Feed question

[John The Mailman]

i have laying hens and chicks around 15-17 weeks old i had both chick starter and layer feed out. i kept the layer feed where the hens tend to be and the chick starter where they tend to be at... recently the chicks quit eating the starter feed and only the layer feed (been going on for 3-4 weeks) will this impact anything or hurt them since they are not layers?

 

[NatJ]

i have laying hens and chicks around 15-17 weeks old i had both chick starter and layer feed out. i kept the layer feed where the hens tend to be and the chick starter where they tend to be at... recently the chicks quit eating the starter feed and only the layer feed (been going on for 3-4 weeks) will this impact anything or hurt them since they are not layers?

At that age, the "chicks" are getting close to laying age. They might be ready for the extra calcium.

As long as the chick starter is still available to them, and they are not getting chased away by any bullies in the flock, I think they probably know what they are doing when they choose the layer feed.

Out of curiosity, do you also have oyster shell available as a source of calcium? Or is the layer feed the only source of extra calcium?

 

[John The Mailman]

At that age, the "chicks" are getting close to laying age. They might be ready for the extra calcium.

As long as the chick starter is still available to them, and they are not getting chased away by any bullies in the flock, I think they probably know what they are doing when they choose the layer feed.

Out of curiosity, do you also have oyster shell available as a source of calcium? Or is the layer feed the only source of

At that age, the "chicks" are getting close to laying age. They might be ready for the extra calcium.

As long as the chick starter is still available to them, and they are not getting chased away by any bullies in the flock, I think they probably know what they are doing when they choose the layer feed.

Out of curiosity, do you also have oyster shell available as a source of calcium? Or is the layer feed the only source of extra calcium?

cool I was a little worried a lot online says it’s bad and yes I do have oyster shell out

 

[BigBlueHen53]

You can just feed everybody starter, grower or an "all-flock" formula, those generally have a higher percentage of protein than layer feed (20% compared to 16% for layer), and as long as there's oyster shell available the laying hens will take what they need while the non-layers will ignore it.

I switched my flock to a 20% "feather fixer" during molt one year and was very impressed with the results. I've fed the higher protein ever since. They get through molts so much quicker! And chicks feather out faster and seem to mature sooner.

 

[NatJ]

cool I was a little worried a lot online says it’s bad and yes I do have oyster shell out

When people talk about what you should "feed" to chickens, they are not usually clear whether they are forcing the chickens to eat it (layer feed as the only option) or giving the chickens a choice (layer feed and chick starter and oyster shell.)

If you give them a choice, most chickens will eat an amount of calcium that works pretty well for them. The problems come when you force them to eat a given amount of calcium and it's too high or too low for their stage of development and laying or not.

If you want to simplify your feeding, you could skip the layer feed and just provide chick starter and the separate oyster shell. Or you could keep doing what you have been doing. I would not expect problems either way.