Which feed is best for a mix of chicks and layers?

[haikuchicken]

I have 20 chicks, 20 layers, and a couple roosters living together. It's been difficult to figure out what to feed them. Should I feed all flock with a side of oyster shells? Is that adequate for both the chicks and the layers? Anyone have an organic all flock they recommend? Seems hard to find!

 

[rosemarythyme]

All flock with oyster on the side should suffice for the entire group, depending on the protein level in the specific feed (some are higher, some lower... you may prefer to start with a higher protein feed when chicks are younger to help them grow).

 

[haikuchicken]

Is it ok for my flock to all eat starter? Will it hurt the layers or slow production?

 

[Down Under]

Is it ok for my flock to all eat starter? Will it hurt the layers or slow production?

No you shouldn't feed your whole flock starter. Most starters and grower feeds are usually medicated so you will not be able to eat the eggs and it will not be to healthy for your layers, so unless you can find a starter that is non medicated and has the correct nutritional requirements for the rest of your flock (which is usually difficult to find) only feed it to the chicks.

 

[Down Under]

It would probably be easier for you to find, make or modify a feeder that only allows access for chicks than it would be to find a feed that suits all of your requirements. That way you would only need to find a feed that caters for your layers and roosters as they couldn't get access to your starter and grower feeds. It would probably be a good idea to put the adult feed and shell grit high enough that the chicks couldn't get to it as well.

 

[FrostRanger]

All flock with oyster shells is fine and there is no harm in feeding everyone starter. Some people do that anyways 'cause of the higher protein although I would feed unmediated just 'cause the adults don't need the medicine - the chicks don't really either, but I'd rather not open the medicated vs unmediated can of worms. Trying to feed everyone separately is a hopeless endeavor unless you physically separate them 'cause they will go for each other's feed without fail

 

[U_Stormcrow]

All Flock and Oyster Shell on the side, yes. and as many discovered, "Starter" and "All Flock" formulations look a lot alike, nutritionally. Plenty of us subbed one for the other during the Pandemic when choices were few.

The biggest difference is that starter is much more often medicated, but it should be easy to find unmedicated starter. The medication used here in the US most commonly is Amprolium. You can ABSOLUTELY eat eggs from chickens getting Amprolium in their diet. Its a thiamine antagonist, meaining it blocks thiamine uptake. Eating enough eggs to have any effect on a human mass would be far more unhealthy than the amprolium itself, and its effects could be treated immediately and w/o further consequence simply by taking a B-vitamin. There's greater risk of thiamine deficiency from having a beer every night than two eggs from an amprolium treated bird at breakfast.

As to why you have trouble finding Organic all flock? Its complicated, but the main reason is that "All Flock" feeds have significantly more crude protein than "layer" type formulations, and typically a higher relative percentage of methionine (critical for developing birds, less needed in adult layers). Organic, high protein, high methionine sources are hard to find and expensive. That's changing, but it certainly impacts the current product mix.

Best chaces are a feed containing organic porcine blood meal (yes, dried blood from organically raised pigs), organic insect meal, organic soy meal, or similar. No I don't have any recommends unfortunately.

 

[Yardmom]

Starter is fine to feed to all chickens. I don't know about organic feeds, but here it is easier nonmedicated food than medicated.

 

[Chris2018]

Is it ok for my flock to all eat starter? Will it hurt the layers or slow production?

As long as it is unmedicated. There are a few manufacturers of feed that make a unmedicated starter. I use Kalmbach and I know they have a few unmedicated starters. I myself use there 20% Organic chick and meatbird starter and its unmedicated.

 

[Ridgerunner]

If the medicine in medicated feed is Amprolium then you can feed it to your laying hens and everyone else. With Amprolium there are no restrictions on eating the eggs or the meat. If the medicine in medicated feed is anything else then you need to do research to see if there are restrictions or withdrawal times for either eggs or meat.
You can check the label to see if the feed is medicated or not. If it is medicated the label will tell you what the medicine is.

It doesn't matter if most Starter is medicated or not. It matters if the Starter you get is medicated. It doesn't matter if most medicated feed is medicated with Amprolium or something else. If you feed medicated feed it matters what actual medicine is in your feed. In the United States most medicated feed is medicated with Amprolium. "Most" does not mean "all".

Is it ok for my flock to all eat starter? Will it hurt the layers or slow production?

The nutritional make-up of Starter is very similar to All-Flock or Flock-Raiser. (What it is called depends on your brand) Starter is a good substitute for either for all members of your flock whether laying hens, non-laying hens, roosters, or immature chicks.

The levels of methionine may be a bit less than ideal in All-Flock as compared to Starter for baby chicks but it is close enough that Flock-Raiser will not harm a growing chick. The extra methionine in Starter will not harm a mature chicken. You can worry yourself sick over trying only for "ideal" but I'm OK with what works.