Now What?

sarahs31

In the Brooder
11 Years
Apr 20, 2008
76
0
39
Waukesha, WI
I sent my husband, whose been fairly tolerate of my chicken fetish. (I asked sweat labor from my family and extended family for a coop for my birthday back in May and he came home from his fishing trip two days early to help them out.)

But I digress.... I sent him to the feed store today to pickup the 1 week old meat chickens as my 4 weekers are definately not broilers and he also came home with 3 adorable really little Barred Rock pullets and says "here, happy birthday a couple of weeks late". So, what should I feed these guys? I kind of need to keep them together for a while...so should I feed meat or plain ol chick starter? They are sooooo adorable.
 
Nice problem to have! So what Im hearing is:

MUST I now buy them a separate feed?

I'd say no and feed them the meat bird feed. The chicks I have now are on a similar product. Its best if they are on medicated feed, but in cases like yours, you gotta wonder if it's needed. I mean, cant you feed a meat grower thats medicated already?

Get them established on your meat bird ration, take a deep breath and be ready to switch them to layer feed in a few months. That's what I would do.

I would keep them separate from the meaters, though, on fresh ground.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Quote:
babies up until the laying age , need chick starter til about 8 to 10 weeks old , then grower pellets , and JUST before they start laying around 5 - 6 months old , you then give laying pellets . THEY NEED the protein from chick starter and grower pellets .
 
Meat bird ration is 22-25% protein, give or take. How much more than that is in chick starter?
If any of the starters I've used in the past are a measure, it sure isn't enough to matter.

I've successfully reared chickens from egg to maturity on Grower and Layer rations alone, just to see if I could simplify this whole feeding matter. That is, NO starter, or other intermediate feeds at all.
It worked. They'll grow, fight, lay and do all the chickeny things they are supposed to. I am rearing third generation chicks from some of those birds as we speak. I have filled the yards of my friends and neighbors with solid birds from these same clutches.

I've read the books, done the math and know what all the 'feedists' say you must do; Lord knows, I've dispensed enough advice on the matter myself. And in the main there is nothing wrong with any of that. We need rules and starting points to establish the basics.

But learn the basics and it becomes clear pretty soon: alternatives do present themselves.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom