Is grower feed the same as layer feed?

OHhappychicks

Crowing
10 Years
May 2, 2009
2,403
137
261
Hillsboro,OH
I'm feeding my chicks Homestead Fastgrow. They are 5-6 weeks old. The bag of feed doesn't have any ingredients or the amount of protein it has anywhere that I could see. I was reading in Raising chickens for dummies that at about 6 -14 weeks they should have grower feed, 15-22 weeks developer or finishing feed, then at 22 weeks or when the first egg is laid, layer feed. Our local feed store told my dh that grower and layer were the same thing. If that's true, you wouldn't want to feed your young chicks layer feed. Isn't that too much protein for their little bodies? We have a 2 yr old flock and I can't remember what we fed them before 22 weeks, but about that time we started to feed them layer feed. So should we feed them the fastgrow for a while longer or should I look elsewhere for grower feed? We have several feed mills in our area. Also, does any one else use homestead fastgrow? When we bought our feed, we asked for local unmedicated chickstarter. Never paid any attention to the bag until today! We have had our chicks almost 4 weeks. It says it is from Mankato MN. Should the bag say if it is medicated? Just curious about Homestead, and we were going to switch our chicks over to grower this week. Appreciate any info!
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Thank you Katy, I found the tag on the bottom of the bag. And guess what!! It as "Active Drug Ingredient, Amprolium"!!!
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Now I really don't know what that is, but I specifically said no Meds!!! It has the 20% protein, but it also say "chicken starter/grower/finisher/broiler feed. So is this ok? These 5-6 week old chicks were not vaccinated, but I bought 17 new chicks this past sunday from a hatcherie, and they were vaccinated. so is this feed ok for them?
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I'm a little upset!!!
 
Here is what I found on Amprolium = A widely used coccidiostat that is stable in chicken rations and compatible with most ration ingredients. Needs to be combined with other compounds to achieve all-round protection and treatment.

So unless you are dead set against useing it, it is fine to give to the chicks.
 
Quote:
That is fine for your chicks....helps them build up immunity to coccidiosis. It's not really a medication, but more of a preventative. I raise all my chicks and ducklings on feed that has amprolium in it.
 

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