When should i start feeding my chickens more that starter mash?
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Question by sun_kissed_gurlie77: When should i start feeding my chickens more that starter mash?
Also, what should I feed them? Just chicked feed? Or is there a step in between?
my chicks are three weeks old right now.
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4 Responses to When should i start feeding my chickens more that starter mash?
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You should start feeding them chicken scratch. Get the one with cracked corn and seeds. If you keep feeding them the starter food your talking about then they might get too fat.
Sharon Rose
July 10, 2013 at 1:23 pm
scratch grain or corn chops. chops are better for laying hens and some chickens wont eat the milo thats in scratch. you also want to give them a high protein suppliment like egg pellets, or i preffer a calf starter feed called calf manna, but its a little expensive. as to when to start feeding, as soon as their feathers push out their down. in other words, when they look like a little version of an adult chicken. as far as the egg suppliment goes, dont start feeding that until their about a year old, your just wasteing feed on a chicken that isnt laying yet.
Jon
July 10, 2013 at 1:27 pm
It depends a lot on the end purpose of the chickens and what type of birds they are.
If you have standard size chickens that are going to be for eggs, you should move them to a commercial grower ration with around 15% protein as soon as they are completely feathered out. Studies have shown that hens that are raised in this way grow slower and develop slower. This seems very backwards, however hens raised in this way develop their internal laying structures better, and will actually lay considerably more eggs over their lifetimes, than hens raised on higher protein and grown faster. Provide them with oyster shell and granite grit when the reach 4 month old at a minimum.
Scratch grains are fine for maintaining adults that are kept primarily for pets and for roosters, but you will have better luck with a commercial ration. Scratch grains can be started when the chicks are fully feathered, but add them slowly to the chick feed, and be sure to provide an insoluble grit, like granite grit, along with the whole grains so they can digest them. Many bantam owners use the scratch grains or scratch mixed with cracked corn (chops). Corn has the interesting effect of causing white birds to develop a yellow tint in their feathers, which is called brassiness. It is only a problem if you plan to show your birds.
If you are raising birds for meat, I feed a 24% starter for the first month and then cut back to a 20% starter until I butcher them. I sometimes add whole corn for the last couple of weeks as well to add finish fat to the birds.
With all birds, please be sure to provide a constant supply of fresh clean water at all times, especially when it is hot. I also supply all of my birds with fresh green everyday. They love pesticide free grass clippings, garden weeds, and leftover family veggies. In the winter I provide my hens with a flake of very leafy alfalfa hay (you can even buy sacks of loose alfalfa hay chops, called TNT in my area, at Tractor Supply Company). They love to dig in the hay and eat quite a bit of it when the snow is deep on the ground.
Hope this helps and good luck.
farmfresh
July 10, 2013 at 2:02 pm
It’s probably an okay time to switch to an adult layer crumble…Ive raised perfectly healthy chickens on layer crumble alone, but its also okay to keep feeding them starter mash too for a few more weeks. Chickens are omnivores, so you can also feed them anything else you have around, table scraps, bread crumbs, insects, and my chickens especially love grapes chopped up into bite size peices. Just make sure it is either soft enough for the chick to pick into peices or small enough to swallow whole.
Mary M
July 10, 2013 at 3:02 pm