when she got me originally started, she set me up how she does her own coops. Which means everybody gets layer feed. She also keeps as few roosters as possible and my long term goal is to dual purpose my flock, eat the roosters and old hens. Good thing I like Coq Au Vin. That being said, I've heard that layer feed is hard on roosters. My girls have a dish of oyster shell that they love, so I'm not worried about their calcium intake if I change the food.


Currently I use Layena layer feed, should I change to something else since once my chicks move into the main coop, I'll have 3 roosters?

 

[Cinnamon Roll]

I keep my dual purpose flock on non-medicated chick food year round since I have roosters and young chickens almost all year. As long as you have the calcium available free choice, non-medicated chick food or an All Flock should take care of all their nutritional needs.

 

[Stephine]

You can feed a chick starter or grower. I am worried about three roosters though - they will most likely fight, so you should make plans for how you can keep them separate.

 

[DobieLover]

As suggested, non-medicated chick starter is a good choice, as is All Flock or Flock Raiser. All of these choices require you to offer oyster shell on the side in separate containers for free choice feeding by the active layers.

And, yes, 3 roosters will be too many for the number of birds you have and will likely fight a lot, especially if they don't have large territories of their own to keep some of the pullets as their own sub-flock. I would plan to rehome them ASAP or setup a new area in which to keep them so they don't stress your older hens and new pullets when they sexually mature at around 14-16 weeks.

I'm assuming that you have senior rooster that has been with your original hens and the other 2 are cockerels in your current batch of chicks.

 

[Browniebird]

As suggested, non-medicated chick starter is a good choice, as is All Flock or Flock Raiser. All of these choices require you to offer oyster shell on the side in separate containers for free choice feeding by the active layers.

And, yes, 3 roosters will be too many for the number of birds you have and will likely fight a lot, especially if they don't have large territories of their own to keep some of the pullets as their own sub-flock. I would plan to rehome them ASAP or setup a new area in which to keep them so they don't stress your older hens and new pullets when they sexually mature at around 14-16 weeks.

I'm assuming that you have senior rooster that has been with your original hens and the other 2 are cockerels in your current batch of chicks.

I know that three roosters is too many, it happens with feed store chicks though and I knew it would.
I have a plan to split them into two flocks, but that can't happen until mid-end of summer due to weather constraints on the coop remodel I'm working on. My older rooster just hit a year old and my older hens are a little over three years old. If either of the two roosters from the batch of chicks shows a mean side, he goes in the freezer immediately and there will be one rooster per flock/coop, because I have a toddler and will not tolerate a mean rooster.

I'm hoping that as soon as we get overnights temps of 50F consistently, my 2nd coop can get finished and I can split the pullets, putting some in with the grown hens and making the others into the new flock with one of the cockerels.

My current flock is just 4 senior hens, which isn't enough eggs when I have a toddler.

 

[K0k0shka]

In my experience, it's not worth raising accidental roosters for meat, unless either they are a meat breed that matures super quickly, or you have a separate "bachelor pad" where you keep the roosters separate from the hens. The reason is because they hit puberty before they are big enough to eat, and start causing trouble - pestering the females, fighting with each other, attacking humans - typical adolescent behavior. You can still eat them at that point, of course, but most dual purpose breeds are still quite scrawny at that age, so you won't get much. You may have better luck separating the roosters into a bachelor pad, far away from the females, and growing them out there. I find that getting sexed birds from dual purpose breeds, and raising females only, works better, because they can stay together until they are big enough to eat.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Anyway, when she got me originally started, she set me up how she does her own coops. Which means everybody gets layer feed. She also keeps as few roosters as possible and my long term goal is to dual purpose my flock, eat the roosters and old hens.

Everyone has their own goals and experiences. If some of her goals are different from yours then expect some differences. We all start with different knowledge bases. Some do it the way their parents did it or others have told them, whether that was right or wrong.

I agree, Layer feed is not best for roosters or other non-laying chickens because of the extra calcium. It is possible that the excess calcium may occasionally cause internal damage to internal organs, especially liver or kidneys. That doesn't always happen but over time it can sometimes. One bite won't kill them. This damage does not happen instantaneously, it happens over time. And the damage is often not evident without cutting them open. But when it happens it leaves them vulnerable to medical issues, especially when they are under stress.

Currently I use Layena layer feed, should I change to something else since once my chicks move into the main coop, I'll have 3 roosters?

I would. Offer a low calcium feed like Chick Starter, Grower, All-Flock, Flock Raiser, or something similar with oyster shell on the side. They will get the general nutrition they need and the ones that need the extra calcium should get it from the oyster shell. Don't be shocked to see some of the boys or juveniles eat a little oyster shell. They need some calcium too, just not as much as the laying hens.

On the roosters I suggest you go by what you see. Sometimes there are problems with extra roosters, sometimes not. You are not guaranteed problems with more boys, but the more boys you have the more likely you are to have problems. I generally suggest you keep as few boys as you can to reach your goals instead of coming up with an acceptable ratio or something like that. If you have an issue deal with it. If you don't have an issue you don't have an issue. Go by what you see a lot more than what a stranger like me tells you over the internet.

Good luck with it. I expect you to have some issues to deal with (usually not what you expect) but you'll deal with them and be pretty successful.