All in one feed?

[doglover1]

So I went to my feed supply store to price food for chickens. I asked about Oyster shells and grit to go with the chicken food. I am told that the food is not like the olden days where you had to buy some of everything. Now it comes in all in one bag. Is this true or do I need to buy seperate grit and oyster shells?

 

[limited25]

I am going to bet it is a lot cheaper to buy it separately, and you will have control of how much of what goes into their feeder. I have never purchased it all together.

 

[doglover1]

Thank you for the reply. What bags do you buy seperatley and make yourself? I paid 17.50 or something like like for 1 bag of feed. I also have tons of barley coming and wheat as well. Also have now around 8k mealworm colony.

 

[limited25]

I buy feed, grit, and oyster shell separately. I don't mix my own feed so can't advise on that, but you could search making your own feed in the search bar. Sounds like you are doing great in the meal worm (treat) category!

I mix some grit (not a lot) with their feed and offer the oyster shell in a separate dish.

 

[junebuggena]

Layer feed is a complete, and nutritionally balanced feed, with all the calcium that a hen needs for strong eggshells. Grit is small pieces of stone that are needed for proper digestion. Chickens don't have teeth. Their food is ground up in the gizzard. For their food to be ground adequately, they need to swallow bits of grit.
Layer feed should not be offered until the birds are all actively laying. And depending on your management, it might not be the right choice of feed for your flock. If you free range, have male birds in the flock, or like to treat your girls to scraps and treats, you may want to keep them on a high protein grower to balance their diet. In which case, you will also need to provide them with crushed oyster shell.

 

[doglover1]

I will only have 15 birs next month, I believe they will be 24 or 26 weeks. I asked the man at ufa if I needed to buy extra oyster shells and grit and he said no as it was all in the bag of feed. I just want to make sure.

 

[junebuggena]

Grit is not included in pelleted feed. However, if it's the only thing that your birds will ever eat, they will not need grit. If you ever offer anything other than pelleted feed, they will need grit.

 

[doglover1]

Yes they will be eating fodder, whole barley, wheat, mealworms and bug, grass, weeds etc.

 

[RonP]

Safe to offer grit and oyster shell free choice.

If they need extra, they will eat it..

 

[bluto in mo]

If they free range they will find their own grit. No need to buy rocks.