chick starter?

[Justino]

how old does a chick need to be to not have to eat chick starter? when i let my 9 week old silkies out they eat the big hens food so i thought"why dont i just feed em that?" is it ok to feed em that at this age?

 

[CoyoteMagic]

I'm no expert but what I read is:

Chick starter won't hurt your big girls
But
Your layer feed isn't good for your chicks.

You can always suplement your chick starter with free access calcium (in my case, crushed egg shells) for your big girls.

Please all you "Obiwans" tell me if I got this wrong. I've got 20 1month olds getting ready to join the big girls

 

[Red]

On the back of our chick feed it says to stop feeding them it at 16 weeks old, but i'm not sure if that's the age for this particular feed...I think it's somewhere around 18 - 20 weeks they can eat adult feed, but

 

[twigg]

Quote:
That is because your chickens don't need the extra protein, or meds, but they do need much more calcium, so they want you to change to a better formulated feed.

 

[speedabug]

I have always started to give my chicks adult food when their 12 weeks old. The grow up very healthy and happy. They eat it fine and the all can digest it well. I hope this helps.