Worried about the feed I give to my chicks :(

[Fishkeeper]

In addition to everything listed above, I sincerely doubt that feed has enough protein in it. Remember, chickens are omnivores. Wild fowl eat lots of bugs, and the occasional lizard or mouse.

 

[A_Fowl_Guy]

I don’t butcher. My ladies are respected pets who provide me food in the way of laying hens. We just want you to know that you are using a product against manufacturer recommendations and no one recommends that. Those who raise meat birds will follow a broiler feed diet. Those are usually broilers. If a dual purpose bird for meat and or eggs ( layers) then they typically follow starter grower and layer complete feeds for the diet as most recommended by poultry experts. Scratch is never recommended above 10% as not a complete feed and only considered a treat. I would suggest trying to wean your birds off so much scratch and taking them back to complete feeds as recommended previously in this post. I would bet you would even have better results for your own purposes.

Again our livestock vet recommends it and so does our neighboring farmers. I got 24 eggs today out of 24 hens and they have another year and a half before the butcher block. I’ll have more chicks this summer. I’m going to start staggering my layers so I can have a constant supply. My diet for my birds works for me so I’m going to keep at it.