When do I change foods? Are these Treats okay?

[WendyLee]

My 2 chickens are still eating the Start and Grow by Purina. They are about 10 weeks old. When do I change their food and what do I change it to?

Also, my girls absolutely LOVE Kozy Shack Peach Bread Pudding, cherries, grapes, fruit cocktail, lettuce, and other snacks! Is it okay to feed these treats to my girls? They also like sardines in water.

Please let me know if I am doing anything wrong.

Thank You,

Wendy

 

[Judy]

Start and grow feeds are meant to be fed til they start laying, usually somewhere around 20 weeks. This is not a precise thing; don't throw any feed away. Sometimes they accept a new feed better if you mix them for a while when you change over. They can also just stay on a start and grow formula, or be switched to either a flock raiser or layer. If you don't use layer, be sure to offer oyster shell separately for the calcium.

I would not give them the bread pudding. Sugar and salt are not a good idea in any quantity. Always avoid chocolate. The main thing with treats is to keep the quantity down, certainly not over 10% of their diet, so they don't get shorted on important nutrients. here is our treats chart:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/chicken-treat-chart-the-best-treats-for-backyard-chickens

 

[WendyLee]

I cannot thank you enough!! I LOVE this group! I have learned so much. Thank you for sharing the list of foods. I am going to print it out, laminate it, and hang it on the coop. No more bread pudding for my piggies/chickens! Thank you so much!!!!!!