Bought the wrong feed for chickens.

[undine]

I bought a 50lb bag of layer 16% mash and my chickens havent laid an egg yet. I have two that are 8 weeks old(silkie roo and an ee pullet) and eight 16 week pullets. I was orginally looking for chick feed but the feed store had ran out and only had this left. I asked him if it was okay to feed chickens that are above 8 weeks old and he said it is perfectly fine. Now im worrying because i read a forum on here that talked about feeding layer mash to chickens that arent laying yet can cause kidney problems and such. So...can i feed this to my chicks or do i need to purchase another bag of feed.

idk what kind of brand this i, but its called superior animal nutrition "extreme feed"

 

[TXchickmum]

I would personally purchase another bag of feed. -would get starter/grower to be safe.

 

[Eggcessive]

Your 16 week olds would be okay, but not the 8 week olds. It has 3 times the calcium that they need, and can cause kidney problems and gout later on.

 

[undine]

Your 16 week olds would be okay, but not the 8 week olds. It has 3 times the calcium that they need, and can cause kidney problems and gout later on.

Well that wasnt nice of the feed store guy. I even asked twice to make sure if it was OKAY to feed the 8 week olds. Thanks

 

[undine]

I would personally purchase another bag of feed. -would get starter/grower to be safe.

Yeaa i might =( thanks!

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Quote: You made the common mistake of ASSUMING that just because he works there, he actually KNOWS things about the products.

What he told you is PROBABLY true, and it won't REALLY hurt them, even though it "can" cause problems.in some birds.

Remember, their job is to SELL what they have, and nothing more

Personally, I'd just feed it to them, and get starter or grower feed next time, OR get some now and dilute the layer feed

People tend to overthink these things

 

[undine]

You made the common mistake of ASSUMING that just because he works there, he actually KNOWS things about the products.

What he told you is PROBABLY true, and it won't REALLY hurt them, even though it "can" cause problems.in some birds.

Remember, their job is to SELL what they have, and nothing more

Personally, I'd just feed it to them, and get starter or grower feed next time, OR get some now and dilute the layer feed

People tend to overthink these things

It sure was, the way he talked about the different types of chicken food and how "much" he knew about them had me sold LOL dang it

 

[donrae]

I'd just put the layer aside and buy another bag of grower. Then again, I don't use layer feed at all, so maybe I'm prejudiced............