4 of my 10 are laying. Should I feed grow or layer?

[nine9d]

Right now 4 of my 10 girls are laying and they are 22 weeks old. Right now I have them on grower feed with a container for Oyster shells. Is it fine to keep it like this, and when should I fully switch over? If they never all are laying, what would be my best option. Right now I have them mainly on Scratch & Peck feed, but also plan to use Blue Seal Organic on occasion, thank you.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

What you are doing now is probably the best course of action.
When a flock of same age/breed birds reach point of lay before summer solstice, one can be relatively assured they will all start laying in short order. But this time of year, some may take much longer.
It also wouldn't hurt to mix some layer and grower half and half. That would give your birds a feed that is roughly 2.5% calcium. That's more like a pre-lay diet. It will allow some calcium buildup in the bones for the non-layers but not excessive enough to cause harm.
Lots of people just feed a grower or all-flock feed with OS on the side with no problems.

 

[nine9d]

My plan was to mix, I just wanted to hear it from someone else. If anyone else has suggestions, I'm all ears. Thank you!

 

[Al Capon]

My plan was to mix, I just wanted to hear it from someone else. If anyone else has suggestions, I'm all ears. Thank you!

I think you're good.

I've got one that lays a thin shelled egg every once in a while. She seems to need more calcium than the other birds, the good thing is, she knows it. She spends more time eating oyster shell than the others. I don't know how she knows, but she does and takes care of the problem herself.

 

[Kiki]

I think you should switch to layer feed now.
It will do no harm to the non layers.
https://www.nap.edu/read/2114/chapter/4#22

I also think you may want to consider switching from the whole grain feed to a crumble or pelleted feed to avoid picky eaters being able to choose what they want to eat, which can cause problems if they don't get a complete diet.

 

[nine9d]

Thank you for the advice. I just got a new bag of grower on it's way to me, and then more chicks started to lay. That's initially why I asked this question.

Also, I ferment their feed to be sure that they receive the full nutrition and vitamins from the whole grain that they receive from Scratch & Peck. Thanks.

 

[slordaz]

I have kept them on chick starter until they were out free ranging, then flock goes on flock raiser with free choice of oyster shell due to I have a rooster in the flock and they are free ranging getting lots better results that way than feeding layer feed and then i don't have that to worry about either

 

[ChickNanny13]

2x slordaz ... Start off with Chick Starter (fermented) when the bag is done switch to Flock Raiser (fermented) with Oyster Shells on the side. Haven't had any shell issues

 

[slordaz]

I have never fermented their chicken feed, but do lacto ferment 3*1 spring through summer and give them a small amount again free choice, and then they like an occasional treat of chopped garlic, knock on wood not a sick hen in 4 years. in the fall when less bugs available I have a live meal worm colony to treat them with when their natural bugs are fewer and far between as i'm up north

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Overall excellent advice given in this thread.
One caveat I would offer to new keepers is that when specific amounts of feed are given, understand that applies to the number of chickens one has. One bag of feed will last 2 chickens too long before it may have had nutrients degraded. 4-10 chickens will go through it faster.
To say to feed out a bag to a flock of chicks till it is gone and change feed won't apply to everyone. If I have 50-100 chicks, they will still be tiny chicks when that bag is gone and won't be ready for pelleted flock raiser feed.
It's early so I hope that made sense.