Best feed for Orpingtons & Australorps?

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
I think I will go Monday and look for some flock raiser or do you think I should still have them on 28% starter grower at 5 months of age? I was wondering if I wasn't cheating them from important nutrients.

28% is WAY too high a protein level.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
To make commercial feed, the ingrenidents are ground and mixed. Water is added and they are heat extruded into pellets. This is regardless of the particular type pf feed: starter, grower, layer, etc. Pellets are then ground to make mash or crumbles. Pellets can be an of a number of sizes; mash varies from powdery to about the consistency of corn meal; crumbles can also vary in size.

The heat extrusion prevents many of the molds that can be present in raw grain.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
Flock raiser is fine for laying hens as long as they have oyster shells or other calcium sources available. The intent of flock raiser is for providing a single feed for a variety of poultry/waterfowl as well as different aged birds.

 

[DawnSuiter]

I am interested in hearing why you both think 28% protein starter is too high. This is what has been recommended to me by Orpington breeders. I see no adverse effects that I am aware of, other than big healthy chickens.

 

[hinkjc]

You are right in that it (Flockraiser) can be used with a calcium supplement, however it is not recommended.

 

[Katy]

I do feed flockraiser to all my birds except for chicks who get start & grow BUT I keep oyster shell out for them to eat free choice.

 

[hinkjc]

28% protein is for birds that require fast growth and plumage development. This is typical of game birds, not chickens. Chickens don't have the metabolism of a game bird for processing this type of feed.

 

[bonnylass79]

Quote:
That may be true for some mashes, but mine is not pellet based. It is raw grain based. Personally, I prefer to feed grains that have not been cooked. I think they lose a lot of nutrients in the cooking process.

 

[DawnSuiter]

I would like to learn more about the metabolism of these chickens, where did you find this information?
Also, Layena is not recommended for large breed laying chickens.... so I think even the labels are confusing and that in fact Purina does not make a feed that I am aware of that is "formulated" for large breed layers.

 

[canada-goose]

Gee, I just feed them all Chick Starter, then Grower, then Layer. What's the big deal? They're all chickens.