Differences in chicken feed and can chickens use a small animal water bottle with the little metal ball?

[Donamal]

So I am new to chickens but I'm taking in a lot of information and having fun learning. There is something that is perplexing me however and it has to do with chicken food So... I know that there are different kinds. You've got pellets of all sizes depending on the type of chicken. Then you have stuff called crumble, stuff referred to as MASH, you have medicated crumble that I think is made for chicks? Grower feed, also for chicks? Then you have stuff called "scratch". There may be more, but Im starting here. What is the dfference in all of these things? This is what I assume. To me pellets are kind self explanitory in that they are a "complete feed for mature chickens in a pellet form for less mess? Crumble and mash seem really similar, it all just depends on stage of life whether your feeding a grower or a layer feed? Scratch is the one throwing me a bit right now? Is this just something meant for snack type of thing? Im looking at getting some really small bantams and want to feed them well. Also, I am wondering if I can use a large water bottle, the little steel ball kind used for rabbits, or if Im better off getting the kind with the little red cup? Thanks for any help or advice!

 

[rosemarythyme]

Pellets are larger formed pieces of ground up feed. There's different sizes depending on the manufacturer's processing machines.

Crumble is smaller smashed pieces of pellets.

Mash is one of two things: either nearly powderized pellets/crumbles, or a minimally processed whole grain feed.

Medicated feed generally contains a low dose of coccidiostat to counter the coccidiosis parasite.

Grower feed is generally fed between the "chick" stage and adult stage. Usually has less protein than chick starter. Lower calcium than layer.

Scratch is a treat and not a complete feed. Fun for kids and husbands-who-think-like-kids to toss a handful to the birds now and then, and useful for training them. Chickens can easily get fat on gorging on treats so if you choose to use scratch or other treats you want to keep it under 10% of their daily intake.

No experience with either of those waterer types, so I can't give feedback on those. For chicks I use a standard mason jar style gravity waterer, for adults a bucket with horizontal nipples.

 

[Gax000]

I use the kind with the red cup and it works great. Easy to clean and easy for the chicks to use.

 

[Perris]

you might find this useful
https://www.poultrydvm.com/feeds.php
click on the different tabs for explanations and/or photos of the options and to select something appropriate for your needs, e.g. species = chicken, feed form = mash etc.

welcome to BYC btw!