Layers and 10 week olds... not sure what to feed them

[ChixPix]

I have 18 10 week olds, and recently aquired 2 laying hens.

The 2 laying hens laid an egg each the first day...

For the next 5 days, one hen(I'm pretty sure) laid one egg a day. Now today, neither have laid an egg. I have them on regular all purpose crumbles and also I give them some scratch, occasional scraps of breads, veggies, and I also give them some clover every day.

Do I have them on the right kind of food? Does the older hens need layer crumbles to keep laying? Would it be bad to have the younger ones eating layer crumbles? I can't seperate the two ages so they're gonna need to be on the same kind of food.

 

[bturbo87]

Well the 10 week old chicks still need to be on med. starter until at least I think it is 14 weeks. the laying hens need to be on layer pellets or crumble. If you put the med. crumble in the same place and the layers eat it you will not be able to eat the eggs. Yet I guess you could try to give them Flock Raiser and put some oyster shell out there.

 

[D'Angelo N Va.]

You could use flock raiser...that is a food that both of them can have and you will not hurt anything.

 

[ChixPix]

ok, I feel stupid, what is flock raiser? This is the first I've heard of that.

 

[ella]

Layers can have chick food, but chicks CANNOT have layer food, they can't process the extra calcium and it can damage their kidneys.

If you're feeding medicated crumble check the label, if the active ingredient is amprolium it's fine to feed to the hens it's not an antibiotic and you can eat the eggs.

They may have quit because of the intro. Social life in chickens is very important, any change can upset their laying routine temporarily, they'll get back to it soon. They don't need layer food to lay, flock raiser with oyster shell on the side is just as good, if not better (higher protein). No hen will lay an egg every single day, it's no big worry if they take a break for a while.

Edit: Flock raiser is an all purpose chicken feed. Similar to gamebird feed or unmedicated chick starter.

 

[3chimama]

I have 1 year old hens and 10 week old pullets together...I feed them Flockraiser which you find at the feed store along with a container of crushed oyster shells for my layers. The younger ones should not have calcium yet...which layer feed has.

 

[D'Angelo N Va.]

Quote:
it is a Purina Product for poultry. I have a friend that uses it for her ducks, chickens and turkeys.

 

[ChixPix]

Hmm.. our local farm store only carries "country lane" brand. What is it that makes flock raiser "flock raiser"

 

[digitS']

I just did a google search and came up with this: "This Country Lane 16% All Purpose Poultry Crumbles feed is designed to be fed to chickens,turkeys,ducks,geese,guinea fowl and gamebirds as a grower, layer and maintenance ration. Gamebirds include pheasants, quail and chukar."

That makes this product sound like Flock Raiser, just lower protein.

I have also kept my current bunch on Flock Raiser.

Not all that many years ago, Purina had a "Meat Builder." I used it at the 8 to 20 week stage as a grower for my birds and then switched them to Layena. Actually, I think it was nearly the same product as Flock Raiser. I am reasonably sure that Purina used animal protein in Meat Builder, something that they have discontinued, I guess, in all their poultry feed.

I still think of it as a "grower" and, since Flock Raiser doesn't have the 3+% calcium, my layers get the oyster shell, free choice. And, since it has 20% protein, I'm more inclined to include veggies and kitchen scraps in their diet.

Steve

 

[Chris09]

Purina puts out Flock Raiser (I think is around 20% protein) but you can shop around for other brands like Buckeye feed and Kent feed.
Buckeye Feeds has "Big 4" (20% protein)
Kent feed has "Home Fresh Multi-Flock" (18% protein) and "Home Fresh 27 Poultry" (27% protein)

The other thing you could do is put everyone on a Game Bird feed..


Chris