I have a problem about food decision

[Emily_loveschickens]

Buying a 5 pound bag of layer feed and a 20 pound bag of chick starter/grower and then feed them the grower in until someone starts laying eggs feed them the layer feed

 

[saysfaa]

... I’ve only bought one food bag and it’s lasted me The whole time I’ve had them. So what am I saying is if I bought another 50 pound bag of chicken crumble then it would last me 12 weeks again...

Getting the small bag of chick feed will work but it is usually a lot less expensive to get bigger bags.

You got them at a few days old? They didn't eat as much as baby chicks as they do now. They are probably eating close to a quarter cup per day each (the ball park amount a hen eats), so a 50 pd bag will last about 2 months, if you don't have much waste. Then they will be 20 weeks old, which is about when most pullets start laying.

If I were you, I would get the 50 pound bag of starter or grower feed. Then offer oyster shell on the side when you get the first egg. Usually, they do eat what they need of it. If she doesn't, it is not long until the rest will start laying - being short of calcium shouldn't hurt her too much for a short time. Or begin layer feed a little early, the extra calcium shouldn't hurt them too much for such a short time.

 

[Coops Dad]

I feed all flock and leave a chick feeder of crushed oyster shell out for them. I have never had an issue with thin shells or anything calcium related. The main flock of @40 hens seems to go through about a cup and a half of oyster shell per week; they may use it as grit, too, because they're on pasture grass and have to dig for any dirt/gravel, etc.

This is maybe a bit more than half of the free ranged flock. I also keep two 6'x12' chicken tractors, one for my Ayam Cemanis and one for my wife's lavender Ameracaunas. Everyone gets the all flock and OS.

 

[Brooks_]

I use Purina flock raiser (when not available, I look for another all flock type or starter/grower) with free choice oyster shell on the side. Even if I were to have an all layer flock, I would stay with this method. Layers won't always need the extra calcium in layer feed.

 

[Emily_loveschickens]

Getting the small bag of chick feed will work but it is usually a lot less expensive to get bigger bags.

You got them at a few days old? They didn't eat as much as baby chicks as they do now. They are probably eating close to a quarter cup per day each (the ball park amount a hen eats), so a 50 pd bag will last about 2 months, if you don't have much waste. Then they will be 20 weeks old, which is about when most pullets start laying.

If I were you, I would get the 50 pound bag of starter or grower feed. Then offer oyster shell on the side when you get the first egg. Usually, they do eat what they need of it. If she doesn't, it is not long until the rest will start laying - being short of calcium shouldn't hurt her too much for a short time. Or begin layer feed a little early, the extra calcium shouldn't hurt them too much for such a short time.

Thank you this is what I decided to do.

 

[saysfaa]

Correction: quarter of a pound per hen per day, not quarter of a cup. I did the math right, just named the units wrong, sorry for any confusion.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I’m really confused because I’ve gotten so many different answers I don’t know what to do now

You're going to get different answers because everyone takes care of their flock differently. So you need to sort through the info you're given and decide what makes sense for you.

My way of handling things is I feed both grower + layer, but I only have adult hens right now. If I had chicks then it would be starter or grower + all flock, until the chicks are old enough to lay. My logic is this allows me to customize the amount of protein and calcium they eat: the grower adds extra protein to their diet, while diluting down the calcium because many of my hens don't lay a lot.

 

[GC-Raptor]

I have four chickens

they are around 12 weeks now

This is the bag of food I have it says starter/grower food so should I just buy another one of these?

That bag is 40 lbs. It'll last about 40 days with 4 chickens at 12 weeks old. I would get another bag and a 5 lb bag of Oyster Shells.
At 15 weeks old offer Oyster Shells in a separate container.

When you get the first egg get a bag of Layer feed and mix it with the Starter-Grower 50/50 till the Starter is gone.
I also have 12 week old pullets.

I had 5 Golden Comets and they started to lay between 16.5 and 19 weeks.
I also had Barred Rocks before and they started to lay between 20 and 23 weeks. GC