Protein Percentage Question - Organic Feed

[Gritkicker]

Ok, I've been giving my chicks 20% Prince Organic Non-GMO Chick Starter their whole lives. They are 10 weeks old next week and that's when they say to stop feeding it to them. Problem is, I'm having a hard time getting them an Organic Developer stage organic/non-GMO food. I actually work in a feed store so it's not hard finding the feed, the problem is, it seems like all the vendors only sell chick starter and layer organic feeds. No developer. I'm trying to get stats on a grower/finisher feed right now, but I think that it might be for broilers, that feed is 20% protein as well so I think that might be a little high. I'm not sure. Most of the feeds are 18% so I was thinking of changing them over to a layer crumble once I run out of this starter, but I don't know if that's a good idea so I'm asking you guys.

Couple things about my young chickens.. I have 12 of them, they don't even eat a lot of their food. This 50lb bag has lasted me about 8 weeks and have a good 5-10lbs left. They are free range and spend most of their time scavenging the yard and barely ever go in their coop to eat. They get scratch twice a day as well as their food twice a day, both mason jar size servings. I basically just make sure they get food first thing in the morning and in the evening, they never eat all of it. I think sparrows and mice are getting fat off of it from the chickens leaving leftovers, lol.

 

[Percheron chick]

They are fine staying on the starter. You want the higher plane pf nutrition it provides. Cut back on the scratch and make them eat the starter.

 

[Gritkicker]

So I should just keep feeding them this starter until 20ish weeks and then bump them up to layer? I thought I read somewhere that higher protein can be bad for them if they get too much at an earlier age. Not sure if 20% is too high though considering I've seen higher. By looking at other developer chick foods it just seems that they are around 17%-18%. I guess it matters how much of it your chickens eat too.. like I said mine are often free ranging so they really aren't even that interested in their chow most of the time, even in the morning they're way more interested in getting outside than eating their feed. I always make sure they eat their feed before I give them scratch as well. That's usually a buffer if I'm leaving them penned up for the day, but I will throw it out in the morning and evening regardless. They typically don't eat all of it and the other birds gladly help themselves to it.

 

[azygous]

There's nothing wrong with feeding out the remainder of the starter feed, no matter how long it takes or how old the chicks get.

I feed a general all flock grower ration and I ferment it. On occasion when the feed store is all out of it, I've picked up a 50 pound bag of starter, ferment it, and feed it to my flock of all ages.

There's just not that much difference.

By the way, I gave up feeding layer ration long ago since it's just too much trouble switching back and forth when I have chicks. Oyster shell on the side, and everyone has been doing great for years.

 

[Gritkicker]

Hmm.. thank you, that's good to know. What do you mean by ferment it? You have a link with instructions? How long does that take and what are the benefits of it? I imagine it might add some healthy pro-biotic bacterias or something to it, but not too sure with chicken food.. just curious, never heard of fermenting chicken food. Not sure if it's something I'll do right off the bat but for future reference I'd definitely like to see some info about it.

 

[cityturncountry]

Hmm.. thank you, that's good to know. What do you mean by ferment it? You have a link with instructions? How long does that take and what are the benefits of it? I imagine it might add some healthy pro-biotic bacterias or something to it, but not too sure with chicken food.. just curious, never heard of fermenting chicken food. Not sure if it's something I'll do right off the bat but for future reference I'd definitely like to see some info about it.

http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2015/03/fermented-chicken-feed-why-how-in-3.html?m=1

 

[Gritkicker]

Wow, alright thanks. This is definitely something I'm going to try.

 

[tsmith91]

I agree with cutting down on the scratch twice a day seems like way too much to me I would probably only give it a few times a week

 

[3riverschick]

