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I'm sorry. I totally disagree with this. Whether they are mash, crumbles or pellets has absolutely nothing to do with the nutrient content. The danger is in the calcium content of the feed, not the shape of the feed.
JPHorvath, the way you do them, where the Layer is a fairly small protion of their total feed, you are greatly reducing the risk. After all, it is the total amount of calcium they eat in a day over a sustained period of time that causes the damage. They are obviously not going to fall over dead the minute they eat a bite of Layer. The damage will not immediately be evident and it may not harm them at all. But have you ever considered that if a chicken falls over dead a year later that the weakened kidneys or liver may have finally given out or, more likely, in their weakened condition, something gthat they would have normally been able to shrug off was much more serious? In all honesty, I cannot say you are harming yours in any way. The amount of calcium they are eating each day may be low enough that no damage is done since they do eat many things other than the Layer feed. But you might want to look at these just so you are better informed.
British Study Calcium and Protein
http://www.2ndchance.info/goutGuoHighProtein+Ca.pdf
Gout
http://en.engormix.com/MA-poultry-i.../avian-gout-causes-treatment-t1246/165-p0.htm
Point well made, I will change the flock over to grower mix.
Thank you for the link to the study.
I'm sorry. I totally disagree with this. Whether they are mash, crumbles or pellets has absolutely nothing to do with the nutrient content. The danger is in the calcium content of the feed, not the shape of the feed.
JPHorvath, the way you do them, where the Layer is a fairly small protion of their total feed, you are greatly reducing the risk. After all, it is the total amount of calcium they eat in a day over a sustained period of time that causes the damage. They are obviously not going to fall over dead the minute they eat a bite of Layer. The damage will not immediately be evident and it may not harm them at all. But have you ever considered that if a chicken falls over dead a year later that the weakened kidneys or liver may have finally given out or, more likely, in their weakened condition, something gthat they would have normally been able to shrug off was much more serious? In all honesty, I cannot say you are harming yours in any way. The amount of calcium they are eating each day may be low enough that no damage is done since they do eat many things other than the Layer feed. But you might want to look at these just so you are better informed.
British Study Calcium and Protein
http://www.2ndchance.info/goutGuoHighProtein+Ca.pdf
Gout
http://en.engormix.com/MA-poultry-i.../avian-gout-causes-treatment-t1246/165-p0.htm
Point well made, I will change the flock over to grower mix.
Thank you for the link to the study.
