Feed Question!

[PeepsCA]

Everyone is entitled to their own opinions about co-mingled/co-habitting flocks, but opinions, even backed with bad experiences that some others have had do not mean that's how it will be for everyone. A responsible poultry owner, (no matter what species of poultry are in their flock), will monitor them for problems and deal with them when needed. I know quite a few people with co-mingled flocks that don't have any of the issues that have been mentioned. Everyone's coop, space, property and routine differ, so not all outcomes are guaranteed to be negative ones. I do warn people that they may have problems come breeding season, but no way will I tell everyone that they will not ever be able to raise or house the 2 together, because plenty of poultry owners do (and a lot of them post here).

Over all the years that I've owned Guineas, and all the reading/studying that I've done to educate myself on how to properly take care of them and raise successful healthy breeding flocks, I've never read or heard that chicks raised with keets suffer any muscular or skeletal growth issues of any kind with extra protein in their diet. I've always read the opposite, and as I've mentioned before several times - that they will pass the extra protein without any issues. If anyone has links to studies that show it's proven that chicks do indeed suffer problems from the extra protein, then by all means, please post them and I will stand corrected on that matter.

I always try to relay info I provide (in hopes of helping others) in a non-negative way, some just have not mastered that I guess, and I do apologize if any feathers were ruffled by my posts. That's definitely not my intent when I post here.

 

[millebantam]

I can't contribute here much about the guineas, because I only keep a small flock of them on my farm, but I can provide my experience with feeding higher protien gamebird starter to chicken chicks. Each spring/summer, I raise hundreds of pheasant, quail, and chicken chicks. At any given time, I have 6-10 different brooders going at the same time because I choose to brood the chicks separate, and not intermingle species.

I only buy 26% protien non-medicated gamebird starter, and I feed it to all chicks, including chickens. I have been doing so for 10 years or so. My chicken chicks feather out quicker, grow faster, and just seem stronger and hardier than chicken chicks that I used to raise on lower percentage medicated chick starter. I also notice a significant decrease in chick mortality. I'd say that for every 100 chicks that I raise, I lose no more than one or two to some unknown cause.

Bottom line, nobody can tell me that higher protien game starter has any negative effect on chicken chick development. Ten years of heavy use proves otherwise.

 

[speckledhen]

You'll also hear plenty of folks say they've fed their chickens nothing but scratch and they're fine. One person's experience is just that, one person's experience. I'm not doubting you at all, but there is an optimal way to feed chicks and an optimal way to feed guinea keets, based on many years of commercial research. That doesn't mean they won't survive if one veers from those ways.

All I said was that I personally do not feed chicks protein levels as high as the 28-30% game bird starters have, though I would prefer they get higher than the 18-19% starter/growers available in my area. Feeding birds feed made specifically for their age group and function seems to me to be the best way to go, generally.

 

[millebantam]

Quote:
Fair enough. But the point that I was trying to make is that when someone states that feeding a higher protien feed to chicks WILL cause all of these life threatening abnormalities, it's just a fairy tale. It's absolutley not true. Also, my chicks are thriving on it, not just surviving, so your reference to feeding them strictly scratch feed is a bad comparison. Economically, since the game starter is more costly than basic chick starter, many breeders won't spend the extra money on it. I am also aware that my experience is not proof positive that my way is a better way, but I can honestly say that the overall condition and vigor of my chicks, compared to the chicks raised by some of my friends using chick starter, is superior. There are also a lot of factors that come into play here, such as quality of the brand of feed and genetics of the birds being kept.

In summary, over the course of years, and thousands of chicks being produced, I have never seen one with any physical deformities caused by feeding a premium quality, higher percent protien feed. Your mileage may vary.