starter feed?
- Thread starter Molliep2
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Absolutely fine. They'll likely enjoy it more than layer. Just make sure to supplement calcium on the side.
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- #3
It won't affect egg production or anything right?
Nope. Overall it'll have more protein, less calcium.
They may have a temporary lag in laying due to change in food, but it's not because of the feed, it's because chickens don't like change.
They may have a temporary lag in laying due to change in food, but it's not because of the feed, it's because chickens don't like change.
Fluffyflufffluff
Songster
- Dec 30, 2019
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Generally speaking, baby chicks and laying hens can survive happily on a diet of starter feed and water for the first 6 weeks of their life before they move on to grower feed.
I feed a Non-Medicated Starter-Grower 18% Protein or a All-Flock/Flock Raiser crumble 20% Protein to my Hens.
They range in age from 1 1/2 to nearly 4 years old.
My first Flock (Golden Comets) started to feather pick when I switched to a 16% Protein layer feed around a year old, so I switched back to a 18% feed.
My Barred Rock hens 19 months old have never had a Layer feed.
They have their own coop and pen and after 16 weeks I gave them a separate container of Oyster Shells.
I recently bought Non-Medicated Starter-Grower 18%.
, for my 6 hens.
Sorry I do not agree. With high production hens such as leghorns or production reds you may and will likely see a decline in shell quality and thickness. I am speaking from experience. People say oyster shell on the side, yes it’s a good idea and a must if you are using low calcium feed. The oyster shell does not always get consumed by all hens.
is it possible to feed starter feed to laying hens?
Short answer, yes, many do.
Long answer. A lot of people feed Starter, Grower, All-Flock, Flock Raiser, and other types of feed to Lying hens. Not everybody feeds Layer.
If you check the label there are two main variables between these feeds. One is calcium. Layer typically has around 4% calcium for the ones that are laying to use for their egg shells. The other feeds typically have around 1% calcium. They still need a certain amount of calcium for body functions, even if they are not laying as calcium is an essential ingredient. They just don't need as much.
There are studies that clearly show excess calcium can harm growing chickens. There is discussion that excess calcium may harm non-laying chickens, like roosters or molting hens. Many of us that have flocks with chicks or non-laying chickens feed something other than Layer to them and offer a calcium supplement (like oyster shell) on the side. Typically the ones that need the extra calcium know to eat enough, the ones that don't need it for the eggs don't eat enough to harm themselves.
It's not what is in one bite, it's the total grams of calcium they eat each day, and even then it's more of an average over several days. If they either forage for a lot of their food or you give them a lot of low-calcium treats Layer by itself may not give them enough calcium for your eggs. On the other hand they may get a lot of calcium from plants or creepy-crawlies they eat. If your native rock is limestone they may get a lot of calcium from that,
Generally your egg shells will tell you if they are getting enough calcium or not.
The other difference is protein. Starter is typically 18% to 20% protein content unless you include Game Bird Starter. Grower is often 15% to 18%. Layer is typically 16% to 18%. It can vary by brand. as you can see there is a fairly wide band of what is OK as far as protein content goes. Many of us ignore that to a point and feed outside those boundaries.
It won't affect egg production or anything right?
Starter generally has a higher protein percentage than Layer. That extra protein could mean the eggs are a bit larger. That's not a big problem to me.
Higher protein content can possibly lead to some problems. I'm talking about protein content higher than those feeds labeled for chickens, 20% protein doesn't concern me. Some hens release more than one yolk a day. If those yolks are released at the same time you often get double yolked eggs. If those yolks are released separately you might get two eggs in the same day. The second one is often soft-shelled since the hen might not make enough shell material to cover two eggs. High levels or protein have been linked to release of excess egg yolks to start the hen making eggs.
I'm using weasel words like "can possibly" or "might", I am not saying it absolutely will because it usually doesn't. Some people may not consider that a problem but I do anytime a hen's internal egg making factory doesn't function as it should. Any hen can have an oops, when they are just starting or getting pretty old especially. I think all of us are entitled to an occasional oops. So an occasional oops is not a big deal. It's when it becomes common that it would cause me concern.
The bottom line is that the protein in Starter that is labeled for chickens will not cause any problems. Your eggs may be a tad bigger than normal.
Short answer, yes, many do.
Long answer. A lot of people feed Starter, Grower, All-Flock, Flock Raiser, and other types of feed to Lying hens. Not everybody feeds Layer.
If you check the label there are two main variables between these feeds. One is calcium. Layer typically has around 4% calcium for the ones that are laying to use for their egg shells. The other feeds typically have around 1% calcium. They still need a certain amount of calcium for body functions, even if they are not laying as calcium is an essential ingredient. They just don't need as much.
There are studies that clearly show excess calcium can harm growing chickens. There is discussion that excess calcium may harm non-laying chickens, like roosters or molting hens. Many of us that have flocks with chicks or non-laying chickens feed something other than Layer to them and offer a calcium supplement (like oyster shell) on the side. Typically the ones that need the extra calcium know to eat enough, the ones that don't need it for the eggs don't eat enough to harm themselves.
It's not what is in one bite, it's the total grams of calcium they eat each day, and even then it's more of an average over several days. If they either forage for a lot of their food or you give them a lot of low-calcium treats Layer by itself may not give them enough calcium for your eggs. On the other hand they may get a lot of calcium from plants or creepy-crawlies they eat. If your native rock is limestone they may get a lot of calcium from that,
Generally your egg shells will tell you if they are getting enough calcium or not.
The other difference is protein. Starter is typically 18% to 20% protein content unless you include Game Bird Starter. Grower is often 15% to 18%. Layer is typically 16% to 18%. It can vary by brand. as you can see there is a fairly wide band of what is OK as far as protein content goes. Many of us ignore that to a point and feed outside those boundaries.
It won't affect egg production or anything right?
Starter generally has a higher protein percentage than Layer. That extra protein could mean the eggs are a bit larger. That's not a big problem to me.
Higher protein content can possibly lead to some problems. I'm talking about protein content higher than those feeds labeled for chickens, 20% protein doesn't concern me. Some hens release more than one yolk a day. If those yolks are released at the same time you often get double yolked eggs. If those yolks are released separately you might get two eggs in the same day. The second one is often soft-shelled since the hen might not make enough shell material to cover two eggs. High levels or protein have been linked to release of excess egg yolks to start the hen making eggs.
I'm using weasel words like "can possibly" or "might", I am not saying it absolutely will because it usually doesn't. Some people may not consider that a problem but I do anytime a hen's internal egg making factory doesn't function as it should. Any hen can have an oops, when they are just starting or getting pretty old especially. I think all of us are entitled to an occasional oops. So an occasional oops is not a big deal. It's when it becomes common that it would cause me concern.
The bottom line is that the protein in Starter that is labeled for chickens will not cause any problems. Your eggs may be a tad bigger than normal.
OP didn't mention what type of birds are involved.
I don't have any high production birds and have never fed all layer, even when I've only have laying hens. I generally feed a mix of half layer, half grower. No real issues with shell quality, with the caveat that I do currently have one bird that I doesn't want to eat oyster shells. In her case I supplement by mixing a small amount of oyster shell into her feed and feeding it to her individually, only during laying season. Not a difficult fix in a small flock but would probably be very difficult with a large flock.
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