different ages in flock

[jennychick45]

I have 16 chickens in total. 6 of them are white leghorns and are around 6 months and one of them has been laying one egg a day for 4 days. (I think it is the same chicken) and then I have 6 chickens (2 barred rock one buttercup one bantam and 2 white leghorns) that are around 5 months in age. The last 4 are red sex links and they are about 4 months old. My question is for the one leghorn that is laying what can i feed her besides layer feed because the other chickens are so far from laying? Thanks in advance.

 

[lightchick]

I'm going to just keep on feeding chick starter until all my pullets start laying and just have oyster shell grit available at all times.

 

[RJSorensen]

It would help to know what you are feeding now. I assume that it is not layer feed. So that leaves us with starter and grower/finisher, you must have one of these that you are using now? There is a pellet that is called Feather Fixer that can be fed to the whole flock and I think Purina makes a general flock feed that works for everything as well. You might look into one or the other of these.

Best to you and your birds,

RJ

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Many people choose to feed a grower feed/flock raiser/all-flock feed for the life of their birds - layers can easily be supplemented with oyster shell and other sources of calcium to make up for the fact that non-layer feeds do not have the added calcium in them - and the increased protein vs. that in a layer ration can be advantageous. This approach is very helpful for those who have flocks of actively laying birds with birds currently out of lay and roosters and/or chicks.

 

[Bird Lady]

I also have different ages in my flock, 2 yr olds( buffs and wyndottes) that lay and 3+ months ( one of which is a roo), they are intergrated now during the day, however I have noticed the hens are eating more of the starter crumbles than the lay pellets. My concern is there enough protein in the crumbles for the egg layers? I have 2 areas of feed, water and oyster shell so there is no fighting for feed. Egg laying has almost but stopped so Im concerned for the type of food or is it adding the newbies during the day?

thanks for any input

Love my chickens

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

I also have different ages in my flock, 2 yr olds( buffs and wyndottes) that lay and 3+ months ( one of which is a roo), they are intergrated now during the day, however I have noticed the hens are eating more of the starter crumbles than the lay pellets. My concern is there enough protein in the crumbles for the egg layers? I have 2 areas of feed, water and oyster shell so there is no fighting for feed. Egg laying has almost but stopped so Im concerned for the type of food or is it adding the newbies during the day?

thanks for any input

Love my chickens

Starter crumbles have a higher protein content than layer pellets - so eating more of the former than the latter is not going to cause a lack of protein. How long has your flock been mixed together? Have your older birds had their first big molt (generally around 18 months of age or so) - and, if so, how well did they return to lay after that?

 

[jennychick45]

They have not molted yet the oldest are around 6 months and 2 of them are laying out of the 16 chickens. One just started laying today and the other has been laying for 5 days. They have been mixed for about 4 months approximately. I picked up oyster shells today. Do I need to have grit available too?