Feed chicks and adults at the same time

[Larry in Hawaii]

Our 7 week old chicks are going in the big girl house and run this week. Yes I will have a place for them to hide when needed. Question I have is what to do about their feed. Big Girls get layer and was going to feed chicks starter/grower. Should I have a protected area for the starter feed so the Big Girls don't eat is or can I mix starter/grower & layer together?

 

[Percheron chick]

Put the grower out for all to eat and a bowl of oyster shell on the side for the hens. Save the layer feed for when they are all laying.

 

[pdirt]

x2 what Percheron chick said. You don't want to be feeding the chicks layer feed. Unless they have totally separate areas, the adults WILL eat the starter/grower (no problem) and the chicks WILL eat the layer feed. The extra calcium in layer feed isn't good for the young chicks (or roosters), it's hard on their kidneys.

If you plan to have a rooster (or ever raise chicks again), you might just consider feeding growing + crushed oyster shell on the side from here on out. It's healthy for all sexes and ages of chickens and the hens actually in lay will be the only ones eating much of the oyster shell for their calcium needs. Starter and grower feeds have enough calcium in them for chicks and roosters. I've been doing just this for over 2 years and it has been working great.

 

[Larry in Hawaii]

Thanks allot for the good information on feeding. I had hoped I could feed all hens and chicks the same food. Once the chicks are old enough to lay, is it good to feed them layer or can we just keep them on the grower/starter?

 

[pdirt]

You can feed them layer if you want at that point. But you can also just continue feeding grower or starter with crushed oyster shell on the side as they will get additional protein from the grower/starter. The only difference of layer feed is the extra calcium is already mixed in (but you can't take it out) and layer also has lower protein, which isn't ideal, especially if you like to feed scratch or low protein kitchen scraps.