Feather-fixer pellets safe for baby chicks?

[SqueakyRoseShalom]

Hi everyone! Happy day! I have some sweet little week-old baby chicks that our broody hen is raising with the flock. Of course, now most of our girls are molting and I want to feed everyone some feather-fixer to get over this molt as quickly as possible.

We have two feeders in the coop. One of them is set up with steps for the babies to reach. I’m thinking of putting feather-fixer feed in the feeder that the babies cannot reach, but there will inevitably be plenty on the ground where the babies can eat it. The only difference that I see between chick starter/grower feed and the feather fixer is the crude fat— 2.5% for the starter/grower and 6% for the feather fixer, and the pellet form vs crumble. Will my babies be ok if they are eating feather fixer pellets off the ground? THANKS!!!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Hi everyone! Happy day! I have some sweet little week-old baby chicks that our broody hen is raising with the flock. Of course, now most of our girls are molting and I want to feed everyone some feather-fixer to get over this molt as quickly as possible.

We have two feeders in the coop. One of them is set up with steps for the babies to reach. I’m thinking of putting feather-fixer feed in the feeder that the babies cannot reach, but there will inevitably be plenty on the ground where the babies can eat it. The only difference that I see between chick starter/grower feed and the feather fixer is the crude fat— 2.5% for the starter/grower and 6% for the feather fixer, and the pellet form vs crumble. Will my babies be ok if they are eating feather fixer pellets off the ground? THANKS!!!

Feather Fixer is for laying hens. It also contains 3.25-3.75% Calcium compared to chick starter which normally ranges from .75-1.3%.
Bottom line - too much Calcium for chicks.

Get an all flock/Flock Raiser type feed or Chick Starter and feed that to all the birds instead - provide oyster shell free choice for the layers.

 

[rosemarythyme]

You're better off feeding them all starter, which generally has higher protein which can help birds through molt. "Feather Fixer" is just the product name, and despite the name it isn't necessarily the ideal feed for a molting bird.