Layer feed??!! Mixed age flock.

[LtDanFan]

So my young flock is of mixed ages. They range in age from 5 weeks to 2+ months and a couple of layers/older hens. Will be integrating the 5 week olds very shortly. so far i have the 2+ month olds and layers in the same space. They are getting along fine. I currently have a large bin for grower feed, a bucket with ports for layer pellets and sprinkle layer feed/scratch. There is free choice grit and oyster shells and i provide fresh veggies/berries, greens when i can, at least a couple times a week. I would really like to get down to one or two feeds until they are all the same age as the constant ordering of food for multiple life stages (plus crumbles, pellets and feed) is making my ADHD go nuts.
Many feed protocols state that “when they begin to lay” feed a layer feed. So does this mean i wait until the new ladies lay new eggs or just until they are about the age when they should be laying eggs?
Sorry if this is too technical. I just want to know if layer feed should be fed exclusively AFTER first lay or AT AGE of normal first lay. Cause in my mind if i don’t give them what they need to lay, will they lay healthily? Ugh. Just dont want to doom the ladies unnecessarily. Thanks for your input.

 

[nuthatched]

All flock or grower feed for everyone, oyster shell available for your layers.

It's really that simple

 

[LtDanFan]

Ok, that’s what i was thinking but i just wanted to make sure it wasn’t out of line. The place i buy my feed from doesn’t have an all flock feed, but im open to organic and not super expensive suggestions. Shipping included.

 

[nuthatched]

Ok, that’s what i was thinking but i just wanted to make sure it wasn’t out of line. The place i buy my feed from doesn’t have an all flock feed, but im open to organic and not super expensive suggestions. Shipping included.

Do they have a chick feed or grower?

 

[rosemarythyme]

A non medicated starter or grower is often very similar to all flock, only thing to be mindful of is 5 week olds might struggle with large pellets so I'd avoid a feed that came in that format at this time. See what your store has in stock.

 

[AinaWGSD]

With a mixed age flock I would either feed everyone non-medicated grower feed or switch to an all flock feed. By 5 weeks your youngest chicks should have no problem with pellets, unless maybe they're bantams.

Layer feed has extra calcium, which non-laying birds (males, pullets that are too young to lay, and hens going through a molt) don't need. Short term, it probably won't do any harm, but long term the excess calcium can lead to kidney problems. They generally don't need the extra calcium until they start laying, since that calcium is going into the egg shells. But for hens it won't hurt anything to start getting that extra calcium around the age they should start laying. If you're feeding a layer feed they may not need the oyster shell, though it doesn't hurt anything to have it available as some hens have higher calcium needs than others. And if they have free access to oyster shell it doesn't really matter if the feed has extra calcium in it because they can get as much as they need from the shells.

Layer feeds are also often designed to get the highest egg production at the cheapest cost. Mostly this is done by lowering the protein, which growing birds need more of. You can feed laying hens higher protein than what's in layer feed, and many people who use a layer feed do feed a higher protein feed during molting because protein is used in feather growth.

Scratch grains are like chicken candy. It can be a good treat, but use it sparingly. With 5 hens I have gone through less than half of a 50lb bag of scratch in a year. Now that I have 48 chickens all together I'm going through it a little faster, but not by much. And that's mostly because I'm using it to ferment feed.