Feeding and Raising Chickens

Commercial feeds are available to suit each changing need of your chickens. Your choices will be mash, crumbles, and pellets. Mash is powdery, pellets are compressed mash, and crumbles are broken up pellets.

Mash is often wasted by larger birds, not even required for chicks who easily eat crumbles. Pellets are perfect for chickens.

All chicks are fed starter mash or crumble until they are feathered out – between 4-6 weeks of age.

If raising a laying or dual-purpose breed make a slow switch to a layer grower feed as it is slightly lower in protein and allows young birds to grow slowly and become fully developed before they begin production. Laying breeds should not be rushed. Dual-purpose breeds take a month or longer before they begin to lay. Ask your feed supply store about your specific breed and consider their suggestions based on available supply.

At 18 weeks with laying breeds or 22 weeks with dual-purpose breeds, begin mixing lay ration into their feeder for two weeks until fully switched over to the new feed. As an alternative, purchase a specialized Pre-Layer feed for this two week time period.

Pre-Layer is little more than starter ration with added protein and calcium.)

If you’ve purchased a straight run, dual-purpose breed this 22 week mark is also a good time to move out the cockerels. Grow them a little longer on grower ration or dress them for the freezer.

By four weeks of age you can switch a meat breed over to grower ration. You will not need to switch their feed again.

Scratch grain looks like it might be the most natural feed for your chickens. Ounce per ounce it is also the cheapest. It is not, however, appropriate food for healthy and productive chickens. Scratch grain does not contain enough protein or calcium to suit a layer’s needs and it certainly doesn’t assist a meat bird in converting feed to muscle. You are better off to use scratch grain as a treat or training aid than feed chickens on a diet of scratch grain (even if you supply extra calcium for layers or allow them to free range for added protein).

Poor quality feed with nutrient deficiencies cause internal imbalances and are the most common culprits to poor egg production or slow growing meat birds.

Most feeds are medicated to protect chickens from contracting coccidiosis (see below). If you don’t want to feed medicated ration to your chickens, talk to your feed store. If they can’t provide an alternative, phone their supplier for options.

Chickens Also Eat Eggs!

Egg eating in laying hens is a preventable and nasty habit resulting from the inquisitive pecking instinct.

New layers are known for dropping their first eggs on the floor before making it to the nest box. Hens then peck at the new object until it breaks. Finding the contents tasty they have just now learned that the egg on the floor as well as any future eggs in the nesting box, is a treat to be enjoyed.

Prevent this before it starts with correct feeding practices and watching new layers coming into age. Never leave an egg on the floor. If you have many hens laying their eggs on the floor, check the dimensions and accessibility of the nesting boxes you’ve provided.

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