Buying grower feed

[rockgirl365]

I plan on buying mana pro medicated grower feed two weeks before my 8 baby chicks come so that it's nice and fresh. I think I'll get it off Amazon. Does anyone know how often I should buy feed for the chicks? Also how much feed do you recommend getting at a time? I want the freshest feed for the 8 weeks while they are in the brooder.

 

[DobieLover]

I plan on buying mana pro medicated grower feed two weeks before my 8 baby chicks come so that it's nice and fresh. I think I'll get it off Amazon. Does anyone know how often I should buy feed for the chicks? Also how much feed do you recommend getting at a time? I want the freshest feed for the 8 weeks while they are in the brooder.

Why are you buying off Amz?
It would be far better and likely fresher if you purchase from a local feed supply store where you can inspect the tag for the mill date and purchase the freshest bag. No one will care what the mill date is if you are having your order filled by a random worker in a warehouse.
You also want chick starter or Flock Raiser crumbles for chicks, not grower.
Medicated isn't really necessary as long as you have amprolium on hand in the event of coccidiosis.
I've raised 2 batches of chicks and my broodies have raised many more and no one ever ate medicated starter.
If you start them off on Flock Raiser, you can leave them on it for life. Just put oyster shell out in separate containers when they hit 16 weeks and always keep them full.

 

[David61]

What kind of birds. Why in the world would you get feed from amazon ? Do you not have a feed store anywhere close to you?
Fresh bag of feed may be hard to get on line. I can see the date code at my seed store.
Chick starter 25lb. then i moved to all flock/flock raiser.
I didn't do medicated feed when i moved away from chick starter crumble. I moved right to flock raiser crumble. Its 20% protein and any age/sex bird can use it. Just put out some oysters shell at point of lay.
when you do switch to new feed, making a mash with it will help to get them to get a taste for it.
The bag of feed i got yesterday was bagged on Dec.17th.
Name brand feed of any kind that is fresh (less than two months old) will be fine for a month after its open in a good closed garbage can .

 

[svh]

In my opinion, I would buy it at a feed store, so you can check the mill date on the label. You never know how fresh it will be when getting online as you won't know the mill date till you get it.

As for how much you will need, and how often you will need it, that depends on a few things ..... A 40 pound bag should last at least a month or so, so I'd just get 1 bag at a time until you figure how fast they go through it.

 

[jakedaniel]

As a bunch of folks on here have already said, get your feed from your nearest feed store. It’ll be cheaper and fresher . I think a 50lb bag of layer crumble costs me $11 at the one closest to me. I started my chicks out last year on starter feed, moved them to grower, and they’ve been on MG layer crumble since May or June and are doing great. When you go in just tell them how old your chicks are and they’ll let you know when to switch from starter to grower and from grower to layer.

 

[CluckerFamily]

What kind of chicks are you planning on getting?
I only get Easter eggers and mine normally started laying between 20-24 weeks old. I normally get 8 chicks. I go through 2.5 bags of starter/grower feed by the time they start laying, I then transition into flock raiser or layer feed depending on the season; I use the 1/2 bag left and slowly mix in the feed I’m transitioning to... just like switching dog food.
I also recommend purchasing from a local feed store. You could order online and do a pickup if you are more comfortable with that. Our local Co-op will even take phone orders and place what you ordered outside just as you pull in and then you load everything into your vehicle.

 

[jakedaniel]

Our local Co-op will even take phone orders and place what you ordered outside just as you pull in and then you load everything into your vehicle.

This. Feed Store closest to me has always loaded us up. Back up to the rollup door, they come out and load it up for you. I’m sure if I called ahead I could pay by phone and I wouldn’t even have to walk inside.