I have a small backyard flock of 10 chickens, from 10 different breeds. They are currently 18 weeks old and no eggs - yet. I just put out the nest boxes today with some fake eggs, thinking that it might not be too long before some of the chickens start laying. Because they are different breeds, I expect some girls to start laying weeks after the first eggs arrive.
My current plan is to keep all the chickens on a 18% grower/raiser feed until I start seeing some eggs. When I see eggs, I plan on continuing with the grower feed but also offering oyster shells in a separate small feeder, thinking only the girls laying eggs will be eating the oyster shells. When I start getting a number of eggs everyday, then I plan on switching over to layer feed (which include oyster shells) for all the chickens. Is this a reasonable plan or should I consider something else? Thanks.
My current plan is to keep all the chickens on a 18% grower/raiser feed until I start seeing some eggs. When I see eggs, I plan on continuing with the grower feed but also offering oyster shells in a separate small feeder, thinking only the girls laying eggs will be eating the oyster shells. When I start getting a number of eggs everyday, then I plan on switching over to layer feed (which include oyster shells) for all the chickens. Is this a reasonable plan or should I consider something else? Thanks.