Feeding The Roosters

[delawaregirl09]

I have heard so much controversy about what to feed roosters. I've heard to NOT feed them Layena, at all. Heck, what should they eat then? Lets here it, folks. I want to know. Am I killing my roosters? They eat cracked corn and layena and grass and scraps. Thats it. I want to here it all.

 

[Plain Old Dee]

I don't know about anyone else, but my two roos run with my hens. They eat the same thing the girls do - 18% laying mash, with a bit of corn, oats, alfalfa pellets thrown to them for treats. And scraps, of course. Two legged garbage disposals. My roos seem to be quite healthy...

 

[delawaregirl09]

Same here. My boys run with the girls, eat with the girls, etc.

 

[gritsar]

The logistics of feeding a rooster something different from the hens when he lives with them non-stop is ridiculous. Let him eat layer feed.
Most layer feed doesn't have high levels of calcium in it anyhow. According to Purina's Layena website, the calcium % is 4.25. That's not huge. The feed I use has 4% in it and without supplementing with oyster shell I don't get eggshells as hard as I like them to be.
Let em eat the layer feed. If you offer oyster shell on the side, chances are your roo(s) will ignore it.

 

[jhm47]

I think that the rumor about roosters needing separate diets comes from the fact that the large commercial breeder flocks feed roosters and hens separately. The reason for this is to make sure that the roosters don't get too large to mate with the hens. Of course, the hens need to be fed a high protein/energy diet to produce the maximum number of eggs, but the roosters will get fat and lazy on the same diet. This will cause them to be less active, and mating frequency will drop off, which causes a lower fertility in the eggs. The roosters have their own feeders in these commercial breeding facilities, and the feed composition is totally different from the feed of the hens.

 

[Tala]

If you're THAT concerned about it, just feed Flock Raiser or something similar, and supplement calcium separately.


As for Layena, it says on the bag that it can be fed to laying and non-laying adults, both male and female chickens. Adult is defined by Purina as over 18 weeks of age.

 

[delawaregirl09]

Oh, I'm not worried about it

I just wanted to know what the deal was. I see a lot of people saying that roosters cant eat laying feed, and that it doesnt matter. I also wanted to see the different opinions, and facts, etc.

jhm47, my roosters eat the same thing as the hen, and are pretty thin no matter what I do. Plus they are young. No mating frequency will drop here

 

[SC_Hugh]

Ricky the roo charges for his rolled oats!

:

Hens aren't really into the oats

Ricky would eat that all the time if he could, they all get mostly layer mini-pellets and some flax seed, oats, scratch, veggie scraps, grass and bugs.

--Hugh

 

[Robin'sBrood]

My boy eats layer pellets, scratch grains, and table scraps (on occasion) just like the girls.

 

[TarzantheChickenMan]

i feed my birds the same thing across the board 20% grower just cause i can get 500lbs for $70 from the elevator i just supplement oyster shell, grit. Veggies in the winter hen they cant free range in the snow

thing is when i cull a rooster he has as much oyster shell as grit in his gizzard so calcium doesn't seem to be an issue