is 11 weeks to early to start pullets on Layer Feed?

[KrankyEggs]

I have 2 11-week old pullets that I've had since they were 1 week old. We ran through the bag of medicated starter, and my bf got new crumble for them. They've been on it for 2 weeks.

I had assumed he bought grower feed for them, but- now I was just looking at the bag, and I can't find out where it says if it is layer or grower. It just says: Poultry & Livestock feed.

If it turns out to be Layer, is that too early for them? Will it harm them?

So far, they seem pretty easy and happy & healthy, but we are hoping they get big soon so we can integrate them with our 3 grown-up hens.

Let me know if this will harm them. Otherwise, I will probably just keep feeding it to them and not bring it up to the well-meaning and chicken-loving bf.

Thanks for all advice!

 

[speckledhen]

Yes, it's way too early for layer feed. Layer has extra calcium that youngsters should not have. It probably won't do much harm for a couple of weeks, but they shouldn't be eating layer feed at 11 weeks old for optimal health.

What is the protein content of this feed he bought? And if it says Poultry and Livestock feed, doesn't sound like it's a grower feed for young birds to me. I can't say without more information about it. Could be sweet feed, which has a molasses coating, I guess. Any ingredient label on it anywhere?

 

[KrankyEggs]

Yeah, I thought it was wierd. I think he just got organic. I couldn't maneuver the bag too well, but didn't see any type. I will look again in the morning.

They also don't seem as into the new feed as they were to the starter.

But we are also free-ranging them, so that they do get greens and bugs. And I put some burr-comb from our hives in that had a bunch of bee larvae. That was a super-treat for them!

Rai Sue

 

[speckledhen]

Good on the free ranging, as far as them getting more of what they need.

If you find out what that feed is, I'd be curious to know. I bet they do love those bee larvae!

 

[Kaeta44]

I agree, it's way too early for Layers feed. Leave that until they're about 18 weeks old.

Sounds as if they're having a wonderful time free ranging! Bet they love it.

 

[Ridgerunner]

The bag should have an "analysis" on it somewhere that gives percentages of various things. It might help if you could mention the brand name to help us identify it if you can't find that analysis, but if it is "Organic" it may be more local and it may not have an analysis tag.

What you are looking for first on the label is percent calcium. Layer should have somewhere around 3-1/2% to 4-1/2% calcium. Grower, Starter, or something else should have somewhere around 1% calcium.

The next thing to look for is protein. To me, this is less important, especially since they are free ranging, but I'd want something between 15% to 20% protein at that age.

There are plenty of studies that show if you start feeding Layer to chicks from hatch and all they eat is Layer, the extra calcium can be harmful to them. What I have not seen is what happens if you start to feed Layer at 6 weeks, 11 weeks, something like that. Percent calcium in the feed is not neartly as important as how much calcium they eat total during the day. Since yours are free ranging, the feed is a smaller part of what they eat. If they eat enough other stuff, it may be that the calcium in the feed is not enough to harm them anyway. And one bite won't hurt them. The damage is cumulative. They would need to eat extra calcium over time for it to harm them.

There are a lot of unknowns. Even if it turns out that the feed is high in calcium, you may not have harmed them at all. I don't think it is worth a panic, but I think it is good practice to not feed the extra calcium until they need it.