I am nearing the end of my last bag of chick start feed (Purina Starter/grower). I bought a bag of layer pellets (Purina Layena) a few days ago. I have read many posts on here that it is often difficult to make this switch.
I tried something that worked great. I opened the first bag of layer pellets in the run. The chickens were excited. I think they thought they were getting scratch. I used the cup that I normally use to give them scratch. I sprinkled some of the layer pellets on the ground like it was scratch. It fooled them completely! They ate it very fast and were looking for more. I then mixed some in with the remaining starter crumbles at about 50/50 ratio like I have seen recommended here. The chickens are picking through the feed to get to the layer pellets and are leaving the starter crumbles behind. Eventually they eat some of the starter. It looks like the switch went very well. I have about two days of the 50/50 mix before I switch them over to 100% layer pellets.
More of you might want to try this technique!
I tried something that worked great. I opened the first bag of layer pellets in the run. The chickens were excited. I think they thought they were getting scratch. I used the cup that I normally use to give them scratch. I sprinkled some of the layer pellets on the ground like it was scratch. It fooled them completely! They ate it very fast and were looking for more. I then mixed some in with the remaining starter crumbles at about 50/50 ratio like I have seen recommended here. The chickens are picking through the feed to get to the layer pellets and are leaving the starter crumbles behind. Eventually they eat some of the starter. It looks like the switch went very well. I have about two days of the 50/50 mix before I switch them over to 100% layer pellets.
More of you might want to try this technique!
