I was given turkey feed for chicks, is it really okay?

[Zinniah]

I went to buy a 2nd bag of feed for my 12week old chicks, and was given Purina game bird & turkey startena. It is 30% protein. This is not the same store i got my 1st bag of feed from, the other store is much farther away but they gave me Nutrena 18% starter/grower. I was told that everyone there feeds their chickens this Purina game bird and turkey startena, and its perfectly fine. So my question is, is it really okay? I mean I can't make much sense of this. 18% to 30% seems like a huge jump, and why wouldn't Purina say it was for chickens as well if its okay?

 

[DrTacosMD]

I don't think the 30% protein is that bad for the chicks if you plan on having them lay for about a year from when they start and then process them for meat.

If you want them to be long lived pets that lay well, however, you're going to want to just follow the recommended guidelines. This means 20%-22% protein starter until 8-12 weeks (or fully feathered) then 18% protein grower/raiser until laying. Or you could just do the 20%-22% protein starter all the way until laying.

It depends on what you want; I personally do the former because hen lay best in their 1st year of egg laying and then production drops. So this way I get lots of eggs and then good quality meat.

If you want to stick with the latter option, you can just mix the 30% with a lower protein grower/raiser to get an acceptable protein level.

 

[Zinniah]

I don't think the 30% protein is that bad for the chicks if you plan on having them lay for about a year from when they start and then process them for meat.

If you want them to be long lived pets that lay well, however, you're going to want to just follow the recommended guidelines. This means 20%-22% protein starter until 8-12 weeks (or fully feathered) then 18% protein grower/raiser until laying. Or you could just do the 20%-22% protein starter all the way until laying.

It depends on what you want; I personally do the former because hen lay best in their 1st year of egg laying and then production drops. So this way I get lots of eggs and then good quality meat.

If you want to stick with the latter option, you can just mix the 30% with a lower protein grower/raiser to get an acceptable protein level.

Thanks, I will mix it with low protein food, since don't plan on eating them