This is my first time having chickens, and I know that you are supposed to feed them chick starter until they are around 8 weeks, then developer until they start laying or 20 weeks (whichever comes first), and then start feeding the lay mash along with a calcium supplment of eggshells or oyster shells. My feed store did not carry any developer feed, so I was told I should just stick to starter until it was laying time. The problem I had was that through some bad circumstances, I ran out of chick feed the same time that my feed store ran out of chick feed and for some reason they would not be able to order any more for a few weeks. I had to buy lay mash and feed it to them, or they wouldn't have anything to eat. The chickens were only 2 months old at the time, and they have now been on that feed for one month. My question is, should I switch back to starter feed or keep them on layer mash? Will this affect their health and egg laying ability later on?
