I skip all that age-and-gender stuff. When I get chicks I buy one really small bag of Chick Starter. I do that only because of the size of the crumbles - small and easy to learn to eat for them. When that bag is about gone, I toss a couple of scoops of All Flock or Grower in the bag and shake it to mix it, then feed that to transition them to what the rest of the flock eats. Since my chicks are mingling most of the day with the Bigs by 3 weeks old, and fully integrated with the adults by 4 weeks old, they’re going to be eating from the adult’s feeder anyway so they may as well just eat what they eat from the get-go.
My mixed flock does super well on either All Flock or Grower, whichever my local feed store has in stock or whichever one has the best freshness date. That’s roosters, layers, chicks and freeloaders all eating the same food. I provide oyster shell in a separate container for the layers. Sure, as @Ol Grey Mare says, the chicks will peck at it sometimes, as do the roos and freeloaders, but a few nibbles and they are over it. They aren’t gonna keel over dead because of a few oyster shells. The layers take what they need. I’ve done this for all the years I’ve had chickens, and there is absolutely no difference in the quality of the egg or eggshells, and they all do just fine. I like my life - and theirs - to be as simplified as possible. Can’t keep ‘em out of each other’s feeders anyway, so I just go with it.
My mixed flock does super well on either All Flock or Grower, whichever my local feed store has in stock or whichever one has the best freshness date. That’s roosters, layers, chicks and freeloaders all eating the same food. I provide oyster shell in a separate container for the layers. Sure, as @Ol Grey Mare says, the chicks will peck at it sometimes, as do the roos and freeloaders, but a few nibbles and they are over it. They aren’t gonna keel over dead because of a few oyster shells. The layers take what they need. I’ve done this for all the years I’ve had chickens, and there is absolutely no difference in the quality of the egg or eggshells, and they all do just fine. I like my life - and theirs - to be as simplified as possible. Can’t keep ‘em out of each other’s feeders anyway, so I just go with it.
