when to switch from starter feed?

[johari]

At what age do I switch my chicks from starter feed to regular feed?

 

[RedneckRebel]

I normally feed 10 chickens a 50 pound bag then switch to normal feed

 

[johari]

Hmm, I have eleven chicks, they are nearing three weeks old and have almost finished a 20lb bag of food. So maybe just one more bag if the stuff and then switch to grower?

 

[RedneckRebel]

That is what I plan on doing, I have 9 that are 4 and a half weeks old and have almost went through 50 and then I will plan on switching to grower, you can also supply them with oats mixed in with their diet, provides good protein and vitamins.

 

[johari]

I've been letting them forage a bit in their outdoor pen. It's been really warm here lately. They love it.

 

[RedneckRebel]

That helps them a lot, lot and I have always put red pepper flakes in their feed when they get about 6 months old, it helps them lay better

 

[Demosthine]

That depends on several factors. What brand and type of feed is your chick feed and "regular" feed? Do you have older hens in your flock?

I use Purina Mills' Chick Starter as long as I have babies. According to their site, you can start using All Flock as long as everyone is over 7 weeks old, but you'll want to have free-choice egg shell or crushed oyster available for any laying hens. You do not want to use Layer feed until your girls are actually laying because the excess calcium in it can damagee their livers. That is why many old timers recommend avoiding the layer blend and stick to offering fred-choice calcium.

It also depends on your breeds. Bantams and Silkies, for instance, eat less than Barred Rocks and Marans. And free-ranging changes the amount of feed, too. A flock in a lush, green pasture with lots of bugs will eat less feed than ones in an average backyard.


Personally, I'd recommend using their age to reach the seven week mark and switching to an All Flock type feed. Just ensure there is free-choice calcium available by week sixteen. That is generally the earliest most breeds seem to start laying. They won't eat it until they need it.

 

[Demosthine]

That helps them a lot, lot and I have always put red pepper flakes in their feed when they get about 6 months old, it helps them lay better

Red pepper flakes? Do you have any references for that? I hadn't heard it and would love to find out why it would change their productivity. I'm not questioning you, I just would like more details. I'm information hungry.

 

[missnu01]

Do you really have to switch to grower feed? Could you not just use the chick starter until time for Laying pellets? Everyone here is around 4 weeks and getting chick starter except the adult chickens that get flock raiser...I've used all different chick starters. Then I know I'm picking the right one. Right now were using game bird starter...last it was just chick starter, before that a different brand of chick starter. With 17 laying breed chicks, 8 ducks, and 9 meat birds we've gone through a crazy amount of food. I don't let it run out but in 2 months we've bought 300lbs of feed for everyone 100lbs flock raiser, and the other 200 is between game bird chick starter, and meat bird grower feed...at first I didn't put the feed in anything I just had the bags on the garage, but then I noticed that something pretty large had scratched and torn a big hole in a bag of flock raiser, so I got totes to put all the feed in. I'm hoping this will keep us from having to buy so freaking much.

 

[Demosthine]

It should be ok to do that, depending on the brands. The Purina Mills (Nutrena) Chick Starter and All Flock are both 18% protein, which is adequate for your meat birds, although they will develop slower and smaller than being on a broiler feed. Typical layer feed tends to be 16% protein and has the increased calcium from mg research.

Also, if sounds like you need to start fermenting your feed to help reduce costs. It's really easy and very beneficial for your flock. It also cuts down on feed consumption between 25% and 50%. Search for Fermented Feed for Meat Birds or go to NaturalChickenKeeping.Com for more info. I recommend the latter because it's a smaller guide, rather than 35,000+ posts or whatever it is now.