Hi,
I agree on losing the scratch. It's a treat, not a necessity. What they are getting free range is probably much better for them anyway. Anyway, corn should not be fed extra when you want laying hens. It adds a layer of fat
The fat the corn in scratch lays on the bird makes it harder fro the skin to stretch as needed when the reproductive organs swell when laying time comes. If there is not sufficient room for the organs to swell as they should, then it can negatively effect the number of eggs your hen lays.
If you want to bring your hens into lay and help the cocks to produce more robust sperm, feed your birds sprouted oats which are 4 thru 7 days old.
1. Why oats? they are a time tested grain for this purpose.
2. Why sprouted? Because it releases so much of the goodies birds need to get from the oat seeds.
3. Why 4 thru 7 days old? Because a nutritional change takes place on the 4th day which changes the sprouts from "grain feed" to "green feed'. Grain feed is sprouts 1 thru 3 days old which are fed as a portion of the daily ration. Green feed is sprouts which are fed as a supplement to the daily ration. Feed 1 cubic inch per bird. If you reach bowel tolerance and the stools get soft, just back off a bit till they firm up and use that previous amount given as a quantity marker for future feeding. Why not sprouts older then 7 days? There is no nutritional advantage to feeding sprouts older than 7 days. However the problem of sprouts spoiling increases after the 7th day.
I use Plotspike Forage Oats which I buy at Tractor Supply 24,99 for 50 lbs. they also carry a 25 lb. sack. My 50 lb. sack lasted for years. . Forage oats are better than feed oats because you don't have to worry about chemical coatings on the seed to keep the feed oats from molding. http://www.plotspike.com Forage oats are the kind the farmer or hunter plants in the field for animals to eat in the field. Feed oats are the kind you buy to feed to the animal in a stable.
How to easily sprout oats? Pages 24 thru 29 of this BYC thread:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/425134/anybody-raise-sprouts-to-feed-the-chickens/230
Best Success,
Karen

 

[newmarch2014]

Hi,
I agree on losing the scratch. It's a treat, not a necessity. What they are getting free range is probably much better for them anyway. Anyway, corn should not be fed extra when you want laying hens. It adds a layer of fat
The fat the corn in scratch lays on the bird makes it harder fro the skin to stretch as needed when the reproductive organs swell when laying time comes. If there is not sufficient room for the organs to swell as they should, then it can negatively effect the number of eggs your hen lays.
If you want to bring your hens into lay and help the cocks to produce more robust sperm, feed your birds sprouted oats which are 4 thru 7 days old.
1. Why oats? they are a time tested grain for this purpose.
2. Why sprouted? Because it releases so much of the goodies birds need to get from the oat seeds.
3. Why 4 thru 7 days old? Because a nutritional change takes place on the 4th day which changes the sprouts from "grain feed" to "green feed'. Grain feed is sprouts 1 thru 3 days old which are fed as a portion of the daily ration. Green feed is sprouts which are fed as a supplement to the daily ration. Feed 1 cubic inch per bird. If you reach bowel tolerance and the stools get soft, just back off a bit till they firm up and use that previous amount given as a quantity marker for future feeding. Why not sprouts older then 7 days? There is no nutritional advantage to feeding sprouts older than 7 days. However the problem of sprouts spoiling increases after the 7th day.
I use Plotspike Forage Oats which I buy at Tractor Supply 24,99 for 50 lbs. they also carry a 25 lb. sack. My 50 lb. sack lasted for years. . Forage oats are better than feed oats because you don't have to worry about chemical coatings on the seed to keep the feed oats from molding. http://www.plotspike.com Forage oats are the kind the farmer or hunter plants in the field for animals to eat in the field. Feed oats are the kind you buy to feed to the animal in a stable.
How to easily sprout oats? Pages 24 thru 29 of this BYC thread:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/425134/anybody-raise-sprouts-to-feed-the-chickens/230
Best Success,
Karen

Adding to this. I sprout a seed called "pasture seed" which has oat as well as some other things in it. I only have 8 chickens so I can do small scale. I went to the dollar store and got sand toys with the big sand sifter plate. I soak the seeds for 24 hours in a jar of water then pour them into the sand sifter about 1/2-3/4 inch thick. Once a day I soak the seeds by spraying with the sprayer nozzel over the sink. I then set the sand sifter over a disposabale pie plate or appropriate sized takeout container to catch the dripping water each day, when I do this I dump out the accumulated water from the previous day. This keeps them from getting sour and makes a great mat of green fodder for them. For mine after the 4 days the oat grass has sprouted to a couple inches long and I just grab about 8 square inches a day so it takes about 4 more days to use most of it up and by then I have started a new plate. Most of my chickens absolutely love it but a few will only take it from my hand so they can pull off small bites. My Brahmas are pigs and will eat an entire 1 inch bunch off the floor. Once I get to the last 1/4 I have a hanging basket in the coop and I just leave it in there for them to pick at since a couple of mine wont eat out of my hand and also wont pick it up off the floor but they will pull it off the plate in the basket feeder.
Also... scratch raises the chickens body temp so I entirely avoid it during the summer months and give them watermelon and meal worms for occasional treats but it is just that, occasional. For my 4 chickens I had last winter I probably went overboard in the winter and gave them about 1/2 cup total at bedtime to help them generate some warmth since we have some very cold nights in the winter here in Utah. A mason jar is way too much even in that instance even for 12 full size chickens. Think of it as junk food really, only as a moderate treat.