chicken feed

[buck1075]

i have 2 rhode island red chickens that are about 10 weeks old,my son went and bought feed at tractor supply before we got the chickens,we thought we were getting older chickens the feed is for 18 week old chickens , if they are eating it is it ok? thanks dan

 

[simplynewt]

From what I gather from my experience and what I have learned from the awesome members of BYC - the pullets need to be fed Chick Starter as it is medicated and is formulated with the things young chickens need to grow up nice and big.

What type of feed did your son purchase?

 

[JodyJo]

your new chicks need chick starter/grower till they reach POL around 20 weeks or till they start to lay eggs.

they need this food to promote proper development and bone growth. It is not suggested they eat layer feed for weeks yet.

 

[ScottyHOMEy]

They should definitely not be on a layer feed at that age.

As fars the medicated thing. If the chicks were vaccinated against coccydioisis, you do NOT want to use a medicated feed. It will negate the effects of the vaccine.

Going on the side of caution, I'd suggest a non-medicated starter-grower feed for the the next 8 weeks or so.

 

[buck1075]

ok thanks for the input on feed,iwill buy a bag of feed for younger chickens,