Running out of grower feed

[5chicks4us]

My chickens are 16 weeks old. We're running low on grower feed. We buy an organic feed that we have to order through our local feed store. We still have a half bag of starter or a bag of layer feed. Which would be the better one if you had to pick one to feed them?

 

[Ridgerunner]

Starter. The extra protein won't hurt them. I'm sure of that. Not as sure about the extra calcium in Layer not hurting them.

The studies that I have seen that show that the extra calcium raises mortality rates and damages internal organs in chicks start off with the Layer being the only feed with day old chicks. I have not seen any studies that shows what happens if you feed it to older chicks. The older they are, the less likely it is to do damage. Since I don't know when the danger age is passed, I don't feed chicks Layer until after they start to lay. Why make life complicated when you can make it simple?

 

[KDK1]

Feed them the starter for a couple more weeks, unless of coourse they start laying before that, then at 18 weeks they'll be fine with layer. Their bodys will be more than prepared for the extra calcium by then.