3-4 weeks old!! Which feed??

[Chick CJ]

I think you can see from all the answers on here that there is no one way that is exactly "right". It will depend on what you have available and what works for you. I think the starter is important in the beginning as it gives all the nutrients necessary for baby chicks and is easy for them to eat. But as far as the grower feed, it is not always available to everyone so they go right from starter to layer feed. You will see after a while that your chickens are really very adaptable and you really do know what your doing!

Cathryn

 

[luvanimals2]

I kept looking at your picture and thinking that my chicks were about the same age but then you mention 5-6 weeks. It kept nagging me. I think we received our chicks on the same day unless you have 2 different sets. Mine are 3 weeks old today. I know everyone has different experiences and do things differently. I have had chickens most of my life but I took a long break and decided to that I want fresh eggs. I plan on switching them to grower in 3 weeks or when my bag runs out. I know, mine are the same. They are going through feed like crazy. Granted, they are wasting alot.

Nancy

 

[ChickyChickyBaby]

Quote:
I am new to them too

DH gave me the idea since silkies seem to mature slower sometimes. I have a boy that is 5-6 months old and has only crowed/tried to crow twice. The main thing I do is once they are feathered out I mix in a little gamebird food, (if I can't get that then I use a little calf manna) and a little BOSS, and sometimes egg yolk to the chick starter.

ETA: The ones I have that have started laying get laying mash - BOSS and egg given as treats. Sometimes mixed in and sometimes not.

 

[dwegg]

I have my baby cochins on 'Country side Farms' broiler organic!

They are now about 4.5 months old...I had them on starter feed for the first month then switched to broiler..I know I was shocked also but after talking to my feed store then ringing Country Side Farms they told me that starter feed is the same as broiler feed but just ground up finer.The Broiler feed helps the young birds develop their gizzard to deal with larger grains ect............... I will switch them to layer in about a month...

 

[Yay Chicks!]

I used Purina medicated chick grower/starter to about 16 weeks and then began adding in layer for the next couple of weeks. They got full layer at 18 weeks. They began laying at around 20+ weeks at which time I added oyster shell.

 

[cjatthefarm]

Quote:
Thank You! I luv having all this info available---but it's true, everyone has different experiences and opinions. Which is how it should be. I visited the forum for DDDAAYYSS before I even ordered chicks! And I was soooooo over whelmed with all that is involved--all the illnesses--the collapsed thingamagigs--the leaking and the swollen and the EVERYTHING! I almost 'chickened out'----(

)sorry!!! But, at the end of the day; we take all the information in, sort it out and come to an intelligent --hopefully conclusion!!

And yes, luvanimals2, my kids are closer to 5 weeks than 6--sorry. I tend to plan ahead!!

 

[cjatthefarm]

Quote:
luvanimals2---I made a mistake!! My neighbor looked at my chicks the day they arrived and told me they were a week or ten days old!!

That is why I was figuring their age--WRONG! I assumed she was right, I never had seen chicks before; so I was calling them 2 weeks that first Monday!!! WRONG!

So, I asked in a diff thread and was told Ideal usually shipped day old chicks--

! SO! Sorry! Our chicks probably ARE the same age--mine are not 5-6 weeks old........

Oh Well! I'm here to learn!

 

[abhaya]

I use start and grow till they are 16 weeks or so depending on how full the bag is. I try to use it up if I am not expecting more chicks soon. You can also use flock feeder somepeople with mixed age flocks do that of mix starter crumbles with layer pellets for a mixed group

 

[Pelican49]

The feed lot here doesn't have separate starter and grower, it's the combo crumbles. I just keep the chicks on that until they're ready for layer pellets.

My newest group of babies is 5 weeks old today. I'll have to get a picture of them.