Can I feed Wild Bird Food to get them to 20 Weeks???

[chuckzoo]

My two BR's are now 13 weeks. I have run out of the medicated chicker starter/grower and they are apparently too young for layer. Can I use wild bird food and add some supplements, if so what do I supplement with? I have some wheat berries, brown lentils and wheat bran, can I use some of these?

 

[Mahonri]

You can use some of the things you've mentioned for the next 6 weeks, but you should just go ahead and buy some grower/finisher, they still need some good protein.

 

[pips&peeps]

No, I wouldn't feed them that. At their age I would keep them on medicated starter.

 

[mrsgibber]

I put mine on Grower feed at about 10 weeks of age which they are still eating now at 19 weeks. I don't think I'd feed them wild bird seed plus I think it would be MORE expensive then a 25 lb bag of grower.

 

[Cara]

You could use it for a day or two in a pinch, but not for the next 7 weeks. It is extremely low in protein, usually around 8%. Chicks starter is usually 18-22%. Wild bird food is also too high in fiber, usually double a chick's requirements. Wild bird food is basically scratch grains with even less nutrition.

It just wouldn't be a wise idea with the time and money invested in raising chicks, as worst case they may not make it, and they will probably be stunted at best.

 

[chuckzoo]

I only have two chickens and can't get a 5lb bag of starter for love or money. It took them 3 months to eat a 25lb bag so I don't want to buy more medicated food when they are getting close to laying. Our feed stores only have medicated starter or layer pellets. Can I mix some layer pellets with something else? What can I feed in the meantime?

 

[pips&peeps]

Put an ad on craigslist and maybe some nice soul will sell you a small portion of their chick start or grower. Or, you can sell someone half of your bag.

They do not need layer feed yet and bird food is for birds.

 

[Cara]

Layer pellets are too high in calcium, believe me i've found out the hard way. On a couple of occasions when I ran out of starter I gave them layer feed, and it was not pretty either time. I had 'floppy' chickens; they seem to lose control of their legs and flap around on the ground. It looked like they were doing the splits. The first time I put it down to illness, the second time I got the message. They were 3 or 4 months old. The second lot recovered quickly when given chick starter, the first I didn't realise and put them down

Medicated starter won't do you any harm if you're eating the eggs, and you can add oyster shell to it ($5 a bag) for calcium.

 

[chuckzoo]

Thanks guys! I think I'll just go and get another 25LB bag of the medicated chick food and when they start laying give the rest away. I love them dearly and certainly don't want ANYTHING bad to happen to them or have them have any health problems. Thanks for taking the time to reply.

 

[coffeelady3]

Check at the feed store to see if you can buy a smaller amount. One store near me sells by the pound, and another sells 10 pound bags.