Quote:
Sex link pairing is older than you may think. It was known in the 19th century, although it wasn't widely practiced because every chicken had to be a "dual purpose" bird in those days. Once a hen was spent as a layer, she gave her final effort as a "market fowl." Excess cockerels got their reward as they always have.
But, with the advent of the dedicated URBAN flock and the rise of specialization in the commercial business, the sex-linked pullet came into her own.**
She is, in herself, part of a highly specialized commercial industry.
** For every sex-link pullet, there is also a sex-link cockerel - but we dont talk about them nearly as much...
As for the feed cycle, I try to keep it simple. Assuming you have birds that will be outside and not raised in confinement or battery cages, keeping it simple has many advantages. The battery bird, for example, depends on you for everything and so requires a very delicate balance of nutrition. The closest thing you will come to that is when your yard birds you own are still chicks.
NOTE: The following wont work for those who insist on over complicating everything they come in touch with.
Here's the method Ive settled on:
+ First 8 weeks, chick starter, game bird grower (or even standard grower) - Whatever poultry feed is available that is between 20-22%. More protein wont hurt, and a little less wont hasten the end of the world.
+ Second 8 weeks, grower (or just keep them on starter). 18-20% protein, now. More okay, a little less no great harm.
+ Third 8 weeks, grower changing to layer - Layers only need 16-18% protein, with the addition of calcium.
NOTE: Young birds under 16 weeks should not be given calcium, as they cannot metabolize it and it causes them problems. It can even kill the very young.
If you wanted to keep only one feed, I would suggest it be starter, or one of the starter/growers as a sole feed. If you want to add carefully constructed wet mashes as supplement, fell free to ask me how.
Yeah, some will go to howling that I am depriving the chickies of protein with this. But I say, "phooey!" Any minor difference over "recommended" allowances is trivial, in my experience, especially once they get past the 8 week mark and go outside. The "max protein" school of thought begins to lose its credence once they've feathered out.
If they have access to the soil, then there is little hot urgency to get them on layer feed, too. They get all the nutrition they need from the grower/starter and an amazing amount of minerals and needed calcium by scratching in the dirt. I have given only starter all the way up to lay, with a separate feeder of oyster shell (or chalk) made available after that. They will consume the shell when they are ready, and eschew it until then. Chickens are funny like that.
Once they are in lay, I'll switch to layer feed, but mostly to save a few bucks. Layer feed is cheaper than starter/grower and so has that appeal. There are other feeds available, as well, with the same analysis as chicken feed. Aside from the form it takes, pellets vs. crumbles, it should serve the outdoor bird as well as any other and depending on the price, may be better for the chickeneer.
The one thing you want to be wary of is feeding "treats" indiscriminately. This can dilute the nutrition they do get. Simply tossing them whatever random stuff you find laying around can do more harm than good. It should be done with a purpose, like so
- Ration feed/mash feed early.
- Green feeds and scratch during the middle day.
- Ration feed/mash feed before end of day.
While I may seem cavalier about this whole feeding thing, nothing is further from the truth. My decisions all came about initially, because my supplier is a local mill and they make only chick feed and layer feed. At first I wrung may hands over the apparent "Grower Feed Gap," and the lack of proper nutrition all the experts said I should be providing. I plotted weekly trips to The Far Away Feed Store just so I could get the "right stuff" and hovered over their feeders constantly.
Then I said to myself, "Huh? Hold on a minute. You didnt have any of that stuff when you were farm kid in WI. The chickens ate some feed and scratch grain, whatever they could snag from the front and back end of the cows and pigs and whatever they could get from the earth. These were yard chickens, after all and they did just fine. So, think dummy. How did they manage then, and what can you do to come close to that as a starting point today?"
