Non organic starter???

[noahsark]

Im worried because I hear you all freeding your meat birds 22-24% starter..My organic starter is only 18 and I think the highest I can get thats medicated starter is 20..I tried eggs this morning they have no intrest..maybe 5 days old is to young for various foods? Do you all eat birds raised on medicated food? and is it a big deal that I can only get 18%?

 

[eKo_birdies]

i don't... but that's just me.

on your other thread i also suggested this - look for game bird starter.

 

[Sweetpeaswan]

Purina Mills makes a turkey starter and gamebird starter....the turkey is around 26% and the gamebird 30%.
some of your purina dealers may stock it, if not ask them to order, it shouldn't take more then a week to
come in. Hope that helps.

Purina dosen't consider themselves all natural (no animal by products) but
their not organic.

 

[Sweetpeaswan]

Sorry, my bad...had a typo. Purina DOES consider themselves all natural.

 

[noahsark]

Eko...thanks I tried to find my other thread and couldnt..so you suggest an organic gamebird or turkey starter?

 

[eKo_birdies]

definitely, if you can find it. hope this helps!

also, on your other thread, i added that you could give them scrambled or hard-boiled eggs to boost the protein.

 

[noahsark]

their not touching the eggs..they may be a bit young yet..only 5 days

 

[eKo_birdies]

yea they are pretty young still...

do you have a nice hen who could maybe show them how it's done?

 

[noahsark]

My feed store does sell turkey/gamefood crumble...its not a starter though..28%
Should I go directly to that at 5 days old, or go thru a bag of organic 18% starter first?

 

[Salt and Light]

First time I had Freedom Rangers, I feed them about 21% protein (a hand-made blend of Purina Game Bird + Start and Grow. This time I feed Freedom Rangers 18% Purina Start and Grow. I could tell no discernible difference between the high protein and less protein birds.

I don't really KNOW if the protein makes that much of a difference, especially for backyard growers. Low protein birds MAY grow slower and require more feed, but the cost of high protein feed is a lot more. To the best of my knowledge, I also fed Cornish X-rocks 18% feed. In the 3 batches of meat birds I've raised, I've never had any "leg problems".