There are different types of feed. Other than calcium in Layer, the main difference in them is the percent protein in the feed. Different brands come in different per cent protein. I’ll give some “normal” ranges, but certain brands can be a bit different. And I’m only listing the ones recommended for chickens to keep it simpler.
Starter – 22 % to 24%
Grower – 16%
Developer or Grower/Developer – 15%
Combined Starter/Grower – 20%
Layer – 16%
Flock Raiser – 20%
A lot of studies have been made concerning what should be fed when. These studies are based on the commercial chicken industry and center around efficiency. They are looking at the most inexpensive feeds that will grow the chickens to where they are laying the best eggs at the best size at the right time when they are raised under commercial conditions. They are also using special chickens bred for the commercial egg laying industry, not the chicken breeds you probably have. My point is that we can learn a lot from these studies, but don’t get too hung up on them. We are generally not commercial chicken raisers.
We do a lot of different things and they all pretty much work. In my opinion, the general idea should be to give them a fairly high protein feed the first 4 to 8 weeks to give them a good start in life and help them get feathered out faster. Then I like to back off the protein content some to allow their body to mature as it grows. I don’t want their body to develop faster than the skeleton that has to support it, for example. Don’t get too stressed out by this though. You range of what is OK is pretty wide.
I’d suggest for the first 4 to 8 weeks, you either feed a Starter, maybe 22% to 24% protein, then whenever that bag runs out after 4 weeks, switch to a 16% Grower or a 20% Starter/Grower or 20% Flock Raiser. If the Starter is not available, you can use a 20% Starter/Grower combination or 20% Flock Raiser. You can feed a 20% feed from Day 1 until you switch to Layer. After 13 weeks or so of age, you can switch to a 15% Developer or Grower/Developer until you switch to Layer. It really does not matter. The confusion comes in because so many things work, not because you are that limited.
The only rules I have for feeding my chicks is to not feed them high levels of calcium until they start to lay or hit 20 weeks of age. This is backed up by studies where they feed the chicks Layer from Day 1 and cut the chicks open to look at the internal organs. Excess calcium can cause damage to growing chicks.
My other rule is just a personal preference type of thing. After the Starter runs out somewhere between 4 to 8 weeks of age, I don’t feed anything higher in protein than 20%. I want my layers to mature as they grow and not outgrow their maturity, skeleton as well as internal organ development. I don’t have any studies to back that up, just a personal preference.
All the major brands of chicken feed are ground up pretty fine, then they may be reformed into pellets or crumbles. There is no real difference in the nutrition in them because of the shape. And since they have previously been ground up, the chicken does not need grit to grind up crumbles or pellets in its gizzard. The different shapes (mash, crumbles, or pellets) are for different automatic feeding systems. I have had chicks that would not eat the bigger pieces of the crumbles, so I ground those up in a food processor, but after three or four days, they preferred the larger pieces. I’ve never had a problem with older chickens not eating the pellets if they got a little hungry.
Not all starter is medicated. You really need to look at the label if it is medicated to see if it is medicated and what the “medicated” part is. Usually it is Amprolium or some variation of that, but not always. If it is an Amprolium-type product, it is not an antibiotic. In the levels in the medicated feed, it simply reduces the number of protozoa that can cause Coccidiosis that reproduce in the chick’s intestines. It does not kill all of them and does not stop them all from breeding, just reduces the numbers that reproduce. The chick can still build up immunity to that variety of protozoa. There are different types of protozoa that can cause Coccidiosis. Immunity to one does not give immunity to all. Coccidiosis becomes a problem when the numbers of the protozoa get out of hand. Smaller numbers are not a problem.
Many of us don’t feed medicated feed. There is absolutely nothing wrong with feeding chicks medicated Starter. It does not hurt a thing. If Coccidiosis is a problem for you, it can be a good thing. But for a lot of us, it is not necessary.
Starter – 22 % to 24%
Grower – 16%
Developer or Grower/Developer – 15%
Combined Starter/Grower – 20%
Layer – 16%
Flock Raiser – 20%
A lot of studies have been made concerning what should be fed when. These studies are based on the commercial chicken industry and center around efficiency. They are looking at the most inexpensive feeds that will grow the chickens to where they are laying the best eggs at the best size at the right time when they are raised under commercial conditions. They are also using special chickens bred for the commercial egg laying industry, not the chicken breeds you probably have. My point is that we can learn a lot from these studies, but don’t get too hung up on them. We are generally not commercial chicken raisers.
We do a lot of different things and they all pretty much work. In my opinion, the general idea should be to give them a fairly high protein feed the first 4 to 8 weeks to give them a good start in life and help them get feathered out faster. Then I like to back off the protein content some to allow their body to mature as it grows. I don’t want their body to develop faster than the skeleton that has to support it, for example. Don’t get too stressed out by this though. You range of what is OK is pretty wide.
I’d suggest for the first 4 to 8 weeks, you either feed a Starter, maybe 22% to 24% protein, then whenever that bag runs out after 4 weeks, switch to a 16% Grower or a 20% Starter/Grower or 20% Flock Raiser. If the Starter is not available, you can use a 20% Starter/Grower combination or 20% Flock Raiser. You can feed a 20% feed from Day 1 until you switch to Layer. After 13 weeks or so of age, you can switch to a 15% Developer or Grower/Developer until you switch to Layer. It really does not matter. The confusion comes in because so many things work, not because you are that limited.
The only rules I have for feeding my chicks is to not feed them high levels of calcium until they start to lay or hit 20 weeks of age. This is backed up by studies where they feed the chicks Layer from Day 1 and cut the chicks open to look at the internal organs. Excess calcium can cause damage to growing chicks.
My other rule is just a personal preference type of thing. After the Starter runs out somewhere between 4 to 8 weeks of age, I don’t feed anything higher in protein than 20%. I want my layers to mature as they grow and not outgrow their maturity, skeleton as well as internal organ development. I don’t have any studies to back that up, just a personal preference.
All the major brands of chicken feed are ground up pretty fine, then they may be reformed into pellets or crumbles. There is no real difference in the nutrition in them because of the shape. And since they have previously been ground up, the chicken does not need grit to grind up crumbles or pellets in its gizzard. The different shapes (mash, crumbles, or pellets) are for different automatic feeding systems. I have had chicks that would not eat the bigger pieces of the crumbles, so I ground those up in a food processor, but after three or four days, they preferred the larger pieces. I’ve never had a problem with older chickens not eating the pellets if they got a little hungry.
Not all starter is medicated. You really need to look at the label if it is medicated to see if it is medicated and what the “medicated” part is. Usually it is Amprolium or some variation of that, but not always. If it is an Amprolium-type product, it is not an antibiotic. In the levels in the medicated feed, it simply reduces the number of protozoa that can cause Coccidiosis that reproduce in the chick’s intestines. It does not kill all of them and does not stop them all from breeding, just reduces the numbers that reproduce. The chick can still build up immunity to that variety of protozoa. There are different types of protozoa that can cause Coccidiosis. Immunity to one does not give immunity to all. Coccidiosis becomes a problem when the numbers of the protozoa get out of hand. Smaller numbers are not a problem.
Many of us don’t feed medicated feed. There is absolutely nothing wrong with feeding chicks medicated Starter. It does not hurt a thing. If Coccidiosis is a problem for you, it can be a good thing. But for a lot of us, it is not necessary.
