what to feed chickens step by step by age

What to Feed Chickens?

• Starter Feed for 0 to 8 Weeks Old. Starter feed is given to 0 to 8 weeks old chicks. During this age, chickens rapidly...
• Grower Feed for 8 to 16 Weeks Old. At this stage, your chicks are considered pullets. Therefore, protein-rich oatmeals...
• Layer Feed for 18 weeks Old. Once your chickens are 18 weeks old, it is time to change the chicken feed.

Full Answer

How long do chickens need to eat grower feed?

The protein amounts for grower feed is usually 14-18% by weight. Most chickens will need this feed until 20-22 weeks of age when they are ready to lay their first egg. Some larger breeds that start laying at an earlier age will need to be switched by 18 weeks of age.

What kind of feed should I Feed my chicks?

The availability of certain feed varies by geographic location, therefore, the manufacturer’s recommendations should always be followed. Day-old chicks through 18 weeks old require starter feed, aka starter crumbles, containing 20% protein.

What can I give my 8 week old chicks to eat?

Treats- Chicks this age don't usually eat anything but their feed. However, you can try giving them scrambled eggs, (no salt) oatmeal and fresh herbs. Feed- 18% (protein) Grower feed. Note: If you fed an 18% starter feed then the chicks do not need to be switched to the grower.

What do day old chicks eat?

Day-old chicks through 18 weeks old require starter feed, aka starter crumbles, containing 20% protein. Starter feed contains the highest percentage of protein a layer will ever consume, which makes sense given their astronomical rate of growth in the first few months of life.

How long do I feed my chickens starter feed?

Typically, baby chicks are fed starter feed until they are six weeks of age. Starter feed is protein dense (usually 20-24% protein) and designed to meet the dietary requirements of baby chicks.

What do 8 week old chickens eat?

With the Purina® Flock Strong® Feeding Program, keep chicks on the same feed from day 1 to week 18. Our starter-grower feeds are formulated to provide all 38 essential nutrients chicks need from day 1 to week 18. Continue to offer the same complete chick starter feed you've been feeding since day 1.

What to feed chickens as they grow?

Start your birds strong by providing a complete starter-grower feed with at least 18 percent protein to support chick growth. The feed should also include amino acids for chick development, prebiotics and probiotics for immune health, and vitamins and minerals to support bone health.

What do 3 month old chickens eat?

On the Purina Farm in Missouri, we mix the starter-grower feed and layer feed evenly for four or five days. If your birds are used to eating crumbles, start with a crumble layer feed. The same goes for pellets. Many hens will eat the mixed feed without noticing a difference.

What do 2 month old chickens eat?

Chicks should be fed the same chick starter-grower feed until week 18, when you will transition to a Purina® complete layer feed. These starter-grower feeds are formulated to provide all 38 unique nutrients your baby chicks need to start strong and stay strong – no need to supplement.

At what age can chickens eat vegetables?

Once the baby chickens are at least a week old, they can be fed a mixture of cracked corn, wheat, oatmeal and fat-free meat. Make sure the corn is broken down into small pieces; place in a food processor if necessary. Greens are not recommended until the chicks are older as they can cause diarrhea.

What do 6 week old chickens eat?

Up to 6 weeks old, chicks need feed with 20%-22% protein for their rapidly growing bodies. Some flock keepers may choose to feed their chicks medicated starter feed.

What do 10 week old chickens eat?

The chickens have been happily catching whatever they can find in the garden including flies, small frogs, and grasshoppers. They also get some food scraps like watermelon, pumpkin, and apple. We personally do not feed our chickens any meat or things like rhubarb, tomato, or avocado, which can be poisonous.

What is chicken starter feed?

Starter feed is a protein dense variety of chicken feed designed to meet the dietary requirements of baby chicks. Generally speaking baby chicks can live comfortably on a diet of starter feed and water for the first 6 weeks of their life before progressing onto grower feed.

What do 14 week old chickens eat?

STARTER FEED, Day 1 to 18 weeks (Chicks) Day-old chicks through 18 weeks old require starter feed, aka starter crumbles, containing 20% protein. Starter feed contains the highest percentage of protein a layer will ever consume, which makes sense given their astronomical rate of growth in the first few months of life.

What do you feed month old chickens?

