When to buy chicken scratch?

[MontanaDolphin]

Try raisins, OMG mine go crazy for them. They also love love love watermelon,yogurt,spinach,scrambled eggs and beans. The list could go on and on.

I second the raisins. It is by far the NUMBER ONE treat for my chicks...the go NUTS. If I bring the bag out the raisins came in and crinkle it (for the noise) the flip! The start flying around, clucking and peeping...trying to get to me through the run fencing. If they are out of the run, they will actually jump up at the bag trying to pull it from my hands!

Raisins must be the food of the gods for them LOL

 

[oxygenmomma]

Our Chicks are about 6 weeks old. We have been taking them outside everyday to play, and we will be getting the coop ready for them this weekend. They have all their feathers in and are ready to be outside, as they are just getting too big to be inside! We have them in a huge rubbermaid and they are going stir crazy!

At what point do I stop giving them chick starter feed and move to regular chicken feed? They do eat bread, grass, scrambled eggs (they love them), and clover quite well.

 

[Alaskan]

You don't want to give them layer, with the high calcium, until they are laying.

The high calcium when they are growing gives them a shorter life span, isn't good for their internal organs. Of course, when they are laying, they need all of that extra calcium.

If your store carries it, you can switch from non-medicated chick starter to a grower for laying hens (NOT the grower for broilers). If they don't have the grower for layers, then stick with non-medicated chick feed until they are laying, or at lest close to laying age.

 

[oxygenmomma]

They are getting medicaid feed. They received no shots when they were born, had the store confirm that, and they had been getting medicated feed at the store as well.

Can we just start slowly switching to the grower feed now?

 

[poultrylubber]

I started giving mine scratch at 8 weeks old. They are now are 10 weeks and they turn into greedy beast when I give them scratch

 

[Alaskan]

As you can...as long as it is grower for laying hens, not grower for broilers.

Keep feeding grower until they start to lay

 

[AussieHens96]

2/4 of our hens are laying - would oyster shell still be okay? And where do you generally get it?

 

[Alaskan]

I can buy oyster shell where I buy my feed, in giant bags the size of a feed bag, or I can buy the oyster shell in little repackaged one pound bags at the pet store in town.

You feed the oyster shell in a separate dish. If you have a dry clean spot in the run, you can just dump it on the ground. They eat just what they need. It is odd, mine usually eat it in spurts...so almost a pound in one week, then a tiny tiny bit for three weeks. I don't know if that is normal though.

The chickens seem to only eat what they need to have. So, don't worry abut your non-layers eating lots of it and making themselves sick....they won't do that. They just eat what they need.

 

[boyswillbeboys]

What is the difference between grower for broilers and for layers? I'm getting a mixed batch of chicks, 20 layers and 10 broilers, on June 20

 

[wsmith]

Sobbachickens-Chicken scratch is basically a snack/treat/something to do

Not necessarily.

Chickens evolved foraging. before the advent of manufactured feeds, poultry keepers would let their flocks forage for much of their food. Scratch grains and feed can provide nutrition and activity for your birds, and also encourage more foraging. Modern chicken feeds are made up of ground grains, which are compressed into the pellets of crumbles you buy. Many add suppliments and substitutes for the bugs and fresh plants they eat while out and about. Yes, it keeps them busy, but that is what they would normally be doing anyway.

I estimate that about 1/2 of what my chickens eat is from scratch grains, which I mix myself. 50% whole wheat, 30% whole oats, 20% cracked corn. My birds didn't eat much of the millet and milo that comes in the pre-mixed scratch feed, sometimes up to 50%. So basically I was wasting my money. Now they don't get any more scratch grains until what is on the ground is gone. The layer feed is in a feeder and they have free choice to eat it or not. For my main laying flock of 17 hens, I go through about 50 lbs of layer feed, (20% protein) every 4 weeks and about 50 lbs of scratch grains every month, give or take depending on the current bug population..... They prefer bugs.