Feeding layers and chicks at same time

[catterbug]

I have 8 week old chicks that will be heading to the coop soon. According to my feed they shouldn't eat laying chicken feed. How do you feed different aged chickens in one coop?

 

[dreamer4217]

what i do is hand feed my Chickens a few times a day the other thing I do is a leave a feeder full of chick feed in the coop were the baby's hang out the older chickens get in to it but its not at all bad for them from what I can tell the laying feed I hand feed to my older chickens its time for us to spend together and it seems to be working.

 

[Want Less]

I had to remove a hen from the flock & I put her in with a pair of young marans, so I had the same question a couple weeks ago. The answers I got were to feed chick feed to the mixed mini-flock and offer crushed oyster shell free choice so the hen could take what she needed. Then, when the Marans are old enough, slowly switch the whole mini-flock to layer feed. My hen in that pen has continued to lay everyday and there has been no change in egg quality.

 

[jaj121159]

I feed my chickens un-medicated 16% starter. This because I have roosters with my layers. I put out free choice oyster shell on the side. This makes up for the reduced calcium in the feed. This seems to be working well. Eggs have good shell strength and the roosters are fine. This regime would work for a mix of layers and chicks just put your calcium supplement out of reach for the chick(s).

 

[briteday]

A lot of us feed something like Purina Flockraiser which is designed for mixed poultry flocks ( chickens, ducks, geese, etc of all ages) and serve up oyster shell on the side for laying hens. You can also buy gamebird starter (non-medicated) and mix it 2:1 with scratch to achieve the proper protein ratio. And you need to offer oyster shell for calcium to your laying hens with that as well. My laying hens seem to enjoy this change of feed in the Spring when I switch my chicks from starter feed and move them out to the coop. Once the new chicks are laying then I switch back to the cheaper layer pellets for everyone for the remainder of the year, until I bring chicks out again next Spring.

 

[packmomma]

Depending on how old they are you could hang a feeder higher for the adults and leave the chick feed on the floor. Just a suggestion. I had to put an injured hen in with my chicks. I just feed her the chicks feed (non medicated). Outside I have sprinkled egg shells on the ground. I thought the chicks would eat it but they didnt really seem to want it. My hen on the other hand will go through and grab it. I only do it every now and then just in case the chicks decide they want it. Her eggs are normal so far and its been a couple of weeks. If it becomes a problem I will hang the feeder higher for her so they cant get at it.

 

[Cowgirl75446]

You could use a non-medicated layer crumble. That should be fine for all the birds. You will just have to be careful mixing older birds with younger chickens, they usually do not do well together at first.

 

[dsqard]

I actually mix flock raiser with gamebird feed to increase protien all the time. I just put out oyster shell as well.