How much feed?

[sneedleali]

Hi! I've got three 13 week old pullets and a 12 week old pullet. I am almost out of starter feed. The package (nutrena, was readily available so that's what we have) says to switch to layer feed at 16 weeks. So my two questions are, should I actually switch at 16 weeks? And if I do, how much feed do you think these four girls (with limited free range access) will go through in the next 4 week? I don't want to buy a 40 lb bag if they'll only eat 5 lbs, but maybe I'll have to in order to not spend a fortune on smaller bags. If I switch brands, I think our local feed store also has Country Companion, not sure what else they carry, should I switch to the layer feed at the age that the layer feed packaging says to start using it (if that is different than 16 weeks)? Thank you!!

 

[SunHwaKwon]

You don't ever have to switch to layer feed. Buy some more starter and then around 16 weeks set some oyster shell out in a separate container. After that starter is gone you can switch to layer or an all flock of your choice.

 

[lazy gardener]

Your 4 girls, if prepared feed is all they eat should each eat around .2 - .25# of feed/day. There is nothing magic about layer feed. It is lower protein, and has extra calcium. So, your girls will be just fine to continue on one more bag of starter, if you offer Oyster shell on the side. Or you can buy a bag of layer now. Many folks will caution you about giving layer to birds that are NOT laying b/c of the calcium in it. But, those studies that point to kidney damage from non layers eating layer feed are based on broilers. Broilers are already fraught with lots of systemic weaknesses, and are not at all representative of a back yard layer flock. AND, any bird who free ranges in a yard that is not completely monoculture (ie grass without any weeds) is going to be getting lots of calcium from the vegetation. So, if calcium were such an issue, we'd see back yard chickens and especially roosters dropping dead all over the place.