Crumbles vs Pellets

[crooked stripe]

At what age - size do you change from crumbles to pellets and how often do you offer oyster shells? I have buff orps, black australorps and leghorns. I forgot to mention they are 16 weeks. John

 

[Lazy J Farms Feed & Hay]

The form of the feed isn't as important as the nutrient profile of the feed. The layer feeds I use and sell are crumblized and we get along very well.

Jim

 

[Dawn419]

Hi John,

We started out feeding crumbles for our laying girls but switched to pellet as the ladies loved to bill-out the crumbles and make a huge mess. Since switching them over to pellets, we no longer have that problem.

We keep oyster shell available for them at all times, once they start laying. You can also give them egg shells for extra calcium. I rinse the shells, bake them at 250-300 for a few minutes, usually 15 minutes, unless I get side-tracked (to kill any bacteria). Then I crush them up beyond recognition and add them in with the oyster shell.

Hope this helps!

Dawn

 

[crooked stripe]

When I bought my layer feed I tried to buy oyster shells but had to buy 50lbs. I though that would be way to much so I passed it up. The lady at the farm cooperative said as long as I was feeding Purina Mills Layina I didn't need them unless I was having some problems with the shells. True or false? John

 

[Mrs MIA]

My understanding is that "layer" feed has extra calcium in it already, which is why you only want to feed it to laying hens. Roosters and babies don't need the extra calcium, so if you have a mixture of ages/sexes, it's best to just get regular feed and have a hopper of oyster shell available for the hens.

 

[Love my Critters!]

Quick question. I use layer feed by Purina, and my roo (Romeo) eats it, so do some of my younger pullets. Will this hurt them?

 

[@migocontodos~]

To date (30+ years of chickens) I've never seen any ill effects of them eating the feed!

 

[Bawkadoodledoo]

my girls and boys had starter crumbles then grower crumbles then layer pellets without fuss.