Food choices

[Gferna19]

Hello,
I have a small flock of chickens. 7girls and 3 boys to be exact. I used to give them Nature's best Organic chick starter and I switched to the southern states All Grain layer and breeder. All of them are doing good and they do eat but my husband believes that this food is for "girls " only. Is he correct? Am I supposed to give the roosters a different food? I know girls are supposed to get extra shells for calcium, will the boys eat that ? Do I need a separate container for shells/girls only?? And is the SS brand of food a good one? Do you recommend a switch? This is our first time raising chickens and we would like to know if going back to organic again is better or ????
Sorry for all the questions.. thanks!!

 

[Chick-N-Fun]

Yes, your hubby is correct. Cockerels and roosters do not need the extra calcium. You can feed your entire flock with grower or Flock Raiser and provide oyster shell in a separate container once your pullets are 17-18 weeks old. They will need to always have access to oyster shell from that point on.

 

[Hyper_Chicken05]

Hello,
I have a small flock of chickens. 7girls and 3 boys to be exact. I used to give them Nature's best Organic chick starter and I switched to the southern states All Grain layer and breeder. All of them are doing good and they do eat but my husband believes that this food is for "girls " only. Is he correct? Am I supposed to give the roosters a different food? I know girls are supposed to get extra shells for calcium, will the boys eat that ? Do I need a separate container for shells/girls only?? And is the SS brand of food a good one? Do you recommend a switch? This is our first time raising chickens and we would like to know if going back to organic again is better or ????
Sorry for all the questions.. thanks!!

I wouldn't feed any boys layers feed, Over a long period of timenit can damadge their livers and cause all sorts of problems. Some people get away with it but it does affext their health and most likely shorten their lifespan.

 

[Gferna19]

Thanks a lot. I definitely don't wanna do that. What would you recommend??

 

[Hyper_Chicken05]

Thanks a lot. I definitely don't wanna do that. What would you recommend??

If your in the U.S or some place like that i would say flock raiser or all flock feed . Where i live they don't sell those here, So i just use growers feed and give the hens somr extra calcium oyster grit.