Not sure what to do

[sayccrn]

Hi guys! I have 5 chicks. The two older ones should be laying in about a month. The youngest ones are 3 weeks younger than them. I did have an organic feed I found from new country organics. We have celiac and noticed that my throat is scratchy and I am feeling ickier than normal since I have been working with it. NCO has a wheat free layer feed. I cannot find any other wheat free feed. It is a layer feed. I know chicks aren't supposed to have the calcium, but they are only 3 weeks younger. will this short time hurt them too? I am about halfway done with my first wheat filled bag of 25pounds. From my calculations I have maybe a month left of feed, if that. (I don't know, because today they have eaten 4 cups of fermented feed and 1 cup of scratch! I know they are growing but dang! Isn't that a lot?)

So, my questions are: Will the layer feed hurt the 2 youngsters that are 3 weeks younger than the oldest?
Are they eating too much?
Does anyone know if there is an organic Wheat free all flock feed, if I cannot give the youngest birds the layer feed?
What should I do?

Thanks so much!

 

[chickenlittle21]

https://www.scratchandpeck.com/product-category/poultry-feed/

 

[sayccrn]

https://www.scratchandpeck.com/product-category/poultry-feed/

Thank you, but they all have wheat. and are either grower or layer feeds, not all flock feeds. *sigh* Welcome to my world. I thought I would be ok with the wheat in the feed, as long as I wasn't eating it. But I am more sensitive than I thought.

 

[Folly's place]

It's the dust in the coop, so very much dust. Wear a face mask when you are there, or have someone else do the coop and feeding, if possible. How about a large feeder that doesn't need daily effort?
@Kiki has a very large feed chart, check with her, and google feeds online.
Dust in the coop is not good for anyone to inhale, wheat allergy or not. Also, wash up and change out of your coop outfit when you come inside.
Good luck with this.
Mary

 

[sayccrn]

Thank you. I don't think it's the pine dust and the feed is fermented, so it's wet. But I have to get it that way. they spend their day in the run I made and I am with them every hour to keep them cool in this heat. I do wear a mask when I am cleaning their coop, I haven't noticed anything when I am cleaning it. It is a small coop and not a walk in, but more of a lean in and clean it out type of coop. I will need to try and find something else to feed the fermented feed in. what I have is a pain, but will have to do until I pay down the credit card. I did google I really have only found the wheat free at this one place, unless I drive 5 hours to another state every time I need it. I just don't know if their layer wheat feed will hurt the chicks that are 3 weeks younger. If I knew that it would be fine for them, then I would just get that right now. But I can't seem to find anything specific on google about that either.

 

[Sonya9]

Thank you, but they all have wheat. and are either grower or layer feeds, not all flock feeds. *sigh* Welcome to my world. I thought I would be ok with the wheat in the feed, as long as I wasn't eating it. But I am more sensitive than I thought.

You can always mix up your own chicken feed. There are numerous recipes online though if you insist on it being all organic you may have a hard time buying the bulk grains.
If you plan to keep your birds for several years they won't all be able to stay on layer feed their whole lives so it may be something to look into.

 

[sayccrn]

It will be so much more expensive to do myself. But yes, it has to be organic. Even that will still have some levels of pesticide and Lord knows what else that isn't supposed to be there. I have enough issues ticked off by toxins, and more importantly, my daughter does too. Can't willingly contribute to poisoning my kid. still not sure what I can do about this though.

 

[ChickNanny13]

Have you considered Purina Flock Raiser? They all can eat it with no issues, add a separate dish of Oyster Shells on the side for the layers, they eat as they need. I stopped feeding layer years ago and haven't had any laying/egg shell issues.

 

[sayccrn]

Have you considered Purina Flock Raiser? They all can eat it with no issues, add a separate dish of Oyster Shells on the side for the layers, they eat as they need. I stopped feeding layer years ago and haven't had any laying/egg shell issues.

Pretty sure that has wheat in it too. Hence my problem. If it didn't have wheat I would get it. Thank you.

 

[WhyDoILikeChickens]

I'd suggest trying to find a feed mill in your area. I have been trying to eliminate soy from my feed and almost drove 4 hours till a local feed mill found a recipe. Mills can often specialize a mix for you. And you are supporting farmers.