Almost time for a food switch.....

[Exactly]

My girls will be 14 weeks tomorrow and I'm at the end of a bag of starter\grower.

Since I need to buy a sack anyway and the time to switch is right around the corner, do you think there would be any harm in gowing to layer food a little soon?

I'd hate to buy a bag. just to have to back to buy another in a few weeks.

 

[Folly's place]

Stay with the grower, no longer with amprolium, at least until they are all laying eggs. Have oyster shell on the side. They can stay on an all-flock type diet forever, as in Flock Raiser. Mary

 

[Folly's place]

Switching to layer feed won't make eggs any sooner! Mary

 

[Egghead_Jr]

14 weeks is very young to start layer feed. Your birds may not start to lay until 24 weeks or even 30 weeks. It's not common for pullets to start laying at 18 weeks old. Stick with an unmedicated grower or starter or even an all flock type feed. I use oyster shells when birds start laying.

 

[azygous]

Get the all flock feed and in a few weeks provide a container of oyster shell. In my opinion, layer feed is over rated, and chickens far prefer the taste of grower over layer anyway. Then in the future, if you get more chicks, you won't have the hassle of switching from layer back to grower or trying to keep the feed separate from the chicks.

 

[Exactly]

I know it's early and layer feed won't speed things along.

I ask because I've seem other people with sex links report eggs at 14-16 weeks and I'm noticing my ladies combs are turning.

I'll take some pics a.little because.......no reason. We all just like chicken pictures

Honestly I think people these days put too much thought and worry into raising an animal that literally raises itself after a certain age, but my ladies are very plump and healthy and Id like to see them stay that way.

 

[ConPollos]

I know it's early and layer feed won't speed things along.

I ask because I've seem other people with sex links report eggs at 14-16 weeks and I'm noticing my ladies combs are turning.

I'll take some pics a.little because.......no reason. We all just like chicken pictures

Honestly I think people these days put too much thought and worry into raising an animal that literally raises itself after a certain age, but my ladies are very plump and healthy and Id like to see them stay that way.

Some do lay early, but as long as they've got a bowl of oyster shell, they can stay on grower indefinitely, especially if you've got a rooster. Don't worry about layer feed.

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

I agree. I feed chick starter or grower all the time with a dish of oyster shell for my layers. I have little chicks running around most of the year, and it just simplifies things. My birds just seem to do better on the starter/grower. When I've switched to layer in the past, they start looking pretty shabby and seem to waste alot of it by billing it out to pick out the small bits of corn and broken pellets.

Good luck

 

[Exactly]

I ended up buying another sack of grower and 5 lbs of oyster.

They don't seem to mind

 

[snow5164]

I like your birds , I also got sex links 10 weeks ago. I bought a medicated and unmediated starter. I ferment their feed , here's a picture because we all like pictures right exactly??