What Can Baby Chickens Eat?Worms. Chickens love worms! ... Crickets. As with worms, baby chicks can eat crickets, and they often do in their natural environment. ... Tomatoes. ... Oatmeal. ... Strawberries. ... Bananas. ... Apples. ... Lettuce.More items...•

How much should I feed my 8 week old chickens?

Feeding Amounts for Newly Hatched Birds: Broiler Chicks (based on Cornish Game Birds): 8-9 lbs per bird in the first 6 weeks. Turkeys: 72 lbs per bird in the first 12 weeks. Geese: 53 lbs per bird in the first 8 weeks. Ducks: 22 lbs per bird in the first 8 weeks.

Can 8 week old chickens eat layer feed?

Layer feed should not be fed to chickens younger than 18 weeks unless they have begun egg-laying because it contains calcium that can permanently damage the kidneys, reduce lifetime egg production and shorten a bird's lifespan.

What age can baby chickens eat layer feed?

around 18 weeksPatrick Biggs, Ph. D. Switch laying hens to a complete chicken layer feed when they start laying eggs around 18 weeks of age. Choose a complete layer feed that includes all the essential nutrients laying hens need to lay strong and stay strong.

What do you feed 9 week old chickens?

The Importance of Age-Appropriate Poultry FeedStarter Feed For Baby Chicks: 0-8 Weeks Old. ... Grower Feed For Pullets: 8-16 Weeks Old. ... Layer Feed For Hens: 16+ Weeks. ... Poultry Scratch & Other Treats. ... Step 1: Chick Starter Crumble. ... Step 2: Pullet Developer Crumble. ... Step 3: Poultry Layer Mash, Pellets & Crumble.

When can hens start eating pellets?

MannaPro recommends introducing Organic Layer Pellets into your mature laying chickens' diet around 16 weeks of age. This feed is composed of 16% protein and is USDA certified. It is free from pesticides, medications or genetically modified ingredients.

What is starter feed?

You can typically find starter and grower feed in both medicated and unmedicated formulas. The medicated formula contains a medication called a coccidiostat, which is added to help prevent coccidiosis, a parasitic disease affecting a bird’s intestinal tract.

How old do you have to be to start broiling meat birds?

Broilers and roasters develop at a different pace than egg-laying birds and have different nutritional requirements. If you are raising meat birds, offer starter rations from hatching through three weeks of age, then switch to grower feed through six weeks of age.

What is the first step in feeding chickens?

Knowing what types of carbohydrates, vitamins and proteins go into poultry feed is the first step to providing your backyard chickens with the nutrition they need to grow and thrive. The next step is ensuring your flock receives those nutrients in the proper percentages.

Can chickens be full grown?

At this stage of development, chickens have reached point-of-lay and, while not completely full grown, are considered adult birds. You can now offer layer rations. These come as both crumbles and pellets.

What To Feed Baby Chickens

From hatch day to 8 weeks old, your chickens should be on a chick starter diet. These diets have 18-20% protein to support their rapid growth. It also has high amounts of vitamins and minerals to keep your chickens from getting sick. And to top it all off, starter feed is finely ground to make it easier for them to eat.

What To Feed Pullets

The next age group is chickens 8-20 weeks old, called pullets. These hens have not started laying eggs yet, and still in a period of growth. Pullets eat a grower feed that supports their bodies and gets them ready for laying eggs.

What To Feed Laying Chickens

Most hens start laying eggs around 21 weeks. Once they start laying eggs, their diet completely changes. So they will need chicken laying feed. The biggest difference in grower and layer feed is that layer has added calcium and only 16% protein.

What To Feed Roosters

Roosters don’t need calcium like laying hens do. And they need more protein to keep them healthy than your hens. But they don’t make a rooster feed, so what do you feed them? The best food for roosters is either grower food or all-purpose poultry. So that works great if you only have roosters. But how many of us only keep roosters?

What To Feed A Mixed Flock

Most of us have a mixed flock of roosters and hens, at least. In these cases, your best option is a compromise. Hens can handle more protein than what we recommend. But roosters will develop kidney disease with too much protein. So the best feed is grower feed with plenty of oyster shells in a separate container.

What To Feed Broiler Chickens

We raise broiler chickens for fresh meat, and they have different requirements than laying chickens. Broilers grow rapidly and need lots and lots of protein to keep up with it. Feeding a broiler feed made for layers won’t result in the fattest chickens.

