Chick starter vs. grower?

[howdyitsmia]

That's a LOT of chickens!!

Haha yeah! I have a thread on them if you want to read it https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/raising-400-chicks.1422938/page-2

 

[BDutch]

There are a lot of different types of feed, some chick feed is meant for chicks that become laying hens. Other chick feed with more proteins is meant for broilers.
Chicks really don’t need so much proteins to grow if you don’t mind if they grow a bit slower /more natural with less muscles.

Where I live the amount of proteins in feed for BYC chicks is 15-18% and definitely lower as in the US. And the organic starter feed I gave them has only 14,5% and is even lower in proteins than the normal (with gmo soy and corn) chick start feed. My chickens never had health problems and are still healthy after 6 years.

I doubt if its okay to give chick feed all the time to adult chickens. I wouldnt anyway. Because its not meant (not optimised) for laying hens or older hens. And also because its more expensive.

 

[howdyitsmia]

There are a lot of different types of feed, some chick feed is meant for chicks that become laying hens. Other chick feed with more proteins is meant for broilers.
Chicks really don’t need so much proteins to grow if you don’t mind if they grow a bit slower /more natural with less muscles.

Where I live the amount of proteins in feed for BYC chicks is 15-18% and definitely lower as in the US. And the organic starter feed I gave them has only 14,5% and is even lower in proteins than the normal (with gmo soy and corn) chick start feed. My chickens never had health problems and are still healthy after 6 years.

I doubt if its okay to give chick feed all the time to adult chickens. I wouldnt anyway. Because its not meant (not optimised) for laying hens or older hens. And also because its more expensive.

Thanks. I've decided it would be best to switch to a grower feed because I read that too much protein can give hens kidney and liver problems, so I'm bumping it down to 16% rather than 20%. These are layers, not broilers, so i'd rather they didn't grow so big so fast.