Is it ok ??

[sambia62]

I went to buy feed today and noticed tat the egg pellets were cheaper than the chops and scratch that I have been feeding my girls they are almost 5 months old is it ok to go a head and start them on layer pellets now ? although they aren't actually laying will it hurt any thing

 

[bustermommy]

It should be fine. At 5 months, they even might start laying soon, depending on the breed.

 

[Fierlin1182]

Yeah, should be okay! Mine started laying at four months old, so as buster said they might be starting soon.
Our youngest lot started on layer feed around two months old because they never ate their own food when the big girls had theirs.

Didn't do them any harm.

 

[flockof4]

Should be fine. Enjoy those eggs.

 

[aoxa]

You've been feeding them scratch?

 

[sambia62]

yes I was feeding them scratch i know every one says that its is a treat but the old farmers around here who have had chickens longer than I have been alive have done it for years so I thought oh ! well and so far i have not lost one single chicken (knock on wood ) that's just like the potato peel myth and a few other things I have read on here people laugh at me when I tell them about some of the things I have learned from old farmers but you know there is something to be said about the old ways

 

[galanie]

Quote:
You read my mind. If you've been feeding them scratch, ANY type of real chicken food is an improvement.

 

[Fred's Hens]

As an old farmer myself, ...

If the birds had access to excellent, rich, ranging territory, filled with seeds, berries, worms, bugs, grubs, grasses and such, they can survive quite well on supplemental scratch grains. But, they will often mature more slowly and can sometimes fail to be as large and developed as they could have been.

Birds confined or allowed limited ranging in a weaker environment can survive on scratch, but there's a huge difference in surviving and thriving. Given the meager price difference in a 50# of scratch and 50# bag of balanced feed, I choose the feed, hands down. FWIW.