What is the piont in the chick grower?

[speckledhen]

I rarely give birds any scratch at all till they are over 12 weeks old, then only as a training tool/treat. Scratch is just as expensive as feed around here. My scratch, which is an 11-grain with almost no corn, costs $12/50#

 

[Harley's girl]

Oh my. Ours is $8.99 a 50lb bag. I guess I could continue with the chick starter till they are old enough to let out in the big run.

 

[speckledhen]

The other 5 grain is about $11/50# so the 11-grain, which is 13% protein, formulated to be a feed for roosters, is very nutritious. So, it doesn't save me anything to feed scratch. My layer is $10/50# and the co-op has a starter/grower for that same price, which is excellent. Purina's starter here is $15/50#.

 

[cmom]

I feed mine Starter/Grower feed until they start to lay then I switch to Layer. If I have any Starter/Grower left over I mix it with the layer feed.

 

[Wynette]

I do like cmom, but this year, I will be switching to the Buckeye feed for those 12 weeks and older. I want them to grow slowly...do not want to rush development.

 

[allisojo]

Quote:
Excellent advice. All things with a grain of salt.

 

[speckledhen]

Since I sell hatching eggs, I've always fed my birds the highest quality feeds. It does affect hatchability, especially if the breeder is in any phase of the molt. I had that experience. The laying flock gets good quality feed, but I dont spend extra on Purina over the cheaper Tucker Milling feed that the co-op carries, unless there's an issue like molting. Then they get the higher protein/quality feed.
It's a good point that people can overthink things. They wont keel over if they dont get starter then grower as opposed to the combo starter/grower. They wont keel over dead if they get layer feed a couple of weeks earlier than recommended. As long as the feed is fresh and dry, they'll be okay.

 

[jvls1942]

I gave up buying premixed scratch.

my assorted birds would pick out what they wanted and would leave or scatter the rest.. they were not accustomed to whole oats and would not touch the stuff..

now all I buy for scratch is cracked corn.. all the birds think it is the cat's meow..