different ages and different foods

[ladeefire]

I know... newb question.

I have eight 11-week old hens
One 11-week old roo
and
Two 18 week old hens that have just started to lay...

they were ALL on grower/finisher... I have a bag of Layer.... But i hear the calcium is too high for babies but are the 11 week old too young for layer?

please help.. they are free fed ... also... what do I do with oyster shells?

 

[Judy]

The young ones should not have access to the layer feed, you are right. Offer the oyster shell separately and free choice. The hens will eat i if they need it. They all need to be on something like the grower/finisher.

 

[woodhill]

My feed store only has starter/grower and then layer. The starter/grower is 20% protein. Will it be an issue to keep them on that until they reach laying age?

 

[CoyoteMagic]

None at all. They will grow into big and healthy birds. Most folks switch at first egg. I feed Purina Flock Raiser to everyone. Prevents having to buy different bags of feed for different ages

 

[NYREDS]

Must be a lot of birds are maturing now-there are several threads asking basically the same thing. Here's how I replied elsewhere.


I solved the "what to feed" problem several years ago after visiting one of the best Black Rosecomb breeders in the country. All of his birds were in beautiful condition & I asked him what he fed.
He told me he only used one feed, a high protein game bird grower. Said he fed that to chicks & adult birds alike.
I switched to this method & it has worked out very well. The birds grow well, feather quickly & stay in good condition longer. Feather quality is improved & they lay & hatch well on this feed.
I am using a 22% protein Blue Seal product called Chick n Game Bird Starter Grower. I suspect other manufacturers make similar products.
A bonus is that when I'm away at a show for the weekend I don't have to give my wife a list of who gets fed what-there's only one feed. Really simplifies things. Don't have to decide when to switch feed. Don't have to decide if I should buy another bag of Starter of switch to Grower-no decisions to make.
Works real well for me.