When do take chicks off chick starter

[jimz1]

Chicks are 1 month old and I'm almost out of my 1st 50# of starter. When do I start them on something else and what would that something else be?
I've been giving them chick grit and treats once in a while and they seem fine.
I know I will start giving them egg layer or egg mash before they start laying but I don't know what to give them in between chick stage and layer stage.

 

[COOPerating_Wife]

Good Question! I'm curious too. We have 6 chics 2 weeks old... they are not interested in any other food but their starter feed right now.

 

[Chickenaddict]

10-12 weeks on the chick starter then you can switch them to flock raiser until they start laying. Once they start laying you will want to switch to layer feed and supply oyster shells.

 

[Suburban Simplicity]

Our feed store carries Grower Mash which we switched the chicks over to at 6wks to 16 wks of age. I plan to start the layer feed at that time. Also giving them grit now too. Mine are a 6wk Orpington, 7wk Barred Rock & a 9 wk Amerucana.

 

[txhomegrown]

When I bought my Cochins, the breeder said she kept her birds on starter all the way to laying stage. That's what I did and they have turned out fine. Big and healthy and giving me some nice eggs.
I just put 20 six week old Easter Eggers and a few Cochin Brahma mix chicks out in the big kid pen. I am wondering how to handle the different feed requirements for the different aged birds. What I have been doing is mixing starter and layer 50/50 and putting it out for them. Time will tell how that will work out. Anyone have any better ideas? I am open to suggestion.

 

[briteday]

When my chicks are over 4w eeks old, and the bag of starter runs out, I switch them over to Flockraiser or gamebird starter mixed 2:1 with scratch (to get the correct protein amount). Usually about the same time I am moving them out to the brooder in the coop. So then everyone in the coop (hens and chicks) get fed the same food with oyster shell on the side for the hens. And the chicks stay in a brooder in the coop, separated from the hens, but at least I'm not buying all different kinds of food since I only have one galvanized can to keep the feed in.

The reason I choose ~4 weeks old (besides moving to the coop) is that I try to have them in the coop, touching the ground and exposed to infectious stuff, building their own immune antibodies, before the medicated starter runs out.

 

[mdbokc]

Mine stay on medicated Start & Grow from Purina until they have been outside for at least a couple of weeks. Since it is good to the change over to layer feed, I see no need to hurry the change and just go with the flow.

 

[Yay Chicks!]

You can keep them on Starter/Grower until 18-20 weeks or so, then switch to Layer. I think I started switching mine over about 16 weeks by mixing Starter/Grower and Layer until I was out of the first.

 

[SJ]

I'd say if you only have pullets keep them on starter grower for 16-20 weeks (depending on the breed) before switching them to a layer ration. If I have a mix of of boys and girls I switch after a month or so of feeding starter grower to a meat/broiler ration for its higher protien(+21%) until the onset of lay. At the on set of lay I switch from the high protien ration to a layer ration that instructs feedng a seprate calcium source. I use oyster shells.

Good luck.

 

[Katydid2011]

Yay Chicks! :

You can keep them on Starter/Grower until 18-20 weeks or so, then switch to Layer. I think I started switching mine over about 16 weeks by mixing Starter/Grower and Layer until I was out of the first.

X2!​