Pullets moving from Starter-Grower to Grower Feed

[jcweiner]

My 10 week old pullets had been eating a crumble style starter-grower feed until this week when I switched them to a pellet style grower feed. They had been eating a ton of the crumbles, but are now eating very little of the pellets. Will they eventually take to it or should I try something else? They free-range a few hours a day so they've been eating plants and I think they are still finding some of the spilled crumbles in their run. Thanks!

 

[chickenlittle21]

They will probably get used to the pellets

 

[Egghead_Jr]

You find incredible savings in feed when on pellets compared to the crumble waste. Initially they may be slow to take to it but believe what you're witnessing is the lack of waste. I move birds onto pellet form as soon as possible. Usually this was 6 weeks of age until last hatching of this year was closer to 4 weeks of age.

 

[chrissynemetz]

Chickens hate change, so it might take them a little time to adjust to the new feed. But they should figure it out soon.

 

[RRM]

At our place, chicks start out with rectangular Rubbermaid containers fitted with six modified 2” PVC elbows as their feeder. At about 8 weeks old we switch them over to 5 gallon buckets with four modified 3” PVC elbows in each bucket. There may be some waste with our homemade feeders, but if there is it is so minimal that you can’t see it, even in a brooder.
Given the lack of feed waste with our feeders, we don’t see a need to switch from crumbles to pellets.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

@RRM Nice set up. Just ensure the crumbles are not medicated. You don't want your layers on medicated feed.