The Most asked question! My turn

[Goatmum]

I am overwhelmed by choices of chicken feed. I have no doubt this question has been asked a gazillion times. We only want to feed them the best food. We feed our goats Hubbard goat feed. I know they make chicken feed too. We also, give our goats MannaPro goat minerals. They do very well on both. A lot of people around here feed Purina chicken feed. I need recommendations! Right now our chicks are eating MannaPro chick starter grower. Thank you in advance!

 

[K0k0shka]

Depends on your definition of "best". Everybody's is different. Purina is fine by me. But I don't care about organic or no soy or whatever. "Best" for me means "healthy, easy to find, not too expensive, and the chickens like it". Purina Flock Raiser checks all those boxes, so for me that's the best feed.

 

[Auntiejessi3]

I feed my ladies purina all flock crumbles with free choice oyster shell on the side.

 

[Chris2018]

If your wanting the"best" and don't care if is organic or not then I recommend --

Mazuri -
https://www.mazuri.com/outdoor-bird...stView&cartID=&portalUser=&store=&cclcl=en_US

If your looking for organic the I recommend --

Blue Seal/ Kent Feed -
https://blueseal.com/species/poultry/operation-type/hobby-specialty-farm/

or

Kalmbach Feed -
https://www.kalmbachfeeds.com/products/poultry

Kalmbach also has a Non GMO feed line including scratch grain if you want stay away from GMO's but don't want to pay for Organic

 

[Folly's place]

'Best' is relative, and because there are feeds only available regionally, and small local mill products vary in quality, and because it also depends on what's fresh by mill date where you shop. And the size of your flock! Madly expensive shipping costs from the 'deliver at your door' companies aren't so good if you have more than a small handful of birds.
Whole grain diets can cause problems, if individuals pick out the yummy bits and leave the rest, unbalancing their diet, and the rest of the flock.
Here we feed Purina Flock Raiser, a nice diet that's good for young, old, males, females, laying eggs or not, with oyster shell in a separate dish. It's always fresh where we shop, so we can use it within two months of the mill date.
Your choices may be totally different, and that's fine.
Mary

 

[NatJ]

How long will chicks be on the chick feed?

Until they start to lay eggs, or for their entire lives.

The only special thing about "layer" feed is the extra calcium it has.
You can put out a dish of oyster shell, and feed chick starter their entire lives, and they will be fine.

Or you can switch to layer feed when they start laying, if you wish.

Or you can change to a Flock Raiser or All Flock type feed at any point you wish. Some of those come in pellets, if you want that when the chicks grow bigger. With those feeds, you would also need to provide oyster shell in a separate dish when they are ready to lay eggs.

 

[Cecisflock]

Relax, people. GMO is not poison and is not going to kill your chickens. Or the planet. On the contrary, it increases yield per area and actually saves wild habitat from being destroyed to plant more crops for people and their animals. It's a good thing.

 

[K0k0shka]

"GMO/non-GMO" and "organic/non-organic" are different things, by the way. The terms are not interchangeable.

From Forbes:

"Most commonly found in crops such as soybeans, corn and canola, GMOs are designed to provide a higher nutritional value to food, as well as protect crops against pests.

Organic foods, on the other hand, do not contain any pesticides, fertilizers, solvents or additives."

 

[21hens-incharge]

How long will chicks be on the chick feed?

I keep mine on chick feed until everyone is laying.

 

[K0k0shka]

oooh, you gonna get fussed at!

I'm asking for it, right? I should resist. But it's hard.