grower feed is out of stock

[zenstarling]

my pullets will be 15 weeks on Monday. I’m at the bottom of my current bag of grower feed. I went to my local feed store today to pick up another bag of grower I had ordered and found out they had sent me turkey grower (whoops) and the feed I do want is out of stock and would take a month to get in. by then the ladies would be 19 weeks old.

I know it is early now to make the switch to layer. the reason it’s a conundrum is that they are on organic soy free feed. I’ve been excited to raise chickens to be able to give eggs to my parents, as my dad is finding out some of his medical issues are triggered when he eats soy. so I really want to keep the girls on soy free feed as they have been all this time.

my feed store DOES carry the same brand of organic soy free layer. so is it too early to transition to layer that is available…. or is this worth one more bag of expensively-obtained grower via exorbitantly priced online shipping? (if I can’t find it locally which may be the case?)

I know opinions vary. thank you!

 

[nuthatched]

Have you tried chewy.com? Other stores, even walmart carry chicken feed
Is the turkey feed soy free for your needs? They can eat it. Or they can go to layer.

 

[Weeg]

Do they have a starter or all flock? I wouldn’t feed layer to non laying birds. I do g even feed it to my adult birds since it contains too much calcium long term.

 

[zenstarling]

Do they have a starter or all flock? I wouldn’t feed layer to non laying birds. I do g even feed it to my adult birds since it contains too much calcium long term.

good point, they do have a chick starter which they were on the first 6 weeks. it’s 21% protein and the grower is 19. does it make a difference?

Have you tried chewy.com? Other stores, even walmart carry chicken feed
Is the turkey feed soy free for your needs? They can eat it. Or they can go to layer.

@nuthatched the turkey grower was 23% which I thought would be too much! they don’t have NCO feed on Chewy unfortunately.

 

[Weeg]

good point, they do have a chick starter which they were on the first 6 weeks. it’s 21% protein and the grower is 19. does it make a difference?


@nuthatched the turkey grower was 23% which I thought would be too much! they don’t have NCO feed on Chewy unfortunately.

You can feed either. The turkey or starter. I feed all my birds, young, old, roosters, hens, ducks, etc starter their whole lives.

 

[Tonyroo]

They'll be fine on 23% protein feed even if it's for turkeys.

 

[nuthatched]

good point, they do have a chick starter which they were on the first 6 weeks. it’s 21% protein and the grower is 19. does it make a difference?


@nuthatched the turkey grower was 23% which I thought would be too much! they don’t have NCO feed on Chewy unfortunately.

The starter or turkey feed will be perfectly fine, they won't get sick or explode.:]

 

[zenstarling]

good to know! thanks a lot everyone!

 

[Mother-Hen-Michele]

If they are free-range or eating treats, go for higher protein food.

Even if you aren't letting them eat other things, don't put them on the layer, it is too low in protein at that age.

Don't worry too much about the names on the bags. I used to make myself (and store clerks) really anxious about getting the 'right' food, until I started just looking at the nutritional info box instead.

I sat down with all the labels and a scrap of paper and made a table of them, only to discover a lot of the labels are just marketing.

I realized I just need to check protein and calcium levels as most of the rest didn't change from one to the other.

So if they aren't laying, they don't need extra calcium and even if they are, if they have snacks & free-range they should have more than 16% protein.

Calcium also comes from bowls of calcium, some treats and egg shells, so don't make yourself crazy there either.

Thanks for mentioning the soy info, I will try to see if that might not be the issue with people around me who say they are "allergic" to some eggs, but are not allergic to mine. Might be the feed ... I do not see soy in ingredients on my feed bags, maybe that is the difference.

Oh, and feel free to show us pics of these babies we are discussing we are all here for the pics

 

[zenstarling]

If they are free-range or eating treats, go for higher protein food.

Even if you aren't letting them eat other things, don't put them on the layer, it is too low in protein at that age.

Don't worry too much about the names on the bags. I used to make myself (and store clerks) really anxious about getting the 'right' food, until I started just looking at the nutritional info box instead.

I sat down with all the labels and a scrap of paper and made a table of them, only to discover a lot of the labels are just marketing.

I realized I just need to check protein and calcium levels as most of the rest didn't change from one to the other.

So if they aren't laying, they don't need extra calcium and even if they are, if they have snacks & free-range they should have more than 16% protein.

Calcium also comes from bowls of calcium, some treats and egg shells, so don't make yourself crazy there either.

Thanks for mentioning the soy info, I will try to see if that might not be the issue with people around me who say they are "allergic" to some eggs, but are not allergic to mine. Might be the feed ... I do not see soy in ingredients on my feed bags, maybe that is the difference.

Oh, and feel free to show us pics of these babies we are discussing we are all here for the pics

this is so informative — thank you! they get range time daily in a chicken tractor, and they are my garden companions, so they eat lots of fresh greens, grass and weeds at the moment. of course also tons of bugs. and they’re getting a bit of cold veggie scraps and watermelon on these hot days.

is there one better choice between the chick starter and the turkey grower or either is ok?

also, when DO I switch to layer?