ALABAMA!!

[biga]

my 6 new chicks are about 4 months old. i noticed one of them was starting to get a little cross beaked. i already have one stupid chicken with a cross beak. she never fully developed and doesn't lay eggs b/c of it. so i went to go trim this girl's beak. i made ONE clip on it about 1/16th of an inch and it was bleeding. i was very surprised. on my other cross beak, i have trimmed off that much several times and not gotten any bleeding.

 

[roostercantrell]

at what age do i swtich from starter to starter/grower my chicks are 3weeks old

 

[Tomtommom]

at what age do i swtich from starter to starter/grower my chicks are 3weeks old

I start my chicks out on grower... never had a need to use starter. Honestly, when your bag is empty, just move to the next stage food.

 

[Wisher1000]

I don't use the starter/grower. What does it say on the bag? I use medicated starter until I see an egg. I will mix in some (just a litle) layer pellets, grit, BOSS, and Calf Manna so they get used to eating pelleted food starting at 6-8 weeks.

 

[Wisher1000]

LOL! Tom! To each his own, just do what works for you....... I don't know the difference in the starter and the starter/grower. I bet it's not much.

 

[waynec1955]

I use starter for the first 4 weeks then switch to grower until 18 weeks. If I don't have anymore chicks coming I use the starter until the bag is gone. At 18 weeks I change to 16% layer, and I give treats and fresh veggies often. I also add scratch feed to my adult and juvenile birds with grit available.

 

[roostercantrell]

the reason i asked i am just about out of the medicated starter and was gonna get some more today and was wondering if i should get another bag of the starter or move to the next feed level or not

 

[Wisher1000]

If they are both medicated, I would buy which ever one is cheaper! If not, and you plan to put them on the ground (or they already are) I would continue to feed the medicated starter.

 

[Orps]

my 6 new chicks are about 4 months old. i noticed one of them was starting to get a little cross beaked. i already have one stupid chicken with a cross beak. she never fully developed and doesn't lay eggs b/c of it. so i went to go trim this girl's beak. i made ONE clip on it about 1/16th of an inch and it was bleeding. i was very surprised. on my other cross beak, i have trimmed off that much several times and not gotten any bleeding.

I have never had to trim a beak but I'm sure it will heal.

at what age do i swtich from starter to starter/grower my chicks are 3weeks old

It's really to each their own. I bought a 40 or 50lbs starter. I do not have a lot of chicks and I believe they will be over 6 month old before they finished the bag. So at that time I will swap to Layers.

By the way, how many chicks do you have? I don't have enough chicks to buy more than 1 bag at a time. Even the 1 bag I buy, I put 1/2 of them in ziplock bags and store them in the freezer. If you do not have a lot of chicks I would just buy one bag at a time and see what you need later on as your chicks grow. Save storage space and possibility of food going bad.

 

[roostercantrell]

If they are both medicated, I would buy which ever one is cheaper! If not, and you plan to put them on the ground (or they already are) I would continue to feed the medicated starter.

okk i will check them. when it has been real nice outside i will take them out while im outside but keep them well insight too many stray cats not too keep an eye on them. they enjoy being outside picking the grass and enjoying the sunshine