10 week old pullets eating layer feed

[Pollo Mama]

Our 10 weeks old chicks are now tall enough to eat out of the year old hens feeder full of layer feed. Up until now we had the pullets feed in an area that the big girls could not get to but now the little ones have grown so much that they cannot get to their feed. We have two hanging feeders, one with layer feed and one with grower/finisher but they little ones prefer the layer feed. Not sure what is better, big girls eating the grower/finisher or the little girls eating the layer feed?? Looking forward to replies! Thanks!

 

[Habibs Hens]

how come the birds are together

the fact you have them together now is best to leave them as they have established an order


not sure how to remedy this

growers for layer hens aint too bad

but layers for growing pullets may not be a good thing

 

[Ridgerunner]

The standard way to resolve this is to feed them all Grower and offer oyster shell on the side. Do not mix oyster with the feed.

The chickens that need the oyster shell for egg shells will eat it. The ones that don’t need it won’t eat enough to harm themselves. Other than extra calcium, Grower has everything the hens need for egg production.

 

[Freia]

I have the same problem. My chicks are in the "chick-condo", which is a mini-coop with it's own little run, inside the the adult hens' run. That way they're all safely within the coyote-proof area, and they all get to know each other. I have small doors in the chicks' run so that they can run in and out to get to know the hens and the coop and get out to free-range, while keeping the hens out of their safe little area and out of their chick-feed.

The problem is, the chicks decided to move into the coop and roost with the big girls at 6-8 weeks of age. The layer feed is in there, and they like it MUCH better than their chick-feed. I have no way to keep them out of it. I can't keep the chicks completely separated from the rest of the flock for 18 weeks - that's just too impractical.

The same thing happened last year. Those chicks have grown into healthy hens and seem no worse for wear.

 

[KrazyChromatics]

When i moved my babies in with my adults i switched my layers over to a chick feed with scratch and a supplement mixed in, for their calcium i have a litterbox with DE, small crumbled granite, and oyster shell that they dust bathe in and can pick out what they want, DE also has calcium so everyone is ok, at first they ate too much, and their eggs were wonky, but now they have settled down and are back to normal i move my chicks in at 8/10 weeks too sometimes sooner, but i currently ran out of room in there :/ so i have my 4 week old in the house still with the larger group of 4week old i moved out when they were about 3 weeks i put them in with my rooster who is separate from my hens, i hand breed..

 

[Eggcessive]

I agree with Ridgerunner--everyone should be on un-medicated starter/grower with oystershell or crushed egg shell in a separate pan.

 

[getaclue]

I would like to thank everyone for their contributions on this thread. This has been helpful, and I will be changing feed.

 

[Freia]

Me too. This was good info. I bought a bag of grower-feed for the whole flock to enjoy in perfect harmony. I wasn't aware that it was OK for the laying hes to eat it, so I never thought of that solution. Most helpful indeed.

 

[bbyblueyes3]

At what age can everyone have layer?

 

[Ridgerunner]

At what age can everyone have layer?

The standard reply is 20 weeks or when they start laying. I've had some start laying at 16 weeks. I've had some that did not start until 9 months.

I almost always have underaged chickens in with mine so they pretty much stay on Starter or Grower year round.