Young chicks and Adult food

[Mary Lee]

Hi,
I added 3 chicks to my flock this year. They are still working through the sack of starter feed that I bought. They are about old enough to join the other 'gals'! Right now I have the old hens on Feather Fixer. Should I wait until they are finished with that before adding the chicks? At what age can the chicks eat the layer pellets that I will have for the hens?
Thank you!

 

[Shadrach]

Hi,
I added 3 chicks to my flock this year. They are still working through the sack of starter feed that I bought. They are about old enough to join the other 'gals'! Right now I have the old hens on Feather Fixer. Should I wait until they are finished with that before adding the chicks? At what age can the chicks eat the layer pellets that I will have for the hens?
Thank you!

It would be easier to feed them an all flock type feed; something around 18% to 20% protien and 1% to 1.5% calcium. You should provide extra calcium free choice for your layers.
Basically, layers feed is for laying hens. So, the time to switch to layers feed if you decide to go that route is when your pullets start laying. They will be fine on starter feed until they start laying.

 

[charlotte-and-the-bees]

Make sure they get chick grit if they're on something that requires it!

 

[NatJ]

I added 3 chicks to my flock this year. They are still working through the sack of starter feed that I bought. They are about old enough to join the other 'gals'! Right now I have the old hens on Feather Fixer. Should I wait until they are finished with that before adding the chicks? At what age can the chicks eat the layer pellets that I will have for the hens?

It's best if the chicks do not eat layer food until they are actually laying. The big issue is the calcium: just right for a laying hen is too much for chicks.

I'm not familiar with Feather Fixer, but look at the label to see how much calcium it has. Something around 1% is good for chicks, more than 3% is common for laying hens.

It is fine to feed chick starter to hens, as long as you have oyster shell available as a calcium source. (The hens will typically eat the right amount of oyster shell, and the chicks will typically ignore it.)

 

[Alaskan]

x2 on all of yhe great advice you have been given..

And nothing wrong with letting the grown ups help finish that bag of chick feed... some extra protein will help with feathrr regrowth, and also help if it is cold where you are at.