Emergency question regarding high protein feed

[humblehillsfarm]

I ordered chicks five days ago from Hoover Hatchery but paid through TSC. They said chicks would ship in 2-3 weeks. This morning, SURPRISE!!!!!!! The post office called and there are 30 peeping cornish cross chicks sitting in the post office. I call my poor city slicker roommate (I'm at work), and he was agreeable to setting up the brooder. Poor guy. He is clueless. Anyways, the only chick-sized feed I have is a 30% game bird feed. It will be around 9:30 when he can pick up and unpackage the chicks. Will they be safe to eat the game bird feed until I can pick up feed on my way home around 3PM? Or should I just not feed them until I can get the appropriate feed? I'm not sure when they hatched or how long they were in transit.

 

[Ridgerunner]

the only chick-sized feed I have is a 30% game bird feed. It will be around 9:30 when he can pick up and unpackage the chicks. Will they be safe to eat the game bird feed until I can pick up feed on my way home around 3PM? Or should I just not feed them until I can get the appropriate feed?

If you were in a perfect place where everything goes perfectly you would have been totally prepared with the "right" feed and everything else ready. Some of us don't live in that world, we live where stuff happens. Instead of doing what is "best", we have to do the best we can. Looks like that is your world today.

Those chicks just arrived and might be hungry. It's more important for them to eat something than that they eat exactly whatever you consider the right thing. That 30% feed will be fine. If you didn't have that but did have pure cornmeal, that would work for their first meal too. Over the years there have been several threads on here talking about what you can feed chicks when you don't have the perfect feed. People are caught in that situation quite often. You are not alone. I'm not talking about raising them on a steady diet of nothing but cornmeal or whatever you have, but for a few meals it won't hurt them. They will get a lot of energy from many different foods which they need to get over travel stress. One or two meals of that 30% or other things won't kill them, it will help keep them alive.

Same thing with your roommate. I'm sure they will do the best they can. It may not be perfect or the way you wind up setting it up, but the goal is to keep them alive and healthy until you get home. Water is probably more important for that than food.

Good luck with them.

 

[Molpet]

I ordered chicks five days ago from Hoover Hatchery but paid through TSC. They said chicks would ship in 2-3 weeks. This morning, SURPRISE!!!!!!! The post office called and there are 30 peeping cornish cross chicks sitting in the post office. I call more poor city slicker roommate (I'm at work), and he was agreeable to setting up the brooder. Poor guy. He is clueless. Anyways, the only chick-sized feed I have is a 30% game bird feed. It will be around 9:30 when he can pick up and unpackage the chicks. Will they be safe to eat the game bird feed until I can pick up feed on my way home around 3PM? Or should I just not feed them until I can get the appropriate feed? I'm not sure when they hatched or how long they were in transit.

Feed them that. I feed everyone 28% because I have poults. 30% is high for long term but ok for their first meal.

 

[humblehillsfarm]

Feed them that. I feed everyone 28% because I have poults. 30% is high for long term but ok for their first meal.

I've been wanting to find an all flock or something similar that is in the 22-26% range so I can feed everyone the same thing, but I don't think meat or game birds are very common in this area, because I usually can't find anything higher than 18-20%. I have to order the game bird feed from Chewy.

And thank you for the quick response. I'm sending him pictures of the supplies and where they are located for him to put everything together. He's getting a super crash course in chicken tending! And last year when I received chicks it was 95*F ambient temp in the coop, so I didn't use a heat source at all with the chicks. Today it's only 55* ambient temp.

 

[humblehillsfarm]

Wow.

I was caught unprepared with birds only arriving a day earlier than expected. A week ago I wouldn't have had an empty coop to stick them in.

Good luck with them.

We just finished expanding and prepping the coop for the meat chicks on Saturday! I just didn't have the food and water ready, I was actually planning on getting it tonight, even before them arriving early.

Same thing with your roommate. I'm sure they will do the best they can. It may not be perfect or the way you wind up setting it up, but the goal is to keep them alive and healthy until you get home. Water is probably more important for that than food.

Thank you for the encouraging words. I checked on him a couple hours later... only to find out he left them in the box under the heat lamp. It seems he didn't make the connection that we so easily assume, the point of the food and water is for them to drink it! I hope they are alright. He hasn't gotten back to me since admitting they were still in the box. He grew up and spent his entire life in Chicago. He's been fast to learn the farm, but has asked questions that's made me realize I take my basic knowledge for granted, like the assumption that all eggs are white because they are bleached. He didn't know chickens could lay white eggs.

 

[humblehillsfarm]

Okay they are all out of the box, all arrived alive, and all good!

 

[3KillerBs]

Wow.

I was caught unprepared with birds only arriving a day earlier than expected. A week ago I wouldn't have had an empty coop to stick them in.

Good luck with them.

 

[Molpet]

He grew up and spent his entire life in Chicago.

Chicago allows chickens and livestock in yards. I'm guessing he was in an apartment or no one nearby had them. LOL
Glad they are doing good.

 

[humblehillsfarm]

Chicago allows chickens and livestock in yards. I'm guessing he was in an apartment or no one nearby had them. LOL
Glad they are doing good.

Yes he said he was raised in an apartment. He was horrified when we told him these chicks were for meat, but quickly adjusted to the idea. He didn't know there was a difference between meat birds and egg laying birds.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

By and large, the problem with the wrong feed are ones of duration and dosage. I would absolutely use the 30% feed, PARTICULARLY as you have meaties. Your concerns with those are rapid growth to table, nothing else. Well, cost - but as you already have the bag, that ship has sailed.

FWIW, most of the literature I've read puts meaties in a target range of 22-24% protein first three weeks, 2% less protein next three weeks. and then finishing at either 18 or 20% after that. I've been quite please with feeding 24% straight thru, and I believe several routine posters in the meat bird threads do similarly (and post better results than I, but they both have better starting birds, and don't free range).