When do i change Feed

[nigel5764]

My chicks are at 4 weeks now,its great to see them change to there breed ie the feathers turning and there characters.Could anyone tell me at what age do you change from Chick crumbs to growers pellets as ime unsure when to change

 

[HEChicken]

You have flexibility. I've started day-old chicks on grower and fed that through to laying age, you can leave them on the chick starter through to laying age (if the next bag you buy is unmedicated), or you can change to grower when you buy the next bag of feed. There are no rights or wrongs.

 

[tec27]

I started my chicks on a medicated starter feed from day 1 till about 2 months old. Then i started giving them starter grower feed till 6 months. Then i changed to layer feed.

 

[Hummingbird Hollow]

I started my 8 chicks on a 5 pound bag of organic chick starter "crumbles" and when in less than two weeks it looked like I was running out I found a local (well, 25 miles away) feed store that carried organic chicken feed and purchased a 10 lb tub or their organic chick feed and a 50 lb bag of organic chick "grower" feed. The guy at the feed store told me that when the 10lb tub of starter ran out, just switch them to the grower feed. About three weeks into the 10lb tub (5 weeks of age total) I was down to about a 1/4 of a tub and I dumped in maybe two pounds of the grower and mixed it in with the starter. A week later they are taking all grower feed. I don't know if this is ideal or the way a long-term expert would do it but my chicks are thriving and haven't had any adverse reaction to the change in their diets.

 

[Deedrahsue]

My flock of babies were born Feb 9th and they have been on laying pellets for a few months because I was trying to use the scratch they were eating the adult hens pellets, so I converted them all. The feed store told me as long as they can eat it without trouble it would be fine so they were 3 months old when they were eating pellets. With my first babies I was told to start them at 21 weeks so they could lay. Hope this helps.

 

[HEChicken]

Quote:
This is too young for chicks to be eating layer pellets. The extra calcium when they are not producing eggs is not good for them. I will feed almost any combination of foods (starter, grower etc) to any age hens, but the one thing I will not do is feed layer feed to pullets under the age of 18 weeks.

 

[cmom]

This is what I do. Others may do it differently.

Starter crumbles up to 8 weeks.
or
Starter/Grower, until I get my first egg .
or
Grower Crumbles or pellets from 8 weeks until you get your first egg.

Layer from first egg on and free choice Oyster Shells. They will take what they want and need.

I use medicated Starter/Grower. I feed it to the birds until I get my first egg then I switch over to Layer. If I have any Starter/Grower or Grower left over when I get my first egg, I mix in the leftover feed with the Layer feed. I have never had any problems. The amprollium in the Starter or Starter/Grower helps in the chicks development in their resistance to cocci. It is sulfa based. There is only a problem eating the eggs layed by the birds that have had the medicated feed when they start to lay if you have any allergies to Sulfa.

 

[venita 20030]

What about plain chicken scratch at 6 to 8 weeks?

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

What about plain chicken scratch at 6 to 8 weeks?

Thats not feed, its a treat. Like letting your kids eat captn crunch, they love it but its not nutritional.

Gary

 

[debid]

Some grower feed is suitable for use as a starter (it's usually labeled starter/grower) and you could use it now but not all grower feeds are like that. Some grower feed is labeled for use after a certain age (8 weeks, I think?) and the protein % is lower. Your best bet is to read the label.