Is IFA giving me good advice?

[lnhackford]

I have 9 chicks that are just about 8 weeks old. I went to the IFA today to get them some grower feed, and the lady working there told me that they are out of grower and not sure when they will get any in stock. She showed me the 16% layer mash and told me it would be okay to feed it to them.

I am a new chick owner, and I don't want to give this to them if it will harm them. The lady working there told me that people do this all the time and to get the 16% instead of the 20% and it would be fine. I also have at least 2 roosters in my flock that I need to rehome, and I'm unsure if layer mash is safe for my roosters or not?

Is this lady right? Or should I return the layer mash And find somewhere that has grower?

 

[pdirt]

No.

She doesn't know what she is talking about. Layer feed is NOT okay for 8-week old chicks. The high calcium content can seriously damage their kidneys.

You can feed basically any other bird food except layer feed. Starter, grower, "all-flock", "flock raiser", turkey grower, turkey finisher, broiler feed or game bird feed. All of those will work. When they start laying eggs, keep feeding them grower and an always available side dish of crushed oyster shell for egg-making calcium needs.

Layer feed isn't good for your roosters too, but the damage caused to their kidneys can be more over the long term.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

X2 to pdirt! While people "do it all the time" - it is not a good feed plan and can do serious damage to the developing systems of birds under 18 weeks of age, male birds, etc due to the high mineral (specifically calcium) content of laying feeds.

 

[Den in Penn]

What pdirt said.

 

[lnhackford]

Thank you for confirming that! It didn't seem right at all to me, but I just wanted to double check. I called the IFA and spoke to a manager and told him what this lady told me and he said to definitely not do that. He said they will have grower in tomorrow, so I will just go pick that up. Sounds like they need to educate their staff on this.

 

[pdirt]

Thank you for confirming that! It didn't seem right at all to me, but I just wanted to double check. I called the IFA and spoke to a manager and told him what this lady told me and he said to definitely not do that. He said they will have grower in tomorrow, so I will just go pick that up. Sounds like they need to educate their staff on this.

I don't know what IFA is, but I am assuming it's a "big box" store. Generally, where big box stores may be able to compete on price, they almost always lose in customer service. By "customer service", I mean staff that is knowledgeable about their products and intended uses. Almost always you will get better service and help at a smaller store. Our local feed store doesn't have any big box stores to compete with (the nearest one is over an hour away) but they are awesome in that they provide decent service (some people don't know much, but they will tell you as much) at competitive prices. Plus they sell feeds I can't get at the big box stores. I could go on, such as how the dollars spent at a smaller local store are much more likely to stay in your community, instead of being siphoned off to corporate headquarters. This is not a dis against all big box corporations, as I think the model has it's place and can provide good benefit to a community, but this is not always the case.

 

[lnhackford]

IFA is in Utah, I would compare it (I'm assuming) to tractor supply co (not sure if you have that either). But it is a big box store. I think after this experience I am going to try to find somewhere local to buy my feed. I live in the city, so I don't know of anywhere off hand besides the IFA. I do prefer local as well. I will get on the Utah thread and see what I can find out.
I'm glad that I wasn't completely clueless and go along with what this lady told me. I knew it didn't sound right.

 

[pdirt]

IFA is in Utah, I would compare it (I'm assuming) to tractor supply co (not sure if you have that either). But it is a big box store. I think after this experience I am going to try to find somewhere local to buy my feed. I live in the city, so I don't know of anywhere off hand besides the IFA. I do prefer local as well. I will get on the Utah thread and see what I can find out.
I'm glad that I wasn't completely clueless and go along with what this lady told me. I knew it didn't sound right.

You might try the good old yellow pages. If you have a big box farming store, hopefully you still have the local small guy still hanging around.

 

[lnhackford]

You might try the good old yellow pages. If you have a big box farming store, hopefully you still have the local small guy still hanging around.

The only thing I've found so far is Cal-ranch, but I'm still searching for the small guy I guess even if I have to go a little further, it would be nice to have high quality feed and people who know the business they work in.