Is there a way to amend layer feed to make it into grower feed?

[Carolyn252]

Can you please explain the nutritional differences in poultry grower feed and poultry layer feed? Specifically, I would like to know what I would/could add to one to make it more like the other.

Or is it a matter of *removing* some ingredient to make one of them more like the other?

Is there something that I can add to organic layer feed to make it more suitable for 18 week old pullets that haven't begun to lay as yet? If it's more protein, I'd add mealworms; for more carbs I'd add rice and corn. Etc.

And
Is there something that can be added to organic grower feed to make it more suitable for pullets that have begun to lay? I'm sure that calcium must be one item that's more abundant in layer feed. Anything else?

Thanks.
-Carolyn

 

[detali]

From the list of ingredients on my feed sacks it looks like grower feed has a higher protein content than layer crumbles. So my guess is that if you add millk powder to layer crumbles that would bring up the protein levels and you could feed it to growing chicks.

 

[chickins43]

I am wondering the same question. I have a lot of grower feed that I’m wondering if I can add stuff to make it a layer feed because my chickens started to lay eggs and a few had soft eggs. Can I just add calcium to it or is there other ingredients that need to be added as well?

 

[Kiki]

I am wondering the same question. I have a lot of grower feed that I’m wondering if I can add stuff to make it a layer feed because my chickens started to lay eggs and a few had soft eggs. Can I just add calcium to it or is there other ingredients that need to be added as well?

Just adding calcium on the side is good enough. You don't need to add anything else.

 

[Kiki]

I am wondering the same question. I have a lot of grower feed that I’m wondering if I can add stuff to make it a layer feed because my chickens started to lay eggs and a few had soft eggs. Can I just add calcium to it or is there other ingredients that need to be added as well?

This has a lot of information.
You can compare a lot of different feeds by just scrolling through the tabs on it.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...Sj3Bt5CUQfX1PlTEhg799sDT-qM/edit?usp=drivesdk

 

[chickins43]

Just adding calcium on the side is good enough. You don't need to add anything else.

I do have oyster shells available to them but a few have still had soft shell eggs and had it break inside of them. They just started laying not to long ago so I don’t know if this is normal or not? Maybe they are not eating enough oyster shells on their own? I don’t know.. I’m a new chicken owner so I’m trying to figure out if I’m doing something wrong.

 

[Sussex19]

I do have oyster shells available to them but a few have still had soft shell eggs and had it break inside of them. They just started laying not to long ago so I don’t know if this is normal or not? Maybe they are not eating enough oyster shells on their own? I don’t know.. I’m a new chicken owner so I’m trying to figure out if I’m doing something wrong.

Mine eat enough of the oyster shell on there own to avoid most thin shells. Sometimes a hen just has a glitch, and that is more common in new layers, or when they are going into of out of a molt.
Can you try and keep an eye on the shell grit (oyster shell) to see if it goes down?
I feed grower to all my hens, and they don't have any problems, so it definitely does work.