Layers not pluckers... hopefully lol

[Newlychickening]

Hey Y’all,
I’m Trey & new to raising chickens my brother order 10 RIR chickens for Dad & myself we went in halfs with me paying Dad back!!! They came in around 2nd or 3rd week of April!!! Very excited about it & ready for them to start laying asap!!! I have RIR’s from TSC 7 of the 10 are still chickening!!! Is that even a thing or is it just me lol? I really love having them just watching them & such!!! Not the right breed but it’ll do?‍ So I got little ladies to to hobby farm eat, cleaner & hopefully be a little cheaper on eggs down road. Well that’s the plan anyway I keep telling folks raising chickens is a marathon & I’m in it for the long haul... but mister smarter than the bag ‍ yeah talking about myself started laying feed roughly 8-9 weeks ago just wondering if that’s a problem or not so much? Not getting eggs yet but by my calculation the chickens are 18-19 weeks old I thank God for them cause they really are fun!!! Have been feeding Purina Layena Plus since 10-11? Weeks hoping it wasn’t a mistake any advice or help would be greatly appreciated!!! Thank y’all happy chickening & may many eggs be in our future!!! Thanks in advance for your helpful advice!!!
Trey Hooker

 

[Newlychickening]

Here are a couple of pictures of the ladies!!! Oh forgot to mention I’m from Jacksonville, Texas!!!

 

[Pork Pie]

Hi and welcome to BYC. Generally, growers feed is best until you get your first egg before giving layers feed. Combining your remaining layers feed with growers feed (to use the layers feed up) is perfectly fine.

Here are some links to useful resources:

• List of guides on how to use the site - “How to...” guides
• Great go-to resource - Learning Centre
• Good starting point for browsing the site - Articles
• Insightful feedback on how members manage their flocks - Topic of the Week back-catalogue
• Excellent sources of local information - U.S. States

Best wishes

Pork Pie

 

[Newlychickening]

Thanks For your advice & helping me I
find some articles to get busy reading & learning about this with!!! What a privilege to be here at BYC & get helpful advice!!! I will definitely be getting some growers feed asap & checking out the articles you mentioned & hopefully many more!!!
Thanks again for your advice!!!
Trey Hooker

 

[DobieLover]

Hello, Trey, and welcome to BYC! Glad you joined.
I personally don't feed layer. It is to low on protein IMO and I don't want non-laying birds eating that much calcium. I feed an All Flock type feed with oyster shell on the side.

 

[rjohns39]

Hi Trey and welcome to BYC We're so happy you've decided to join us

 

[21hens-incharge]

You already got good advice above so I will just say hi.

 

[007Sean]

Howdy Trey and Welcome to Backyard Chickens.

Happy to have you here with us. Enjoy your time here at BYC!
You might like to join us fellow Texans over on the 'Where am I? Where are you!' forum. Here's a link to the Texas thread. https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/texas.44/

Thanks for joining our community!

 

[Mybackyardpeepers]

Good morning Troy and welcome to the BYC flock. I too don't feed only layer but I have a mix age flock. Do you supplement calcium on the side?

 

[Cynthia12]

WELCOME! Oh those girls should start laying soon! If dare say within a few weeks. Maybe two. . I was always one to start my pullets on layer feed early. They did really well.