Laying pullets still on grower

[grandmaof5]

Is it ok to keep feeding my girls (3 Welsummers...2 laying, as of today) the grower I have? I'd like to use it up before I buy layer for them; they get kitchen leftovers every day...and spouts every other day. Egg shells are dried, crumbled and thrown in with the scraps. Grit is freely available. So, are they getting enough protein? I got my first egg Christmas Day and since day oe the eggs seem to have a nice, hard shell...is this how to tell they are getting enough protein?

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

You can keep them on grower forever. Just buy a bag of oyster shell and offer it in a dish.

Or switch them to layer at your convenience- and I recommend you STILL offer the oyster shell. If they need it they will eat it.

They are getting enough protein if they are on grower and you don't overdo the treats.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Yup. As long as they can get enough calcium for replacement, the grower is essentially the same, otherwise.

 

[EweSheep]

I feed mine on Flock Raiser combined with Layena and grits and oystershells as supplement what they need. Worked very well for me!

If you want to feed them from grower to layer feed, you can combine layer with your grower and have a gradual turnover to all layer feed. Works very well.

 

[BigDaddy'sGurl]

Mine are on grower feed right now just because the protein content is higher...doing it for the winter...and something odd I found: in the grower, an ingredient listed was calcium and it was listed in the same order on the layer feed bag of the same brand...making me wonder if it is like human ingredient lists: where they are listed by order of most of ingredient to least?

 

[mychookschick]

If you still have grower, I would just feed them that until it is gone and offer ground oyster shells.... Then, when it is gone, you can switch to layer food if you want (I reccomend it)...

 

[PepsNick]

Grower forever is fine with oyster shell, but grower WILL usuallygove them even more of what they need to produce eggs. I find layer more convinient and reliable and would go ahead and switch feed when you run out of this. Saves money, too. But you can also keep giving scraps and treats, of course.