I just got five chicks, and while at the feed store she said they're getting a feed in this week that is a grower/starter specifically for heritage breed chicks. It's 25% protein and she said it's higher in protein since heritage breeds tend to grow slower. It's non-GMO and organic, and cheaper than their other organic feed they carry (which is 19 or 20% protein, I can't remember exactly), because it's milled locally. It's actually not much more per bag than the non-organic stuff (I assume because it's local), and since I don't expect to need more than one or two bags total I don't mind paying a little extra.
Is this just a gimmick? I used to work in a pet store and know that a lot of cat and dog foods have these gimmicky "special" foods too. I'm also of the thinking that if heritage breeds grow slower they're probably supposed to and don't want to artificially up their protein just to grow them faster and possibly have problems down the road. Would I be better off sticking to a lower protein feed?
Is this just a gimmick? I used to work in a pet store and know that a lot of cat and dog foods have these gimmicky "special" foods too. I'm also of the thinking that if heritage breeds grow slower they're probably supposed to and don't want to artificially up their protein just to grow them faster and possibly have problems down the road. Would I be better off sticking to a lower protein feed?