Can my 8 week olds eat layer food?

[ChickenCanoe]

Thanks for the advice. No need to get mad though. I had know idea I will get them switched right away. I have been feeding my white leghorns layer food since day one and they are 27 weeks old and aren't dead. Do i need to by grower feed?

The only thing that makes me mad is when people raise chickens but don't bother to read feeding instructions on the bag of feed.

Every bag of layer feed I've ever seen in the last 40 years has a statement to the effect - "Feed as the sole ration beginning at 18 weeks of age."
Nowhere on any bag of feed that contains 4% calcium does it say it is OK to feed that to chicks from day one.
Most also have a huge chart on the back that lists ages of birds and the appropriate type of feed for that age.

These feed companies employ a staff of poultry nutritionists and formulate feed for the age of bird they are intended. That includes the proper levels of essential amino acids, minerals, vitamins, fats, fiber and energy. They don't just throw a bunch of grain together and call it 'chicken food'. It is based on over 100 years of extensive research. One should avail themselves to that wealth of knowledge by reading the feed label and understand what they're feeding.

 

[Birdine]

I get my feed from a local farmer and it does not have anything on the bag. It is just a white sack. And he sells eggs for a business. And I am still figuring out things. Thank you


Edited by Staff

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Sorry about that. I would hope that a farmer who mixes his own feed would tell someone your age that they can't feed layer feed to chicks. Perhaps he doesn't add calcium to the feed which would mean it isn't layer feed.
That would explain you not having any problem with birds developing urolithiasis.

 

[Birdine]

hummm. i don't know. I know that he sells eggs for a business and makes lots. SO I think that it does have it in there. I took your advice that day and ran to the store to get a 50lb bag bag of grower/ starter. Thank you for all your advice. How long so you think I should keep them on this feed? I need to do everything right with these birds because they are my 4-h birds THANKS!!

 

[GingersHuman]

They should stay on the grower til all of them are laying. Or, they can stay on it forever as long as you provide oyster shell free choice.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

@Birdine the next time you see this farmer that makes his own feed, ask him what the calcium % is in the feed he was selling you.
It would be good to know the protein % too.

 

[RobertPlamondon]

Hello, I have 5 8 week old chicks and since day one i have fed them layer food. They are 8 weeks old but they are not very big. I wondered if I need to provide more protein for them (sunflower seeds). Anyone know? Thank you!

Sure, no prob.

Back in WWII, in the expectation that feed deliveries would be iffy in different parts of the country, the Ohio Experiment Station tried feeding a high-calcium layer ration to pullets just out of the brooder house. Worked fine.

Much later, as reported in Leeson & Summers' Commercial Poultry Nutrition, someone got around to looking into it, and it turns out that, after 6 weeks or so, chickens gain the ability to pass through excess calcium into the feces without absorbing it first. Since it never leaves the gut, it never enters the bloodstream, and the chickens' kidneys are neither here nor there.

This, by the way, is why our roosters don't keel over and die at a very young age, even when they eat layer feed along with the hens.

A 16% layer ration will have plenty of protein for any chicken that's over 6 weeks old, except possibly broilers. It's a little short for turkeys, gamebirds, and and maybe waterfowl.

Robert

 

[Sheshe1010]

Sure, no prob.

Back in WWII, in the expectation that feed deliveries would be iffy in different parts of the country, the Ohio Experiment Station tried feeding a high-calcium layer ration to pullets just out of the brooder house. Worked fine.

Much later, as reported in Leeson & Summers' Commercial Poultry Nutrition, someone got around to looking into it, and it turns out that, after 6 weeks or so, chickens gain the ability to pass through excess calcium into the feces without absorbing it first. Since it never leaves the gut, it never enters the bloodstream, and the chickens' kidneys are neither here nor there.

This, by the way, is why our roosters don't keel over and die at a very young age, even when they eat layer feed along with the hens.

A 16% layer ration will have plenty of protein for any chicken that's over 6 weeks old, except possibly broilers. It's a little short for turkeys, gamebirds, and and maybe waterfowl.

Robert

Robert for the win! And just in time because I would like to put my 9 week old chickens in with the layers and have them all on layer pellets.

 

[Ihavesomechickens]

Robert for the win! And just in time because I would like to put my 9 week old chickens in with the layers and have them all on layer pellets.

No. No. No. Chicks under laying age SHOULD NOT be fed layer feed. It doesn’t go right past their digestive tracks, it gets absorbed like it normally does. Switch your whole flock to starter/grower if you are going to put young chickens in.

 

[Chickassan]

Chickens will eat pretty much whatever you put out.
Feeding facts, roosters and chicks love laying crumble they'll eat it like they stole it.
Should they? No.
Feeding fact #2, Everybody loves starter grower.
Adult roos and hens snap it up like a gourmet treat.
I get spontaneous tidbitting at the mere mention of "baby food".
Should everybody eat it?
For a few months during chick season, sure no harm in extra protein flock wide.
This late in the season since molting is right around the corner for anybody over a year anyway extra protein is a bonus.
Point being, you are better off feeding everybody the "baby food" for now.