chicks-pullets-hens

[Liliane]

I have a couple chicks that I'm planning on incorporating to a coop with adult hens.
My question is about feed.
I'm going to introduce the chicks at about 8 weeks to the adult hens at which time I plan to incorporate them fully into the "fold"? I've heard that they need to be on "grower" feed until 4-6 months of age which means I should not integrate them fully with the adult hens. On the other hand, chickens and chicks on farms have been figuring this out for hundreds of years without much fuss. Do my chicks need to be on grower feed before putting them in with the adult layer hens?

 

[sumi]

The whole flock can eat the grower feed, but the chicks must not eat layer feed until they are close to or laying. The high calcium content of layer feed is harmful to chicks and young chickens. You can offer the laying hens extra calcium in the form of oystershell or crushed egg shell in a separate container and they will help themselves as needed. On a side note, it would be better to introduce the chicks to the existing flock when they are more or less fully grown. 8 weeks is a bit young. It can be done early on, but with the chicks being so much smaller there is a bigger risk of them getting seriously injured or killed by the older chickens.

 

[Trishkabob]

i, too, read that pullets should not eat layer feed. I am trying to introduce 3 young ones to 2 olders and I have been putting grower feed on a platform the young ones can get to easily and the big girls tend not to jump to. But the big girls' feeder is accessible to the little ones. Is it problematic if they occasionally eat from it?
And are you saying that EVERYONE should be fed grower feed (with oyster shell available) until the young ones lay?
I'm afraid the young ones (10 weeks) have been snacking on layer pellets a bit....

 

[sumi]

The whole flock can eat grower, yes. The thing with layer feed is that is has high levels of calcium and phosphorous and studies have shown that a diet with high levels of these harms the young chicken's kidneys. A small amount once off won't do much harm, but large amounts or small amounts over a period of time will cause harm that may not be apparent, so it's best not to risk it.

Pullets should ideally not be fed layer feed before they are either laying or at least 18 weeks old. Layers do need extra calcium, or their stores will get depleted, so if you switch to grower you should offer them oystershell and/or crushed egg shells in a seperate feeder. The hens will know how much of it they need to eat and when, so they will help themselves. The youngsters may peck at it or eat a little bit out of curiosity, but they won't eat large amounts if they have an alternative feed available.

 

[CityChikn]

I feed grower and scratch to my hens and chicks. I tend to hand feed the scratch to help avoid them eating all scratch and nothing else AND it helps to get them tamer and used to me. I also have layer feed in a higher feeder that the hens can reach but not the chicks. They all free range too. But I do give them all access to crushed egg shells as an extra source of calcium. The chicks seem healthy and don't seem too keen on the shells yet. So I think that's a save method for integrating all of them.

 

[Liliane]

Thanks, that's helpful information about the feed.
I think I read it on this site that younger than 8 weeks is too vulnerable but older than 8 weeks the hens may see them as more of a threat. I have a hen that is broody right now and I was wondering if she might adopt them i fI introduce them to her. What do you think?

 

[CityChikn]

You could certainly try to see if your Broody hen will adopt them. I've got some 7 week old chicks hatched by a broody bantam hen and just last week at 7 weeks she has started to make the chicks go off on their own so to speak. They are large fowl, not bantams, and they are holding their own with the two bantams I've got...but they do get pecked on from time to time, but not bad. Of course they free range in a large yard so they've got plenty of room to spread out. If your broody hen won't adopt them, you'll need to plan a way to introduce them slowly. But I'd think anything under 6 or 7 weeks with out a mamma hen to help them could result in them getting pecked on a lot.