Newbie questions!!!

Tofer76

In the Brooder
9 Years
Aug 7, 2010
78
0
29
Carthage Il,
:DHello all!! i am fairly new to chickens and the site and have a few questions

i have a mixed flock of 8 birds (3 of which are roos) and i am now getting eggs
i have raised them on nutrena meat bird food so far and am ready to switch to layer food

question:

1. Do i now have to put out oyster shell and grit along with their feed?

2. Do i feed layer food from now on permanetly?

3. i have the choice of three types of feed nutrena, purena, and Pen Pals (Made in quincy ill by ADM) is one any diff or better than the other?
i have the ingredient lists for all 3 makers for their starter/grower, meat bird, and layer feeds and they are all close to each other in all aspects
so
4. does it come down to price?

i also have questions for those of you who use acv

1. the bottles that i have found near me do not say if it has mother in it how do i know?
2. can i buy one bottle w mother and use it to start a home batch? if so how?

thank you for any advice
 
1. Layer feed generally has plenty of calcium (oyster shell) in it for most layers. If you start noticing thin or soft shells you can supplement as needed with oyster shell. Grit...depends where you live. Our birds have plenty of "grit" in the soil since it is pretty coarse and sandy here. I don't need to put out grit. But you may need to. Ask others in your area who have chickens or call your local farm bureau, ag extension office for advice.

2. Layer food is fine from now on. The only time I don't feed layer is if I have chicks in the same flock...then everyone gets a feed without calcium, and I supplement calcium for the layers. If the birds go through a bad molt where their feathers are really bare I will find gamebird food with higher protein for them or supplement with some kitten food for the added protein.

3. I like local food if it is reliable and safe. Basically, if all of the ingredients are the same then it is about price. However, I think you will find that some of the Nutrena feeds contain some animal products (usually animal fat) and Purina touts itself as being 100% vegetarian. My opinion is that the chickens would be eating animal product in the form of bugs if they free ranged (which mine do) and I don't believe as omnivores that chickens were meant to be vegetarians. That being said, in my area Purina pretty much has the market cornered so I end up buying their Layena most of the time. I supplement my chickens with other forms of animal products in their scraps or kitten chow. And I have used the Purina gamebird chow but it is more expensive. I also like the gamebird chow because it does not contain soy products, first ingredient is wheat for higher protein, corn is way down on the list of ingredients, and it contains animal products.

4. maybe...or ingredients

ACV
1. You can tell because their will be a cloudy sediment in the bottom of the bottle.
2. don't know
 
Let's see I'll give you my personal opinion and maybe some of the old timers will chime in tomarrow. 1) yes I would put oyster shell ...free access grit ? mine have dirt to mill around on.
2) I plan to... the layer freed is a good mix to get healthy eggs , Flock raiser is nice too but we use Layena
3)We use Purina
4) The only way I found for the feed cost to come down is to plant chicken goodies in my garden or free range.
but I only give goodies in the afternoon so they will eat the layer feed for good nutrition
ACV~ If it has "mother" in it ... it will say it on the label.
I don't know the last ?

Have fun
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