need some clearing up- starter feed or laying pellets

[CHIC]

I went to my local feed store to get some feed for my first chickens. I have 4 pullets and a hen. I thought I needed to get starter feed for the pullets but the guy at the store said that the laying pellets would do for all of them since the younger ones had most of the feathers in. The guy I bought the hen from told me to just feed all of them mostly scratch grain and some laying pellets. Fact, fiction, true, lie, or stupid? Help me out.

 

[briteday]

Starter / grower is used until the pullets start laying eggs. The layer pellets have too much calcium for the kidneys of young birds. Then you feed layer crumbles or pellets (same thing, pellets are just that and crumbles are more like large crumbs) and offer oyster shell for calcium ( strong egg shells) on the side. Scratch and other goodies normally only make up no more than 10% of the total diet.

On the other hand if you have a mixed age flock you can try a product like Purina Flockraiser. It doesn't have calcium so you can feed it to all ages. But you have to be on top of keeping the oyster shell available at all times. The egglayers will naturally take whatever oyster shell they require. And the little ones just eat the food, not interested in the oyster shell.

 

[CHIC]

Thanks for the advise. You wouldn't believe how people you think should know the right info give you bad advise. The guy I got the hen from told me that scratch grain was the best stuff in the world- his words, not mine, and that should be their main diet. This guy literally has like 150 birds!

 

[briteday]

He may be trying to cut his feed costs by mixing scratch with feed. Scratch has a very low protein content. If scratch were the best thing in the world then production chicken facilities would be feeding it too since they are concerned mainly about production.

Personally, where I live, all of the ranchers do the same thing. But they all admit it is about cost. Scratch is $6-8/ bag...layer feed is about $12-15.