Different-age poultry on same feed?

[inbox1803]

We have 1yr old hens and 10wk old pullets. They are separated in our coop now, each w/their own food, but this is getting to be a mgmt problem. Can I feed them all either layer or grower? Which one? Pros/Cons?

Thanks for any help!

 

[debid]

Feed them all grower feed and just have a calcium supplement available free choice (I use oyster shell). There are feeds labeled "all flock" that will work fine for this purpose. Do not feed chicks layer feed.

 

[Pine Roost]

I was wondering the exact same thing. i have 6 rir's about 10 weeks old, and have someone that wants me to take 4 bantams off their hands that are 1.5 yrs old. So if I understand correctly, I should feed all birds what I am using right now, but have a calcium suppliment (oyster shell) available?

 

[inbox1803]

Well... I got an unsatisfactory reply from McMurray Hatchery (didn't really answer my question about which to use or health-wise downsides to either, just that calcium was for hardening eggshells, which I knew).

So I called Blue Seal Feeds (a local New England company) and they said that feeding grower feed to laying hens will add too much fat/protein and make them gain weight and impair their ability to lay. On the other hand, feeding layer pellets to 10-week olds may not have enough nutrition for them to grow into good layers. Sort of a "which came first..." dilemma. They suggested deciding which group was more important, and serving that group's needs.

There must be a compromise since wild birds don't have someone serve them dinner based on their age?

 

[Ridgerunner]

Different feed brands have different analyses. This comparison shows what is available to me at Tractor Supply. It's been a while since I did this comparison but I think the first two were Dumors and the Flock Raiser was Purina. That feed company may have different analyses for their feeds. The best way to know is to look at the label on the ones available to you.

................. 16% Layer .............. 15% Grower ...... Flock Raiser
Protein ............ 16 .................. 15 .................... 20
Lysine ............ 0.7 .................. 0.65 .................. 0.95
Methionine .... 0.35 .................. 0.29 .................. 0.35
Crude Fat ...... 2.5 .................... 2.7 .................. 3.5
Crude Fiber ....... 7 .................... 5 .................... 5
Min Calcium ...... 3.8 ............... 0.6 .................. 0.8
Max Calcium ...... 4.8 ............... 1.1 .................. 1.3
Phosphorus ...... 0.5 ............... 0.6 .................. 0.7
Min Salt ............ 0.25 ............. 0.2 .................. 0.35
Max Salt ............ 0.75 ............. 0.4 .................. 0.85

As you can see from this, what they said does not apply to the feed available to me. The big difference in Layer and Grower is Calcium. I don't consider anything else to be significant except the protein.

There are several studies that show feeding Layer to growing chicks is harmful because of the calcium. The problem with those studies to answer your question is that those studies start out feeding Layer to chicks from Day 1. I'm not aware of any relevant studies where they started feeding Layer at 4 week, 8 weeks, anything like that. I don't know at what age starting to feed layer with the extra calcium actually causes harm.

Something else to consider. If they are foraging for some of their feed or they eat a significant amount of something other than the feed you give them, the effects of the feed are not as great. It's not about what percentage of calcium they get in some of their feed. It's about how much calcium they take in over a day's time. And the effects are not instantaneous. One bite won't kill them. It's what they eat over a period of several days or even weeks that counts.

When I have a mixed age flock, which is most of the time, I feed Starter or Grower with oyster shell on the side.

 

[1muttsfan]

They really should not eat layer ration until they are close to laying, more like around 18 weeks old; they are still growing during this time and excess calcium can cause damage to the kidneys. Either a flock rations or a grower/finisher would work fine.

I fed Flock Raiser this summer and found my eggs to be very thin-shelled, even with oyster shell available free-choice.

 

[cleopatra]

I have a flock of 5. One is at 30 weeks and is laying, two are at 21 weeks and almost ready to lay, and two are at 17 weeks and not laying. I wondered if laying pellets (Wendland brand - 20% protein and 3.5% calcium) would be alright for all of them. Right now we are feeding Dumour growing pellets with free choice oyster shell. We just found out that Dumour has plant protein instead of animal protein so that's why we've decided to switch. I was just concerned about my two 17 week olds. They don't seem like they'll be ready to lay for at least 6 - 8 weeks longer. Any advice would be appreciated since we just started all this chicken business this past June and are still learning.

 

[debid]

I used Flock Raiser with oyster shell on the side with my chickens until all of them were laying. This meant that some of them had been laying for many months. Their shells were like rocks while on this feed and there are no fat chickens here. I only switched because the local layer feed is significantly less expensive.

 

[Cindy in PA]

Your chickens will be fine at 17 weeks on layer.