Chickens eating wrong starter, please advise

[fowltemptress]

My SO picked up the chick starter for turkey, pheasant, and quail instead of chicken starter by mistake. He is now on a canoe trip until Saturday, I have no car or other means of transportation, all my friends and neighbors are either on said canoe trip or enjoying their spring break elsewhere, and the chicks are here. Will they be fine on the other starter until I can pick them up the right food on Saturday, or should I consider hitch hiking?

 

[silkiechicken]

Should be fine till you can get the chick feed. Even then, a bit of the higher protein in the game bird stuff shouldn't hurt as a supplement.

 

[fowltemptress]

Oh, thanks, that's a relief. I've never had this problem and was freaking out.

 

[EweSheep]

I had my chicks on flock raiser from Purina and never had any problems.

 

[speckledhen]

Short term it won't hurt, but if it's as much as 28-30% protein, like some gamebird starter, then you can just mix in some regular starter and use both of them together, if you want to use it up. They shouldn't be in the extremely high protein for long. The 20% of FlockRaiser is great, though.

 

[tnkinhunting]

I had a similiar incident - I ordered starter & grower crumbles and happily fed it for two weeks to young cochins - 10 weeks old - it was also the medicated Pheasant food. The bags are identical - except the tags - I read everything I could find on the food and nowhere did it say it was harmful to other breeds.

In the past I always started my chicks on medicated turkey starter and they did well - this was at the suggestion of my feed store manager. So, I am using it for my young chicks. I am not saying this is the thing to do, just that it works for me.

 

[EweSheep]

Good idea SpeckledHen, mixing the higher protein feed with lower protein can balance it out and would be ok until bags runs out.

 

[fowltemptress]

It says it's 24% protein. Since it's below 28-30% protein, does that mean I can use it without worrying about getting more feed?

 

[BaronRenfrew]

Don't worry about it. If you fed normal chick starter and they caught a worm or grasshopper, that would up their protein content as well.

Chickens are pheasants anyway.

 

[tntstanifer]

I have both keets and chicks in the brooder together. I have always offered 28% and 20% in separate feeders so they can eat what they want. They are 3.5 wks old now and doing great!

Terri