HELP!!! Feed store out of Emu Starter!

[kelseygirl707]

Hey There.

I just went to pick up Emu Chick starter and they just sold out of it, and won't have more until Wednesday. Is there anything I can give my chick until then?

 

[Cindiloohoo]

I'm guessing it is higher protein content

Scrambled Emu eggs? What percentage protein is needed?

 

[kelseygirl707]

They need 20%, so I was looking at flock raiser, but the ingredients are a little different, so I am worried it will hurt her if I feed her flock raiser for the next few days.

Here are Flock raiser Ingredients
Guaranteed Analysis
Protein, not less than 20.0%
Lysine, not less than 0.95%
Methionine, not less than 0.35%
Fat, not less than 3.5%
Fiber, not more than 5.0%
Calcium, not less than 0.8%
Calcium, not more than 1.3%
Phosphorus, not less than 0.7%
Salt, not less than 0.35%
Salt, not more than 0.85%
Vitamin A 7,000 IU/lb
Vitamin E 14 IU/lb

And the Emu Starter Ingedients
]Guaranteed Analysis
Crude protein not less than.......................21.0%
Crude fat not less than................................2.5%
Crude fiber not more than...........................7.0%
Calcium (Ca) not less than........................1.35%
Calcium (Ca) not more than......................1.85%
Phosphorus (P) not less than....................1.10%
Salt (NaCl) not less than...........................0.45%
Salt (NaCl) not more than.........................0.95%

 

[Whitehouse Quail]

Lysine, not less than 0.95%
Methionine, not less than 0.35%
Fat, not less than 3.5%

These are the only ones that concern me... all the other ones are less than the Emu feed, except fat, which, that won't hurt, especially since this is temporary.

Lysine is just an amino acid (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lysine) and so is methionine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methionine).

ETA if it were me, I would feed it the flock raiser for a while. Just throwin it out there.

 

[chickenzoo]

I have always raised mine on regular chicken chick starter, as they grow I add some flock raiser then mix my own emu chow, as my emu do not like the store bought emu food.....

 

[kelseygirl707]

Quote:
I have chick starter, but it's medicated, is that a no no?

 

[flyweed]

I've been using regular old chick starter until 6-8 weeks of age, then switch them over to an actual Emu diet. There are 3 breeders within 3 hours of me, and they ALL do this as well. They said the plain chick starter is just fine for all birds. Then they switch over to a more suitable Emu diet once they hit 8 weeks of age.

I am doing the same, just make sure it is unmedicated chick starter.

Dan

 

[kelseygirl707]

Awesome, I will pick it up when the feed store opens tomorrow morning, all I have here is Medicated, so she will have to wait until morning. Tomorrow is day 4 so I think she will be fine until then.

THANK YOU GUYS!!!! Glad I have some great Emu experts to talk to!

 

[casuarius]

I always feed small pellet dog food to all my ratite chicks and it works better than any ratite starter or chicken starter. But like everyone else said, chicken starter is just as good. Likewise I feed my adults dog food from tractor supply. I've bred ratites for 15 + yrs, and i've always had better egg production and better looking birds from using dry dogfood. The ratite feeds are mostly a grass or vegetable based feed, and in the wild these birds eat small animals, lizards, rodents, etc. The dog food I feed is 28% protein, and has alot more calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium content. Years ago before I switched, I had alot of chicks getting crooked/splay legs, and with the higher mineral and vitamin content, they never do. Being that it has higher fat content, you just dont have to feed them as much. Recently i've started feeding koi/catfish pellets to my Cassowary chicks, and they love it. It's 32% protein, but only around 3% fat, cassowaries tend to get fat easier than emus, so this feed is working better for them. I switch them to dog food when they get older.

 

[kelseygirl707]

I was told to put vitamins in the water, Can I use Cockatiel/parakeet vitamins?