What Feed? Pullets, Roosters, and Hens

[rosemarythyme]

I have never raised chicks with a hen so I was speaking from experience with hand raising them heh.

Me neither. My human raised chicks spend all day with the adult birds from about 2 weeks on and days + nights with the adults from about 4 weeks on. It's less work for me and more naturally accepted by the adult flock, and it lets the babies learn to be chickens from the adults.

As far as the matter of feed, while I do use some layer feed when appropriate the flock (all female, no roosters) eats whatever the youngest members eat. So that means when I have chicks/pre-laying pullets, everyone eats starter, grower or all flock.

 

[Mike121]

Thank you all for the replies!

Rooster, laying hens, non-laying hens and chicks. They all eat a 20% "all flock" type of feed. Currently, fermented 22% broiler mash and dry crumble 18% starter/grower, 50/50 mix.

I just keep two containers of oyster shell on the side for the active layers and never have to worry about my flock composition or change feeds when the molt hits. Everyone is covered.

So I'll go ahead and start transitioning my main flock to the Nutrena Naturewise All Flock with the Manna Pro Oyster Shell feed in a separate feeder in the coop.

Then should I just keep my chicks on the starter until I let them out with the main flock? They'll be about 8 weeks old, if I was guessing, at that time. I could then keep the starter feed in the pen and they'd have access to both for a few weeks.

You should wait until the pullets are at least 13-15 weeks old before introducing them to the adult flock.

That's definitely not an option for me. The pen they're in isn't big enough to hold them until they're fully grown and I don't have room to build them a larger pen.

I started the integration process at 2 weeks with see but no touch visits with my older girls

That's how these chicks are right now. They're in a pen that I built inside the coop. They've been in there since I got them, so since they were about a week old. They've been in there a little over a week now. The way the coop is designed, the larger chickens walk up the steps to the pen to their roost every day so I know they're seeing each other every day at least once, whether they want to or not.

Hopefully when they're too big for the pen I can just open the door on the pen and they'll all get along just fine, at least for the most part. If they're anything like my big chickens, they probably won't venture out of the pen for a few days after I open the door anyways.

 

[Dominique King]

Well it depends on the climate you live in. So I was speaking from where I live which is Northern New England. So my bad. It also depends if it is a fast growing chicken. If so, then you can integrate them into the flock earlier than 13-15 weeks. Mine are medium growers so they take a little while longer. So look up what breed they are and it should show you how fast they grow and when you can integrate them into the flock. I hope this helps! Mike121!

 

[TooCheep]

So I'll go ahead and start transitioning my main flock to the Nutrena Naturewise All Flock with the Manna Pro Oyster Shell feed in a separate feeder in the coop.

That's the combo I use. It should work well. One additional item you might want to add. I air dry and crush my old egg shells and mix it in with the oyster shell. Good way to recycle the calcium and other minerals.

Then should I just keep my chicks on the starter until I let them out with the main flock? They'll be about 8 weeks old, if I was guessing, at that time. I could then keep the starter feed in the pen and they'd have access to both for a few weeks.

By 8 weeks, they'll be big enough to switch to full-size pellets. I'd just finish off your crumbles and then transition them to full-sized pellets.

@Mike121 & @Dominique King - You might want to add your general location to your profile. That will make it easier for future questions where climate, predators, etc. vary.

 

[Mike121]

By 8 weeks, they'll be big enough to switch to full-size pellets. I'd just finish off your crumbles and then transition them to full-sized pellets.

Great, thank you!

@Mike121 & @Dominique King - You might want to add your general location to your profile. That will make it easier for future questions where climate, predators, etc. vary.

Done.

One additional item you might want to add. I air dry and crush my old egg shells and mix it in with the oyster shell. Good way to recycle the calcium and other minerals.

I know a few folks who do that and some of them say doing that could give the chickens a taste for egg shells and they'll start eating their eggs after they lay. Have you ever had a problem with that, or heard of that?

 

[TooCheep]

I know a few folks who do that and some of them say doing that could give the chickens a taste for egg shells and they'll start eating their eggs after they lay. Have you ever had a problem with that, or heard of that?

I had similar concerns. That's why I dry and crush them. I've seen others say they throw half-shells out for the chickens without problems, but I prefer to play it safe. It's worked for 6-7 years now without problems.

You still need the oyster shell as the egg shells will not be enough, but it will reduce the amount of oyster shell you need.

 

[Mike121]

Again, thank y'all for the replies. Looks like I have a plan of attack now. One day I'll get around to posting a few pictures of the coop I built out of an old shed.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

You do not need to wait to introduce pullets to the flock. They just need a proper integration with lots of resources.

^ this.

Abundance is a Social Lubricant.

I use a "see and be seen" method to integrate, and routinely do so before 8 weeks, often closer to 6 weeks.

and as many posters have said in this thread, an "All Flock"-type feed with free choice sources of grit, water, calcium (oyster shell) works very well for mixed flocks of various ages, gender, point of lay and productivity - precisely why so many of us use that method.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Y'all might find my article on the "see-no-touch" method of integration helpful. Lots of pictures.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/integrating-a-pictorial-guide.79343/