feeding different age chickens in the same coop

[black_sexlinks]

I have 8 Black sex link chicks in a seperate coop, and I guess you could say they are at "teenage age" and I feed them Purinas medicated chick feed.
In another coop I have one yard hen and she eats laying crumbles. Soon I will be introducing the sexlinks to the older hen as a permnate home, what is best to feed them all? Will feeding the sexlinks the laying crumbles hurt them when it comes time to introduce,since they are a bit younger than the one hen (at least not old enough to lay)? Or what is best to feed them all I should say?
On a daily basis I lead the sexlinks to the other coop to spend time with the one hen & get use to each other and then lead the chicks back to their own coop. ( And they all seem to be getting a long fine...for now)

My sexlinks I believe think that they are dogs because they love my attention and love to be handled or pet

I've never raised chicks before,so I treat them like they are a pet- they have really grown on me and are now probably my favorite animal, because of all the diverse personalities each one has.

 

[wateboe]

I have several ages in one big coop right now as well. I use a "free-choice" approach that is often suggested, that is, I always have a "flock raiser" type crumble available for everyone (non-medicated), a seperate feeder full of oyster shell, and I routinely give them a bit of scratch in yet another feeder just to give them a thrill. I have read that pullets should not be given layer food until they are at laying age, so I will start offering layer pellets again once all the girls are old enough. Until then I am seeing a lot more action at the oyster shell feeder then I did when the mature hens had access to layer pellets on a daily basis. I provide several feeders filled with each product so that the youngsters have a better chance at eating without being harried by the older birds, but I have HUGE coops, so I have a lot of space with which to work. I also provide several water sources for the same reason.

For the record, I did feed medicated starter to all of my babies until they were old enough to join the flock. Once in the flock I gradually switch to un-medicated food and keep an eye on them for any signs of coccidiosis. (So far, the only babies that have suffered from coccidiosis in our coops have been babies fed un-medicated food from the start, so I am a fan of the medicated product early-on.)

I get a lot of good use out of those black Fortex bowls that are widely available at feed stores.