Switching Chick feed brands. Gradually or not?

[MommasLilPeckers]

Hi all,
I and switching chick starter crumbles brands. Old and new are non medicated. Do I have to do a gradual transition or can I just swap?
Thanks

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I would do a gradual. You don't want digestive upsets, and different brands often taste differently, so often birds won't eat what tastes too differently.

 

[MommasLilPeckers]

I would do a gradual. You don't want digestive upsets, and different brands often taste differently, so often birds won't eat what tastes too differently.

That makes perfect sense. Thanks

 

[chkva]

I mix the old with the new... I'll put half old and half new and stir it up and as the old gets lower and lower, I'll decrease it until it's gone.

 

[AmyJane725]

I think the accepted recommendation for transitioning pet food is to do it like this:

Week 1: 3/4 Old Food, 1/4 New Food
Week 2: 1/2 Old Food, 1/2 New Food
Week 3: 1/4 Old Food, 3/4 New Food
Week 4: All New Food

 

[Shadrach]

@AmyJane725 has given a good routine and I would follow her advice.
Sudden diet changes, particularly if this is their only source of nutrition (not free range) can cause digestive problems.

 

[Acre4Me]

Chicken feeds are pretty similar, so a sudden switch shouldn’t matter much at all. We’ve gradually changed feeds before (as described above). However, we’ve also had the occasion where the young chicken keeper in the house didn’t notify us of low feed and HAD to get some that day, but due to schedules etc could only pick it up at another store than usual -therefore, a different brand but same type (ie “grower”). No issues noted the times we suddenly switched. Poops the same, activity the same, etc. we’ve had to do sudden switches on our chickens (laying pullers and older chicks), and quail and none suffered.

Btw, because of this we did discover a feed we really like for the birds and became aware how much better they were doing on different feed as compared to the other feed we had been using, so one good point to the chicken keeping kid not being great at keeping track of feed levels.

 

[debid]

I buy whatever is fresh when I go so we change brands and even types (crumble/mash/pellets) on a fairly regular basis. And honestly, I have not had any issues with digestive upset from any of that. I think the risk is grossly overstated in the chicken keeping guidebooks. Tossing them too many melon rinds is another story, though...

But, do what makes you comfortable because ultimately, you're the one who feels badly if they seem off after a change you've made.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I switch all at once because when I've tried a more gradual transition by mixing in 2 feeds, I find that the chickens will just scratch out or dump the new feed and eat the old one exclusively. I very rarely switch foods though.