Can my flock stay on pullet grower ?

[RooChick]

Hi everyone,

When I first bought my chickens, they were on Barastoc Darling Downs Layer Mix.
Then I moved the whole flock onto chick starter, then pullet grower as I was raising chicks.

Now the chicks are old enough to eat the Barastoc Darling Downs Layer Mix, so I have switched them all back to this and they don't seem to be eating it ?

Can I move them all back onto pullet grower and shellgrit or is it unhealthy for them to stay on pullet grower ?
Or have they stopped eating because it's winter ?
Or don't they like the layer mix because they are in a pellet form and the pullet grower was a crumble ?

Thanks !

 

[JaeG]

It could well be that winter has slowed down their food intake. Unless they are laying they don't eat all that much in winter. I've really noticed it this winter with my girls and I think it's because I've started fermenting their feed which means they need to eat less of it anyway.

My chickens seem to prefer crumbles over pellets if I do feed dry food so it could be that too. I don't think there's any harm to keeping them on grower feed but you may be able to find a layers crumble to try.

 

[PD-Riverman]

Hi everyone,

When I first bought my chickens, they were on Barastoc Darling Downs Layer Mix.
Then I moved the whole flock onto chick starter, then pullet grower as I was raising chicks.

Now the chicks are old enough to eat the Barastoc Darling Downs Layer Mix, so I have switched them all back to this and they don't seem to be eating it ?

Can I move them all back onto pullet grower and shellgrit or is it unhealthy for them to stay on pullet grower ?
Or have they stopped eating because it's winter ?
Or don't they like the layer mix because they are in a pellet form and the pullet grower was a crumble ?

Thanks !

My chickens don't like pellets----they might eat it if I left it in their pans----after a few days of them leaving it alone----I just grind it and they are back to eating good.

 

[igorsMistress]

You can leave them on grower. I have my chickens on it with oyster shell on the side. I feed back egg shells too, which seems to be preferred over the oyster shell.

I am feeding this way because I have a rooster who doesn't need the calcium.

I've read that chickens can be picky, mine are about their feed too. So it could be taste, the fact that it's pellets, which could be too big, or the winter. Maybe break up the pellets a bit or slowly switch over instead of a sudden change and see what happens.

 

[PD-Riverman]

Nothing wrong at all with feeding a feed where the rooster does not eat layer feed, but in my 50+ years of raising chickens, all my roosters eat layer and probably 90%+/- of chicken raisers feed their roosters layer with no problem. Just for info.

Now as stated in a recent post on this subject----if I was growing out a group of roosters only----no I would not feed them layer.

 

[GC-Raptor]

Hi everyone,

When I first bought my chickens, they were on Barastoc Darling Downs Layer Mix.
Then I moved the whole flock onto chick starter, then pullet grower as I was raising chicks.

Now the chicks are old enough to eat the Barastoc Darling Downs Layer Mix, so I have switched them all back to this and they don't seem to be eating it ?

Can I move them all back onto pullet grower and shellgrit or is it unhealthy for them to stay on pullet grower ?
Or have they stopped eating because it's winter ?
Or don't they like the layer mix because they are in a pellet form and the pullet grower was a crumble ?

Thanks !

Is that an old bag of feed that was leftover when you switched to starter grower? It could be stale.
I switched from crumbles to pellets by mixing 50/50 for 2 weeks, and tossing a small amount of pellets on dry ground daily.
You can continue to feed grower. Just make sure it's 16% protein or higher. Switch to chick starter if not, or an All-Flock feed with oyster shell or whatever you have down under for calcium, in a separate container. GC

 

[Flock4fun]

I have a mixed flock right now. Some are laying, and some are only a couple months old. Everyone prefers the grower. The young ones are eating the layer pellets because the older chickens will eat all their feed and wont let them have any, so they go over to the other feeder. I will try layer crumble next to see if this makes a difference, but Im wondering if I can just switch over to the grower for all?

 

[GC-Raptor]

I will try layer crumble next to see if this makes a difference, but Im wondering if I can just switch over to the grower for all?

Yes you can feed Grower to all, but you'll need to put out a container of Oyster Shells for the hens.

GC