Will my chickens be ok eating this feed?

[Gidget]

So I have 6 17 week old chickens (one's a rooster) that have been eating Purina Start & Grow medicated feed until now- They ran out and I was going to go buy some today, but my mom decided to do that for me,

She ended up buying some Grower crumbles that should be fed to broiler chicks up until 8 weeks of age! This feed has 5% more crude protein, 2% more crude fat & 1% less fiber than their other feed.. My question is, will this have any negative effects on my chickens?! They are my pets, but i'm also raising them for their eggs. I want them to live a long happy life as well. They'll be eating this feed till it runs out, and it's 50lbs. If it matters, I have Buff Orpingtons & Easter Egger hens & a Barred Rock rooster.

 

[Fred's Hens]

They will be just fine, I reckon. It is a bit "high powered" but you could dilute it, if you wish, but just feeding a bit more scratch, if you have some. You could also have a calcium source, such as recycled egg shells or oysters shells on the side.

 

[Gidget]

Thank you! I'll mix it with some scratch (why couldn't I think of diluting it like that?) & add a calcium source.

 

[Fred's Hens]

I find it easier to feed scratch in the evening, while continuing the feed the regular feed in the mornings. This is how I dilute a very high protein, gamebird type feed, for example. I don't actually "mix" them together, if that makes sense.

Let's do the math. Gamebird mix was 24%. Scratch is roughly 10%. So, two parts feed equals 48% plus one part scratch at 10% yields a total of 58%. Divide by 3 results in an average of 19%.

Or, 50-50 blend would yield a result of 24 plus 10 or 34% divided by 2, resulting in am average 17% feeding program. Hope that helps.

 

[oegbantamsftw]

No dont feed them that unless you plan to eat them but no i wouldnt i am in the situation as you having them as pets and consuming the eggs if those were my chickens they would even see a grain sorry for your financial loss but i am no vet either

 

[MsBagawkbagawk]

I agree with Fees's Hens.

~~~Ms.B

 

[donrae]

No dont feed them that unless you plan to eat them but no i wouldnt i am in the situation as you having them as pets and consuming the eggs if those were my chickens they would even see a grain sorry for your financial loss but i am no vet either

What is your rationale for saying this? This food is not dangerous at all..........I'm not following your line of thinking?

 

[NYREDS]

I feed a 22% protein grower crumble from the day they hatch on. That's it-no starter first, no switching to layer just the grower crumbles. I switched to this system several years ago & it has worked well for me. The birds grow well, have fantastic feather quality, lay well & hatch well. Another bonus is the simplicity. I don't have to keep multiple kinds of feed on havd & I don't have to worry about when to change to the next feed: there's only one feed. If I'm away for a couple of days my wife does the chores for me & she appreciates it. She used to have to take notes about which pen gets what feed, now there's just one feed.
I wish I could say i thought of this myself but I got the idea from another breeder. I visited one of the best Black Rosecomb breeders in the country. His birds are always in amazing condition when he brings them to a show. When I toured his coops I was surprised to see that every bird he owned looked like it was ready to go to a show that day & I'm talking a few hundred birds. I asked him what he fed & he described the same system I'm using now.