Is my baby eating the right thing - please help :)

[Aussie new mum]

Hi
I have an 11 month old pekin (cochin) bantam and an 11 week old baby. I have been letting them out in the yard together for the last week and all is fine so I took the little one's cage out of the coop so they are both now just in the coop - all ok so far. I'm concerned about the feeding though. My baby is on grower and the produce store where I bought it said it has medication in it for the babies. Now that I have taken the small cage out where the baby was, I'm not sure what to do about the food. Lolly the oldest one has layer mix but she sometimes eats the little one's food. I've been told just not to eat Lolly's eggs while I have to give the little one the grower food that Lolly might eat. I'm concerned though about what will happen if the little one eats the older one's layer mix food which is a lot of seeds etc. I've thrown grit around in the coop and also put a bowl of grit in there as well. The little one has been getting treats and is also digging in the garden so is getting dirt out of the garden. I hope this all makes sense. Can anyone let me know what I should do about the food situation and is what I'm doing ok. Do chickens naturally eat grit - is it something they know they need? I'm in Australia so the foods might be a bit different.
Thanks so much
Jus

 

[hatchaholic]

We're in a similar situation. I have 10 week olds that I'm integrating in with my 23 week olds. The babies are still in cages in the coop, so I keep their starter/grower food in there. However, I've never given mine medicated food.

The babies do eat some of the layer food when they venture out of the cages. I'm hoping it will be okay, but I don't know any other way to integrate and keep food separate. My coop isn't designed like that. I have chickens, turkeys, and geese that all live happily (most of the time) together.

The baby chickens need grit mixed with their food, especially when you give them treats, if they are not outside getting dirt/sand.