I have been feeding chick food since getting my birds. At what age do I change their food to something else? They are now 12 and 9 weeks. What should I feed them? Scratch? Oyster shells? Anything else?
You can change them to finisher grower when you run out of chick starter and they'll be fine. Just remember that scratch is a treat and should be no than ten percent of their diet (less would be better ) as they need higher protein while growing. the oyster shell can wait till their laying as it's for the shells and calcium is not good for growing chicks anyway.
Just a side note a lot of folks here on the BYC including myself did not or will not change medicated chick feed until 20 to 22 weeks and then switch to a Layer feed. The medicated feed has all the ingredients for a healthy bird. The layer feed is just slightly different without the medicated portion and a lot more calcium plus in addition to that I put down some crushed oyster shell that I grind up finer in an old coffee bean grinder so I can put it in the wet treats I give my layers in the morning.
Thank you. I am assuming it would be okay to change the older ones at 23 weeks and the younger ones at 20 weeks? They are 3 weeks apart and living together, eating the same food.
Look at your bag. They can live off chick starter until you switch if you aren't going to eat any. I didn't use medicated at all in either batch. You'll be fine if you clean out their brooder/coop a lot. Anyway, it will only help prevent coccidiosis. No garuntees, but it will apparantly help a lot.
Quote:I think that's some pretty dangerous advice. I didn't use medicated starter either but it's more than just cleaning the brooder a lot. I kept the brooder very dry (water nipples), reared the chicks in spring when the disease levels tend to be lower than when the heat and humidity sets in, and was starting chicks on soil that hadn't seen chickens in at least 15 years. If I were starting brooder chicks now, I'd probably use a feed with Amprolium to help them develop resistance gradually while they lived in close proximity to the coop with the adult flock that they'd be integrating with eventually.
That's wonderful. 22 weeks? I'm glad to know that....but what's the rule on treats? Like fruit and yogurt?
