pellets or mash

[nannie]

I bought my last bag of chick starter/grower this Saturday.my pullets are about 12 weeks old.by the time the 25lb bag is gone,i should have my first egg.so I would like to know which way is best mash or pellet.i have 5 pullets and 1 rooster.also will it matter that my rooster eats the same as my hens.one more thing do I need to feed them anything else with their feed to make egg stronger and better. thanks

 

[centrarchid]

For stronger eggs have some oyster shell available free choice if they can't get at fresh greens. Rooster will not need additional and will not likely consume as much oyster shell as a consequence. If they fed in some sort of trough then mash is fine. If fed outdoors as restricted ration on the ground, then use pellets to control waste. If your are using a layer formulation then oyster shell should not be needed. I do not like my roosters to consume layer formulation long-term since some parties suspect roosters have hard time getting rid of excess calcium. My preference is to use a grower / finisher diet cut with intact corn or quality scratch so overall protein intake is a little higher than a typical layer formulation provides. The oyster shell then can be taken preferentially by hens as they need it.