What to feed chickens until they lay? 10 points to best!!?
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Question by APHA AQHA horse cowgirl: What to feed chickens until they lay? 10 points to best!!?
I have 12 pullets that will be 4 weeks old on Friday and I am feeding them chick starter, but I don’t know if I should keep feeding them chick starter until they are laying and then switch to layer mash or do I need to give them grower feed? Thanks!!
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4 Responses to What to feed chickens until they lay? 10 points to best!!?
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You can finish off the chick starter until you run out, but by a month of age you should switch to grower/hen scratch/what ever you prefer.
We prematurely switched our last batch of chicks to half hen scratch, half grower at around three weeks, which I would recommend as they really love hen scratch.
Note: chickens really aren’t that finicky; you could pretty much feed them whatever you like (within reason), don’t worry about it too much..
ssjagta18
February 17, 2012 at 7:02 pm
chick starter is for chicks up to 3 months old i know my chicks couldn eat the layer pellets at that age becauce they were to big. i now feed them scratch mix which has everything in it.and dont forget to give them a good diet of food scraps if you want good eggs. mine love pasta and rice
missnae
February 17, 2012 at 7:52 pm
you can keep them on chick starter untill they lay but its best to give them the pullet feed after 4 weeks until they lay, but if you want to get fancy you can feed them pullet starter for the first 6 weeks then the next six weeks on pullet finisher. just dont feed them oyster shells until they lay because this will cause growing problems. also when you switch to a new feed do so by slowly mixing omore and more new stuff for about 4 days
sydney
February 17, 2012 at 8:14 pm
We keep ours on starter for 2 months, I then start adding scratch grains to the starter, then no more starter, just scratch grains. Then at six months start adding the Layena pellets to the scratch grains, and keep them on this, it makes for a more tasty egg with a darker yolk !!!! And The hens love the scratch grains !!!!
Mongo
February 17, 2012 at 8:48 pm