How Long Do I Keep My Baby Chicks on Chick Starter?

[MagicL]

1 or 2 of those won't hurt, especially if the chicks are responsive to them and you're training them to come to you. Do make sure they have grit.

Thanks!

 

[Ittybittyschmidtie]

Grit is actually tiny pebbles, like sand, yes - but bigger particles. It's usually made up of quartz, granite, flint, or other hard, 'insoluble' rocks. You can buy poultry grit or chick grit from any farm supplier.

Or resource your own. But be aware that "sand" as most people buy it, like in play sand or for gardening, is generally too fine. If you find some that has various sizes of tiny stones in it, that's good. I get mine from the sandpile that hubby dumped in the garden last fall, acquired from the local rock quarry down the road. I have various sifters I use to get fine grit for chicks or larger grit for mature chickens. A word of advice: If you choose to find your own, don't get it from the roadside - there will be bits of asphalt, rubber, oil, salts and other chemicals you do not want to feed to your chickens!

Chickens need grit to break down hard-to-digest things they eat, like seeds, bugs and whatnot. They eat the grit, which collects in their gizzard to grind these food items into mush. Chickens who are allowed to free-range generally find all the grit they need outdoors, but those kept in a pen need to have supplemental grit. If chicks are exposed to wood chips or other bedding materials, they need grit - because ingesting their bedding can cause digestive issues and pasty-butt.

Just put some in a shallow dish, and watch the chicks go nuts for it. It's a hoot to watch

Thank you so mych

I am so scared that I wasn’t doing it right so I just placed an order for some grit!!

Going to try and beat the weather and get these babies outside finally

 

[Baileybunchx5]

You don't have to ever switch them to layer feed. Layer feed has a flat rate calcium added to it and the chickens, which are very good at regulating how much they need, have no way of doing that with layer feed. Before they start laying, during molt, in the winter when they slow/stop laying, when they are sick/injured and not laying, when they slow/stop laying because of age, etc. etc. - in all those scenarios, they need less calcium than what's in layer feed, and continuing to eat layer will cause calcium buildup which is not good for them in the long run. That's why I prefer to let my chickens decide for themselves. I feed an all flock type of feed (no calcium added) year round and to all ages, and always have calcium on the side (crushed eggshells, you can use crushed oyster shell as well). I use Purina, and their all flock feed is the same protein % as chick starter/grower - 20% - so it's good for all ages. And makes life easier for you! I have never used layer feed and never will.

Interesting. I’m new to chickens. How long have you had chickens and fed this way? It makes sense

 

[K0k0shka]

Interesting. I’m new to chickens. How long have you had chickens and fed this way? It makes sense

I grew up with chickens and we didn't have layer feed back then (with the added calcium), just regular feed, and we fed their eggshells back to them. Then I took a break from chickens, and got back into it 4 years ago. This time I had the option of layer feed, but didn't like the idea of it - the flat ratio of calcium, given how their needs vary. So I've never actually used layer feed. Or oyster shell, for that matter. Just flock raiser crumble (or medicated chick starter if I have chicks with the flock - then the whole flock eats that), and an unlimited supply of eggshells always available to them. In the winter, when my hens stop laying and I buy eggs, I save the eggshells to replenish my stash. That makes up for any net loss - since the equation isn't perfect and calcium is lost along the way if you only ever feed their own eggshells back (they use some of the calcium for other bodily needs, some gets spilled and lost, some may not be absorbed 100% efficiently etc. so if you only ever feed them their own, over time they'll be at a slight loss). With the saved shells from the eggs I buy, I can make sure they always have an unlimited supply. I don't remember getting soft shelled eggs back on the farm, and in my 4 years with this current flock, I have only gotten a soft-shelled egg once, when a broody resumed laying after raising chicks and her machinery was getting back up to speed. I haven't had any feed-related problems either.

P.S. I've had new chicks raised with the flock every year since I resumed chickening, so I do this switching back and forth every year - the whole flock goes on medicated starter when the chicks hatch, until they finish the 50lbs bag (so about a month), then everybody gets switched to Purina flock raiser. And the eggshell bowl is always full.

 

[Baileybunchx5]

I grew up with chickens and we didn't have layer feed back then (with the added calcium), just regular feed, and we fed their eggshells back to them. Then I took a break from chickens, and got back into it 4 years ago. This time I had the option of layer feed, but didn't like the idea of it - the flat ratio of calcium, given how their needs vary. So I've never actually used layer feed. Or oyster shell, for that matter. Just flock raiser crumble (or medicated chick starter if I have chicks with the flock - then the whole flock eats that), and an unlimited supply of eggshells always available to them. In the winter, when my hens stop laying and I buy eggs, I save the eggshells to replenish my stash. That makes up for any net loss - since the equation isn't perfect and calcium is lost along the way if you only ever feed their own eggshells back (they use some of the calcium for other bodily needs, some gets spilled and lost, some may not be absorbed 100% efficiently etc. so if you only ever feed them their own, over time they'll be at a slight loss). With the saved shells from the eggs I buy, I can make sure they always have an unlimited supply. I don't remember getting soft shelled eggs back on the farm, and in my 4 years with this current flock, I have only gotten a soft-shelled egg once, when a broody resumed laying after raising chicks and her machinery was getting back up to speed. I haven't had any feed-related problems either.

P.S. I've had new chicks raised with the flock every year since I resumed chickening, so I do this switching back and forth every year - the whole flock goes on medicated starter when the chicks hatch, until they finish the 50lbs bag (so about a month), then everybody gets switched to Purina flock raiser. And the eggshell bowl is always full.

Thank You for your response. I know my Dad and Papaw would laugh at us newbies raising chickens with all the fancy stuff available. How do you keep the egg shells? I have heard of baking them on low inthe oven to get some of the yuck off but can I just crush them and save them in a mason jar or something? Mine arent laying yet but I could do that I assume with the eggs I am buying currently and save them for when they are laying.

 

[K0k0shka]

Thank You for your response. I know my Dad and Papaw would laugh at us newbies raising chickens with all the fancy stuff available. How do you keep the egg shells? I have heard of baking them on low inthe oven to get some of the yuck off but can I just crush them and save them in a mason jar or something? Mine arent laying yet but I could do that I assume with the eggs I am buying currently and save them for when they are laying.

Yes, people raised chickens without all that fancy stuff (I'm pretty sure my grandma didn't even know what an oyster was).

I do bake the eggshells on low, because air-drying takes too long and they need to be spread out to dry well, and I don't have the time or patience for that. You can't store them right after breaking the eggs, while the shells are wet - if you close them into a container wet like that the egg residue will go bad and start smelling. So baking is the quickest and most practical way to dry them out quickly for storage. I have a pie pan on the counter where I collect eggshells after cooking eggs, and when I've baked something else, I put the eggshell pan in the oven after I turn it off. The residual heat is enough to dry them up quickly. It has become such a habit that now after I turn the oven off, I look around for the eggshell pan After they dry up, I crush them (not too small, just enough not to take up too much volume) and store them in a large glass jar. I take that jar to the coop to refill the eggshell container when it starts to get low.

Collecting the shells from your store-bought eggs ahead of time is a good idea. The pullets will need to start eating them before they lay, so they can build the shells of their first eggs before you have any of theirs to collect and give back. Different breeds and individuals start laying at different times, so it's hard to say when exactly they'll start needing the eggshells, but it doesn't hurt to have them out there ahead of time. They'll know what to do when they start needing them. I have chicks with the flock every year and they ignore the eggshells until they start needing them, then all of a sudden they start showing interest, and soon enough, they start laying, too.