zenstarling
Songster
hi there, my seven pullets are now 24 weeks old, and four have begun laying in the last two weeks. all 20ish eggs we’ve gotten have had perfectly hard shells.
the ladies started on layer feed (17%) as of 18 weeks-ish, when I started mixing it half and half with the chick starter (21%) they were already on then. more recently, I have been filling their dry feeder with all layer, and in the mornings giving them a mash of mostly the leftover chick starter, with a handful of the layer (cracked/ground grains) thrown in.
I’m about to run out of the bag of starter. so my question is, is this a practice I should continue, to keep giving them a dose of higher protein feed each day?
I see a ton of people on here feed an all-flock for the higher protein, and supplement calcium on the side. but I’m wondering does anybody do it the opposite way, feeding a layer for the calcium, and supplementing more protein?
the girls get several hours of forage time daily. a few times a week they’ll get garden and kitchen vegetable scraps. I have no roosters and no plans for new chicks anytime soon, so we’re only working with new 24 week layers. worth mentioning, the brand I feed doesn’t make an all flock, and my local feed store carries the starter and the layer (but not a grower).
so I’m curious about using starter to supplement protein to layers.
thanks!
the ladies started on layer feed (17%) as of 18 weeks-ish, when I started mixing it half and half with the chick starter (21%) they were already on then. more recently, I have been filling their dry feeder with all layer, and in the mornings giving them a mash of mostly the leftover chick starter, with a handful of the layer (cracked/ground grains) thrown in.
I’m about to run out of the bag of starter. so my question is, is this a practice I should continue, to keep giving them a dose of higher protein feed each day?
I see a ton of people on here feed an all-flock for the higher protein, and supplement calcium on the side. but I’m wondering does anybody do it the opposite way, feeding a layer for the calcium, and supplementing more protein?
the girls get several hours of forage time daily. a few times a week they’ll get garden and kitchen vegetable scraps. I have no roosters and no plans for new chicks anytime soon, so we’re only working with new 24 week layers. worth mentioning, the brand I feed doesn’t make an all flock, and my local feed store carries the starter and the layer (but not a grower).
so I’m curious about using starter to supplement protein to layers.
thanks!