Eight years in, and I'm just now learning this

[natemoore1986]

My first flock was all hens, so it didn't matter, but my second flock had an accidental rooster. He's been eating layer pellets for 5 years now. Didn't know the calcium could hurt his liver. I did feed them all chick start and grow until they were fully grown, however.

The couple of times my BO sat on two or three eggs, I separated her and the chicks from the rest of the flock for their own protection, but still just fed them all layer pellets. That wasn't really consequential because I only got one pullet out of those and it got killed by a grey hawk; the cockerels got eaten by someone.

But now, I do have a FBCM cockerel/almost rooster that I intend on keeping, so I'd better see if my Ace Hardware has mix flock feed.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Most bags of feed have pretty explicit feeding instructions. All layer feed say something to the effect that the feed is for laying hens. If they aren't laying eggs, they aren't layers.
Many people don't believe that it is a problem for roosters but I believe that is because when a rooster dies for unknown cause, they don't have a necropsy to learn the reason.

 

[natemoore1986]

I did a quick search for all flock feed in my area, on amazon, and on Chewy. Two to four times as expensive as the layer pellets I've been feeding them.

Well, Buck was the test case. He's 5 years old. Looks like they're all getting layer pellets.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I did a quick search for all flock feed in my area, on amazon, and on Chewy. Two to four times as expensive as the layer pellets I've been feeding them.

Well, Buck was the test case. He's 5 years old. Looks like they're all getting layer pellets.

Where are you located?
Most feed stores around me carry starter and all flock (except the one closest to me).
You could add a hanging feeder that is too high for the hens to access and put scratch grains in it. That will cut his calcium and protein intake that is better for roosters.

 

[natemoore1986]

Where are you located?
Most feed stores around me carry starter and all flock (except the one closest to me).
You could add a hanging feeder that is too high for the hens to access and put scratch grains in it. That will cut his calcium and protein intake that is better for roosters.

Gulf Breeze, FL.

Oh, so I could feed my two almost roosters scratch grains exclusively? I can do that right now.

I have one hen that will leap two feet vertically to grab leaf on a plant that I have surrounded with chicken wire. I could imagine her leaping up, picking a single grain of corn, and doing that repeatedly until it's all gone.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Not exclusively. They will still eat some of the layer feed if they are running with your flock. My thought was that they would fill up on the scratch and the protein and calcium in the layer would be appropriate.
But no chicken can live entirely on scratch.

As for the hen, mine will leap for a leaf but they won't continually leap for a bite of feed or seed.