feed types.....

[pozarnsk]

So I've got my 4 week olds and about to move them to the coop. I went down to TSC for a refill on starter/grower and they have all kins of stuff there. Mainly I was confused on the "scratch" feed. What is it? I thought you just went from starter/grower to layer feed with oyster shells and you're done.

Now I'm wondering about this scratch, cracked corn, etc......

They will be free ranging as well, so if someone could give me a quick synopsys of these different feeds and theri uses, I'd sure appreciate it.

Thanks,

Jared

 

[d.k]

* Scratch is a treat, not a feed, and is sometimes referred to as "chicken crack" here at BYC, becauses there are birds who would eat it until they'd pop given the option. It usually has cracked corn, milo (sorghum), and a couple other grains in it. It's fairly low protein, would need a good deal of supplementation to bring it up to the level of a complete feed.

 

[Barnyard Dawg]

Quote:
Our chicks have been free ranging since a week and a half old, we start them out on chick feed, for maybe one month, while free ranging they eat grass, we don't give them any grit they get plenty while they are roaming around. We don't give ours any sctratch, cracked corn or oyster shell to our chicks or adults, the adults eat mainly grass, vegetables, they love our bean leaves, cucumbers, freshly picked weeds, zucchinni, etc., we also feed them millet, barley, rice, fresh corn, flaxseed, uncooked sunflower seed, quinoa, and wild rice along with some crumble.

 

[lovemychicks9]

The usual rule of thumb is starter/grower until about 20 weeks of age or until the first egg, then on to layerfeed. If they are not all the same age Purina has what is called Flock Raiser that can be fed to all ages until the youngest are about old enough to go to layer. Watch the amount of corn given to them in the hot weather it is bad for them , heats them up way to much in the heat. I found a scatch grain mix at my mill that has almost no corn, oats , wheat , barley and milo in it and it is only on rare occasions that they get it now because of the heat.