Chicken diet as they grow up

[wesley m]

I have 11 chicks, most are probably only a week old, a couple aren't quite a week old yet, and one is over a week (has most of its wing feathers). Currently they are eating IFA medicated chicken feed (its ground super fine). When can they start eating treats? When should I switch from the medicated feed to non medicated? I heard that you shouldn't feed them the medicated feed once they are laying, is this true? What is the best nonmedicated food for chickens? and where can I get it. IFA is my only legit farm supply shop aside from a local business thats super small. Also how old should they be when they are introduced to grit? and this isnt their diet but how old should they be before I move them to their coop I am building. The coop is 4ftx4ft and it will be in their run which will be 21ftx10ft. The coop is just a plywood box thats 2 ft tall. It has one door with a ramp going down, I will most likely cut a couple windows in the side with chicken wire covering them to give it ventilation since it gets up to 112 degrees where I live.

 

[JanO]

I have 11 chicks, most are probably only a week old, a couple aren't quite a week old yet, and one is over a week (has most of its wing feathers). Currently they are eating IFA medicated chicken feed (its ground super fine). When can they start eating treats? When should I switch from the medicated feed to non medicated? I heard that you shouldn't feed them the medicated feed once they are laying, is this true? What is the best nonmedicated food for chickens? and where can I get it. IFA is my only legit farm supply shop aside from a local business thats super small. Also how old should they be when they are introduced to grit? and this isnt their diet but how old should they be before I move them to their coop I am building. The coop is 4ftx4ft and it will be in their run which will be 21ftx10ft. The coop is just a plywood box thats 2 ft tall. It has one door with a ramp going down, I will most likely cut a couple windows in the side with chicken wire covering them to give it ventilation since it gets up to 112 degrees where I live.

For starters, until they are at least 8 weeks old they should only have chick starter, medicated or not is your choice. Personally I don't feed medicated anything because I don't like the idea of medications in my animals feed. When they are old enough to come out of the brooder, at about 8 weeks when they are fully feathered you can introduce regular chicken scratch that is readily available at most feed stores. There are various varieties of chicken feed, some with multiple grains that are very good. You can use any one of them. I also don't feed grit, but mine are free ranged and I don't see a need for it. I do feed layer crumbles mixed with their feed. When they are older, at least 8 weeks old, you can toss them some fruit, kitchen scraps like rice or noodles, veggies, or other goodies, but not until they are weaned onto regular chicken feed.

For 11 chickens your coop and run seems awfully small. Chickens need space so I'd reconsider my coop/run design if I were you. There are some fantastic ideas on this forum. Especially since you're in a warm climate they need space, ventilation, water and SHADE. When I lived in the California desert where the average temps in the summer were normally 115+, my coop (12x 12x6) walls were chain link wire on 3 sides with a solid back wall and solid roof, the run was a 24x30 enclosure under a huge tree; I'd cover the side walls of the coop with plastic tarps in the winter, and never had a problem.

Also, I brood all of mine in the coop, but I have a separate pen with a heat source inside my coop that they live in until they are old enough to come out and mingle with the rest of the flock. Don't let them out until they are fully feathered, about 8 weeks of age. By this time they should be big enough to protect themselves, or at least get out of the way if necessary.

 

[wesley m]

Thank you. I realize it is a little small but it is the best I can do. The coop is on legs that take it 2 feet off the ground. If need be I can enclose the bottom as well which will make it a 2 story coop or 2 4x4 coops. That should work better i think. Can you train the chickens to go into their coop at night? (meaning half of them in the top coop and half in the bottom?) Or will they figure it out on their own?

 

[ChickensRDinos]

Around 8 weeks or so should be enough of medicated feed. If you have more go ahead and finish the bag but you do not want to continue it a whole lot longer. It is not a food for adult birds.

After that buy a non-medicated starter, a grower, or a flock raiser feed. There are a lot of food choices for chicken feeds and most of them are just personal preference. The biggest rule is NEVER give young birds layer feed. Layer feed is for laying hens only and has a high amount of calcium that is bad for young birds. Other than that you are most likely fine.

Once your hens get around laying age you have some choices. You can stick with a grower, flock raiser or non-medicated starter and add a calcium source. The most common is oyster shell, You can just leave it out all the time in a separate bowl. This is a good option if you have birds of different ages, or have hens and roosters in the same flock or have any breeds that do not lay as frequently, Laying hens need extra calcium to make egg shells. If calcium is provided separately birds will only eat it as needed so hens can eat a lot and the roos and non laying birds won't eat as much.

OR you can give them some calcium on the side and once all your birds are laying switch to a layer feed. Once you switch to a layer the separately calcium source will not be necessary. If you have a flock of all laying hens of the same age this may be easier and a lot of people do this. Some even feed it to mixed flocks with roos but it is not the ideal nutrition for any bird that is not laying regularly. I personally go with option 1 and keep calcium on the side.

If your birds are outside in a big area and are roaming around then they will find their own grit. If they are confined a lot you may want to give them some.

Scratch is just a snack. It is generally corn based with some other grains mixed in but you can find alternatives if you are doing a corn-free diet. It is not necessary and you do not want to over feed scratch.

All other choices are really just about your goals and your flock. medicated or non medicated for your young babies? organic or non organic feed? soy or animal protein? All up to you.

I second Jans concern about the size of your coop. The general rule of thumb is 4 sq ft per birds inside the coop with 10-12inches of roost space and 10 sq ft per bird in the run. Overcrowding can cause serious problems.

Good luck!

 

[JanO]

Let them figure it out on their own, but they will need more height than a foot. They may all decide that they want the top shelf, but if they are uncomfortable they will mingle to the lower one. The big thing is where they feel secure and safe. They will huddle, sometimes for warmth, sometimes for companionship. They should naturally go in at dusk without any training. Inside means safety to them, so I wouldn't worry about it too much, however during the day you want them to have space. They like to sleep on a roost, off of the ground, so if you can give them one they will use it.

 

[cafarmgirl]

With that small a coop housing that many birds, only two feet tall, and the temps you said you get, ventilation is going to be a big issue. They are going to get really hot in there on summer nights, a box fan would be a really good idea. I live in central CA, it gets pretty hot here in the summer but 112 is very rare and we don't have a lot of heavy humidity. I have a much larger coop with fewer birds then that and the coop is fully open, covered in hardware cloth, on the front. I still run a fan from mid-afternoon well into the evening when it's hot, especially when we do have humidity.

 

[wesley m]

Yeah I plan on cuttibg large windows in my coop and covering them with wire to make vents. I like the box fan idea. We have practically zero humidity here so hopefully that helps me out. There is going to be plenty of shade in their run because I have a tree in the middle of it. I will be covering the coop with chicken wire so I could put a tarp over it as well to add some shade. They will always have plenty of water. I thought chickens were more sensitive to cols than hot so that's why I built a closed coop.

 

[wesley m]

Yeah I plan on cuttibg large windows in my coop and covering them with wire to make vents. I like the box fan idea. We have practically zero humidity here so hopefully that helps me out. There is going to be plenty of shade in their run because I have a tree in the middle of it. I will be covering the coop with chicken wire so I could put a tarp over it as well to add some shade. They will always have plenty of water. I thought chickens were more sensitive to cols than hot so that's why I built a closed coop.

 

[cafarmgirl]

They actually handle the cold much better then heat as long as they have a good shelter to get out of the weather. Heat is a killer. If they have deep shade, like shade from a thick tree, a place to wet their feet and having the air moving, such as a fan, they do ok.