What to feed a flock

[needlessjunk]

I know this has been asked may times so please bare with me. What do y'all feed your mixed flock? I now have a drake in addition to my 10 weeks d girls and a laying girl. I need to go to TSC and pick up some oyster shell and shavings. Right now I have a mix of grower pellets and flock raiser crumble. What would switch to next? I am thinkings about switching to a soy free non GMO feed but I don't know if I can justify the price with the husband and I don't know if they have a non layer blend.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Just stick with the lowest protein of the mentioned feeds- with oyster shell on the side.

 

[needlessjunk]

The grower I have is 15%. Don't the females need a bit more when laying? I also noticed that my TSC no longer has flock raiser in pellets and they make huge mess of crumble.

 

[Amiga]

Yes, I believe the layers need a little bit more protein.

I will say that diet is a tricky combination of art and science, and there are so many different experiences.

For us, I use an organic layer - Blue Seal is what I can find - and I supplement. Yes, even the drake gets the layer feed. But I supplement with peas as treats, and for the Buffs flock (he is part of that flock) their extra calcium is free choice oyster shell, and he does not eat that.

Everybody gets a little bit of good quality dry cat kibble to pop up the protein - especially now nearly half are molting.

My Runners have a harder time getting enough calcium from the layer, so I supplement them with dissolved calcium citrate, about 50 to 80 mg per duck per day in their food.

In the summer, when the ducks forage, I reckon they skew their protein percentages and calcium percentages by what they find to eat in the yard. I try not to worry but I am constantly thinking about their diet and nutrition and how to make sure everyone gets optimal feeding for their long term health.