Rhode Island Red Chicks, New to BYC

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lilcmhos

lilcmhos

Hatching
5 Years
Mar 30, 2014
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Hello all! I have been reading all the great info on here. What a great website!

We just bought 2 Rhode Island Red chicks yesterday from TSC. I am assuming that they are a week or less old. When do we switch from starter feed to regular food? And when should they be put in their coop?

As far as their diet we are planning on giving them fruits, veggies, and basically what we eat.


Thanks!
 
Hello :frow and Welcome To BYC! Congratulations on your new chicks! A great place to check out is the Learning Center, lots of good articles on chicken raising. https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/1/Learning_Center
X2 what Fred's Hens said, you generally want to keep chicks on starter food until they are 18 weeks old or until they start to lay eggs, then you can switch them over to Layer food.
When you put them in their coop depends on your setup and the weather. Chicks will need extra heat until about six weeks or they are pretty much feathered, generally you want them at 95* the first week and the temperature can be lowered 5* a week after that. If you can give them the heat they would need in the coop (especially at night) using a heat lamp etc, you can put them outside.
The Learning Center has a nice chicken treat chart, there are a few things they shouldn't eat listed at the end, generally they recommend that treats be around 10% of the diet so you don't unbalance it if you are feeding a commercial food. https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/chicken-treat-chart-the-best-treats-for-backyard-chickens
 
Thanks yall!

Do you think the layer food is a necessity? We wouldn't be feeding them anything processed. They will eat what we eat.

Thoughts?


Are there any brands of layer food that you recommend?

I'd like to try and stay away from any GMO/soy feed.


Oh, and is there such a thing as handling them too much? I have been handling them a lot today while I am doing my chicken research :D
 
You can feed them starter feed or flock raiser feed etc (like what is on the list Fred's Hens posted) and just offer them oyster shell on the side, laying hens need the extra calcium for making egg shells that is not found in the foods besides Layer. If you mean do you need to feed them a commercial food, it is easier to make sure they have a balanced diet that way. There are also a lot of recipes for homemade chicken feeds etc if you want to do a search. Brand wise, you might want to check what is available in your area since that really varies, local feed mills may also have their own brands. With feeding them on scraps/leftovers, the main problem usually is they are usually quite low on protein and low protein diets really affect egg laying... my grandparents fed their chickens on kitchen scraps and corn basically, but they didn't expect them to lay 300 eggs a year.
As long as the chicks are healthy and having time to be eating and drinking and sleep, you can pretty much handle them all you want, they tend to be tamer the more you handle them.
 
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Welcome to BYC!

Lots of good advice has been given here. Yes, starter feed until they start to lay, and definitely layer feed when they lay. They will need all the calcium they can get to put hard shells on the eggs and to cause the contractions to push that egg out. You don't want to cause them egg binding. And always oyster shell on the side for more calcium should they need it.

Follow the links that Kelsie has provided! Great to have you aboard and enjoy your new babies!
 

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