what happens when you feed your chickens the layer food right when born?

[nc18art]

I've been feeding my chickens crumbled layer chicken food since the were 3 days old they are only 12 or 13 weeks old but they look like they are already 18-20 weeks old. they aren't supposed to lay yet not for about 7 more weeks. but i had a chicken guy come to my house and take all the roosters and he kept asking if they were laying yet because they look old he kept saying that we were feeding them good and then when we told him there age he said there really big. So my question is are they healthy?

 

[HighStreetCoop]

The extra calcium is bad for their kidneys, which may shorten their overall lives. If you're someone who replaces birds every year or two, you're probably fine.

 

[nc18art]

it is my first year owning chickens my mom bought them and the guy at the frond desk of the store sowed her the food to get so she just followed his instructions but i did research on them and it said they were very healthy

 

[donrae]

Feeding layer feed isn't going to make them develop any faster. The difference between layer and grower is layer has more calcium and less protein. There's nothing magical about it that will make a bird start laying sooner or develop faster.

 

[nc18art]

ok thanks i was just worried because they are kind of big for there ane

 

[centrarchid]

Watch out for cannibalism. Growth rate slows first and you will likely see increased aggression. If cannibalism gets started it can be hard to stop. Have a higher protein mix handy is problems develop.


Free-range I can get away with using the layer only diet as birds can compensate by foraging when forage quantity and quality high. Otherwise the feed is not much better than scratch for chicks.