Feed flustered...

[KettermanHillCoop]

I am new to chickens...I mean new as just yesterday. I rescued a little flock. Read the saga in New Member Intro: "Where did they come from?" to understand my full meaning of "new to chickens". **Edit** I've learned that "King" is actually a "Queen".

Over the weekend, I built a coop, bought pine shavings, a huge bag of feed, doodads to hold feed and water and acquired a small bag of other food scratchy stuff (???). I've burned up oodles of data Googling on the go in between hardware stores and Ag Centers to get this chicken rescue started. I want to do right by new feathered friends.

I'll upload pics of my friends as well as the feed stuff I have purchased. I need to know if what I have is the right stuff. I don't have a chicken thesaurus so I'm lost on the chicken jargon. lol

Also...placement of feeder and water? Currently I have the feeder hanging under the coop and the water thing sitting on a cinder block in the corner of the run.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Hello and welcome!

Your layer feed is fine. Just be sure not to give more than 10% of their daily intake as the scratch grains. Personally, I avoid them altogether. Make sure that whatever treats you give you aren't diminishing the protein level below 16% as that is the minimum needed to sustain a light bodied layer.

Your birds are beautiful!

 

[KettermanHillCoop]

Hello and welcome!

Your layer feed is fine. Just be sure not to give more than 10% of their daily intake as the scratch grains. Personally, I avoid them altogether. Make sure that whatever treats you give you aren't diminishing the protein level below 16% as that is the minimum needed to sustain a light bodied layer.

Your birds are beautiful!

So...is the scratch stuff considered a treat?

 

[venymae]

You look good! Layer feed is the all you can eat buffett. Scratch grains are the cheesecake a la mode, so go light! I usually give them scratch when I'm trying to tame them a little or letting kiddos get them to eat from their hand. It's pure chicken candy! Can't wait to see your coop setup! Yay free chickens!

 

[venymae]

So...is the scratch stuff considered a treat?

YES.

 

[Hawgfan]

I'm not the best at this, but King looks more like Queen to me. Yes, scratch is not a complete feed. Use it sparingly, as a treat.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

So...is the scratch stuff considered a treat?

Scratch is totally considered a treat. It's protein content is very often around 8% and even though feed is made from mostly corn, it has added vitamins and minerals to make it meet nutritional needs of the birds.

You may also want to offer oyster shell on the side free choice if your shells aren't hard enough for some reason. Since it's included in layer, your girls may or may not eat much of it. When I used layer they went through very little extra OS. Now I use flock raiser and it isn't included so I must provide it on the side.

 

[KettermanHillCoop]

I'm not the best at this, but King looks more like Queen to me. Yes, scratch is not a complete feed. Use it sparingly, as a treat.

Oh yeah...it was determined in the New Member forum that what I thought was a rooster was not. lol So...King is now Queenie. The pic is labeled King from when I first took the pic.

As I said...I know zilch about chickens. lol I saw the red thing on it's head and chin and figured it was a rooster.

 

[chickens really]

Are your Birds laying?...I never use layer feed at all...I feed Grower at 18% and oyster shell on the side..Layer for non layers is not good for their Kidneys..
Scratch I use once or twice a week only a couple of handfuls..
Congrats on the new Birds..They appear to be young..A Cockerel and Pullets...Not called Roosters and Hens till one year old...

 

[KettermanHillCoop]

Are your Birds laying?...I never use layer feed at all...I feed Grower at 18% and oyster shell on the side..Layer for non layers is not good for their Kidneys..
Scratch I use once or twice a week only a couple of handfuls..
Congrats on the new Birds..They appear to be young..A Cockerel and Pullets...Not called Roosters and Hens till one year old...

I only rescued the birds yesterday...well 4 of them. I'm going to attempt to get Bashful tonight. She eluded my efforts last night.

When you say you "feed Grower at 18%" what does that mean?