Can I use this feed?

[Danigirl3]

So my dd had softball tournaments on Saturday and we were about an hour north of where we live. We were out of chick starter as of that morning and knew we would not get home in time to get it from the Aubuchon's in our town before they closed. There was a TSC on the way home so we stopped there. First time I have been in one and loved the store by the way. Well we said we needed chick starter and were directed towards were it was kept and they had one 50lb. bag left so we figured great we won't have to buy another one until they are ready to move to the next stage of feed. Our chicks are just about 5 weeks old. Although they look a lot bigger than that to me. My dh fed and watered them that night. He fed and watered them again yesterday morning and we headed out again for tournaments. I didn't check them until last night and looked at their feed and it looked grainier than what they had been eating. The stuff they had before was more like a powder. I read the bag and it is chick started for turkey's, quail, geese, and some other birds but no mention of chickens. It says chick starter 24%. It has a picture of a chick-chicken on the bag so how confusing is that. Looking in their book it has chick starter 20% which says it's for chickens. I usually read everything and ask a lot of questions but blame it on being in the hot sun all day I didn't do either. She said this is what you need and that is what we bought. So is this ok to feed to them or should I chuck it and get the other stuff. Thanks. sorry for the long post

 

[Ridgerunner]

Starter feeds
Feed newly hatched chicks a starter diet until they are about 6 weeks old. Starter diets are formulated to give proper nutrition to fast growing baby chickens. These feeds usually contain between 18 and 20 percent protein.

It is not necessary to feed "meat bird starter" to young layer chickens. Diets formulated for starting meat chickens are higher in protein (22 percent) to maximize growth, which is not necessary or desirable for egg laying chickens and is higher in cost.

Grower and developer feeds
Once the birds reach about 6 weeks of age, substitute a grower feed for the starter. Grower feeds are about 15 or 16 percent protein and are formulated to sustain good growth to maturity.


The above is an exerpt from an Oregon State site.

http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog/html/pnw/pnw477/#anchor1132074

I'd be tempted to get a grower feed that is lower in protein and mix that with your other feed to get the protein level down, maybe 2 parts grower to 1 part of the starter.

As to the texture, mine preferred the crumbles over the powder after they reached about 1-1/2 weeks age. Until then, I was using a blender to make powder out of the crumbles. From posts on here, I understand others have had other results.

 

[Judy]

I would not think it would be a problem. You could reduce the actual amount of protein they are getting by giving extra scratch or veggies while they are on this feed. I sure wouldn't toss it.

 

[txchickie]

I've done that, grabbed the wrong bag of feed @ TSC, got the 24% instead of the regular chick starter. It will be fine, feed it to them

 

[EricT]

I agree that you will be fine feeding it to them.

 

[Chris09]

youll be fine.....
I feed mine RIR's 28%