mixing chicks and older birds- ? about feeding

[toomanydogs]

I have 8 chicks that are about 2 months old. they are broody raised within sight of the older birds. One slipped out of their gate the other night and spend the night with the big birds with no problem. Mama hen spends some days with them and wants out with the other chickens sometimes now. I'm about ready to change them to grower ration but if I go ahead and just let them out with the grown birds how would I go about feeding them? just put out some of each feed out? would it hurt their growth to eat layer food at this age? right now they get about 90% starter with a little scratch and a few mealworms

Lisa

 

[sumi]

They are too young to eat layer food. It's not good for chicks - too much calcium. Could you possibly feed them separately from the older hens?

 

[toomanydogs]

thanks Sumi, that's what I was concerned about. It's no big deal to keep them separated a while longer I just thought they might like more space

Lisa

 

[AlicesSilkies]

ooh...i am in the same sorta position, what age should you swap to from chick starter/crumb to growers pellets???

 

[MarineCorpFarmr]

We have come up with a simple method to deal with different age birds in our coop. Layer pellets mixed with 5 grain scratch are in one feeder and are hung higher while the crumbles go in another feeder we keep on the floor so the chicks can reach it. Hope this helps

 

[Jeffross1968]

We have had a mixed age flock now for over a year, and during that whole time, have fed the entire flock the same feed...starter/grower. In a separate feeder we provide free choice crushed oyster shell to provide the needed extra calcium to the laying hens. Personally, we think the higher protein content means faster feather growth during molt and better production. But even if that isn't true, it makes things a whole lot easier. We provide them all with a little scratch each evening as a treat.