Layer feed when eggs show?

[smcgill]

Is this , this simple: layer feed when they start to lay eggs ?

 

[gritsar]

You can start layer feed around 16 to 18 weeks or wait till you get your first egg, whichever comes first.

 

[Ridgerunner]

You can start layer feed around 16 to 18 weeks or wait till you get your first egg, whichever comes first. 

Or whichever comes last.

Yes it can be as simple as starting Layer feed when they start to lay. It can be as simple as offering oyster shell and keep feeding them Grower or whatever you have them on now even after they start to lay. What make it complicated is that so many different things work. As long as they get extra calcium when they start to lay and you don't feed the extra calcium to growing chicks it is hard to do anything wrong.

 

[gritsar]

Or whichever comes last.

Yes it can be as simple as starting Layer feed when they start to lay. It can be as simple as offering oyster shell and keep feeding them Grower or whatever you have them on now even after they start to lay. What make it complicated is that so many different things work. As long as they get extra calcium when they start to lay and you don't feed the extra calcium to growing chicks it is hard to do anything wrong.

Exactly. I have several different species and breeds now, several different age groups. It's just easier to feed everyone a flockraiser-type feed, keep oyster shell available at all times for the hens that need it, and go with the flow. I do offer the ducks the extras that they need - oats and grains to cut the protein level of the flockraiser and peas for extra niacin that ducks need.
The only birds I have that get layer feed in pellet form are my senior citizen hens. They're old (like me), they've been eating pellets since they were new layers and don't like change (like me), and the only male they have to deal with is a tiny, pipsqueak rooster that they can beat the snot out of anytime they want (I wish).