When do I introduce "grown up" food?

[midwifebeth]

I'm new to raising chickens. My 3 girls are 5 weeks old and have been eating organic baby chick mash and they love it. But I was thinking they are old enough to introduce pellets and grit.

So I put some sand and pellets in the coop but they ignore the pellets. They love the sandy grit and scratch and play and nibble on it but don't seem to be touching the pellets. I tried waiting to feed them more mash but when I give in and give it to them, they act like they are starving.

Is it just too soon to introduce the pellets?

 

[Johnn]

They don't need Layers pellets or girt until 16 weeks, it is bad for them. They should be put on Growers Pellets at 8 weeks, then layers at 16 weeks.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Sometimes, a All flock (good to feed to birds of any and all ages) does come in a pellet form. Grower, All Flock, Flock Raiser, etc. Any of these can be fed. However, in our experience, a bird less then 10 weeks finds it hard to break up the larger pellets that some feeds present.

There really is no such thing as "adult feed". Layer feed is merely a raiser/grower type feed with an extra shot of calcium formulated into the product. Johnn is correct that it is NOT the proper feed for young or developing chicks and adolescents.
Very few breeds actually come into lay at 16 weeks. 20 weeks is normally plenty early to feed Layer, if Layer is fed at all. Many, many folks never feed Layer feed.

 

[llandry]

I kept mine on starter/grower crumbles until they were about 20 weeks.

 

[midwifebeth]

Wow! Good to know! I'm disappointed in what the feed store sold me then! I just read the label and it is for layers. I guess my chicks are smarter than me. so I'll go get some more of the other feed for them as soon as I can.
Thanks for the quick response.

 

[llandry]

A very helpful member named chris09 gave me the following information a while ago when I was a confused newbie with the same feeding questions. I posted almost the same question and I copied and pasted his response to me below. Hopefully you find this as helpful as I did.

This was what chris09 posted:

Starter --
A balanced feed meant as the sole ration for chicks from hatching to twelve weeks of age.
At 12 weeks of age the birds can be changed to Grower or Developer. Starter can be Medicated or Non-Medicated when Medicated it is with either Amprolium or Lasalocid. Starter is available in Mash, Crumble or Pellet form.

Stater/ Grower --
A balanced feed meant as the sole ration for chicks from hatching to chickens begin to lay, this feed can be Medicated or Non-Medicated. If medicated it will be with either Amprolium or Lasalocid. Starter/ Grower is available mostly in Crumble or Pellet form.

Grower --
Feed as the sole ration to chicks 12 weeks of age as a finisher. Grower feed is meant to feed until the chickens begin to lay, then bird can be switched to a complete Laying. Most Grower feed is Non-Medicated but some are Medicated with Bacitracin. Grower is mostly available in available in Crumble or Pellet form.

Finisher -- See above for Grower

Layer --
Feed as the sole diet to laying hens maximum production of eggs. Do not feed Layer feed to poultry, which are not in production because of the high calcium levels in the diet. This is particularly true of young growing birds. Layer is available in Mash, Crumble or Pellet form.

Layer/ Breeder --
Feed as the sole diet to laying hens and breeders for maximum production and for improved hatchability. Do not feed Layer feed to poultry, which are not in production because of the high calcium levels in the diet. This is particularly true of young growing birds. Layer/ Breeder is available in Pellet form.

 

[ChickensRDinos]

Layer feed, which I think it what most people would consider "grown up" feed is just chicken feed with more calcium and usually slightly less protein. It is designed to be complete nutrition for laying hens and laying hens only. It is not for young birds, roosters or birds that are not laying for any reason (age, breed, season, molting, etc). It is especially not good for young birds.

You have several options when feeding your birds. Many people feed a starter (medicated or non, your choice) for 8 weeks or so then which to a grower (if you feed a non-medicated starter you can probably skip this step and just stick with your starter) then around 20 weeks or when the birds start laying they switch to a layer. If you have all hens of the same age this will work fine. I do think it is important to understand though that a layer feed does not make birds lay it just has extra calcium that they need to make egg shells. There are alternative ways to give them this pcalcium if you choose.

I personally feed a grower (organic, soy-free 20% protein) to all of my birds at all life stages and never switch to a layer. I do this because I have a small mixed flock with birds of different ages and also have some breeds that do not lay as regularly. I feed the grower and put a bowl of oyster shell as a calcium source separate on the side. If the calcium is on the side and not mixed into the feed (like it is in a layer feed) then the birds will only eat it as needed. So, young birds and roos who need less calcium will eat much less and your laying hens will eat more. When my birds go into molt they stop eating it (If I were feeding layer they wouldn't have this option).

I also choose this feed because it has the animal protein that I prefer for them and is organic and has a higher protein that let's me supplement their feed with a fodder mix that saves me a little money and adds healthy greens to their diet without effecting their balance of nutrition.

Some people will feed laying during the summer high production months and then switch to a grower or flock raiser in the winter in the lower production months.

Feed bags have ages on them as a guide but it is not a rule. I think it is good to understand the different kinds so you can decide what works best with your flock and your farming goals. It seems sort of complicated at first but really comes down to what kind of ingredients you want your feed to have and deciding where you laying hens will get their calcium.

Meat specific breeds are a different story with a different feeding schedule if your ever decide to go down that path.

 

[centrarchid]

I kept mine on starter/grower crumbles until they were about 20 weeks.

This very similar to what I do except I begin slipping them intact grains by five weeks. As the chicks approach adult size and weight I dilute the the grower so that overall protein intake is in the 16 to 18% range and have now problems letting it drop to around 14% so long as birds not in lay or molt. Breeding birds are given free choice access to oyster shell if not able to access quality calcium rich greens while foraging.

Your layer formulations are designed to give good egg production performance using minimal amounts of protein because amino acids are properly balanced. They also simplify nutrition management for for flocks in lay and not able to access other eats. Such formulations are not what I use with birds not laying for any length of time. Even calcium can be problematic if body can not get rid of it like with egg shell formation.