What To Feed Molting Chickens

Every mature chicken goes through a molting period every fall. They lose all of their old feathers to make room for fluffy new ones. Chickens also go through their first molt around 16-18 months old to grow mature feathers.

What happens if chickens are fed at the wrong time?

These foods all have specific times to be fed. If they are fed at the wrong times, they can cause major issues.

Do chicks need to be switched to grower feed?

Note: If you fed an 18% starter feed then the chicks do not need to be switched to the grower. However, if they had a 20% starter feed, they do need to be switched to the 18% grower feed. Water- Avilable at all times with unpasteurized, organic apple cider vinegar added to it. (One teaspoon per quart.)

Can you give treats to chickens?

Remember, treats are treats and shouldn't take up more than 10% of a chicken's daily diet.

Why is it so hard for chickens to lay eggs?

Having unbalanced feed can impact a chicken’s laying ability or cause unnecessary weight gain. Extra fat can make it hard for your chickens to lay their eggs, and nutrient deficiencies can cause problems with the eggs. Nutrient deficiencies can also cause problems such as feather picking, egg eating, and cannibalism.

What to feed a young chick in an emergency?

The young growing chicks are so sensitive to the amount of calcium in their diet that in an emergency it is better to feed them pulverized scratch or ground oats and cornmeal (even with no protein) than to feed layer rations even for a day.

What to feed a chicken at 8 weeks?

When your chicks are less than eight weeks old, they need a starter feed. This starter feed is higher in protein than any other chicken feed mixes, usually possessing 18-22% protein by weight depending on variety and often the area where you live. This feed is also low in calcium because excess calcium can cause deformations in the chicks’ growing bones and damage the kidneys even to the point of killing the chicks. The young growing chicks are so sensitive to the amount of calcium in their diet that in an emergency it is better to feed them pulverized scratch or ground oats and cornmeal (even with no protein) than to feed layer rations even for a day. The high amount of protein in the chick starter feed is imperative to growing healthy feathers because feathers are made of protein. Chick starter is also ground into much smaller pieces than feed for grown chickens so it is easier for the chicks to digest.

How old do chickens need to be to grow?

What Growing Chickens Need. Once your chickens are eight weeks old but not yet laying, they need a grower ration. Grower feed for chickens has less protein but still does not have the extra calcium needed for egg formation. The protein amounts for grower feed is usually 14-18% by weight.

How much calcium do hens need to lay eggs?

What Laying Hens Need. As soon as a hen reaches the age of laying, she needs to have appropriate calcium in her diet, usually 2.5-3.5% of the feed by weight. If her calcium is not adequate, she will draw the calcium for laying eggs from her own bones, thereby weakening them.

What to give a chicken to help them get calcium?

As your hens age, they will need more calcium in their diet. You can provide calcium supplements for chickens by giving oyster shell, limestone, aragonite, or soluble calcium grit .

Why is my chick's diet low in calcium?

This feed is also low in calcium because excess calcium can cause deformations in the chicks’ growing bones and damage the kidneys even to the point of killing the chicks. The young growing chicks are so sensitive to the amount of calcium in their diet that in an emergency it is better to feed them pulverized scratch or ground oats and cornmeal ...

What is the anatomy of a chick starter?

The anatomy of chick starter begins with a most necessary nutrient-protein. Next to water, protein, both plant and animal, is the second most essential nutrient for young chicks. This star body builder stimulates the growth of muscles, tissues and organs-it’s basically what makes your wee ones grow.

Do baby chicks need egg-cellent nutrition?

Like all newborns, baby chicks need special attention. Chicks need egg-cellent nutrition to equip them to travel the journey from chick to fully feathered adult. From down to feathers, from peeps to clucks, from an almost imperceptible nub on the top of their heads to pretty red combs, ...

Can you feed commercial starter to a fuzzy chick?

Although, if you are raising a large number of fuzzy little chicks, feeding commercial starter is a wise choice and is available at most farm supply centers. As with humans, accurate nutrition in these early stages is essential to ensure your chick's growth.

Do babies need grit?

Basically, if your babies are only eating starter, then they really don’t need added grit. If however, you begin adding supplemental foods such as kitchen scraps and treats, then a little bit o’ grit is necessary to aid digestion. Grit is egg-actly what it sounds like-minute pieces of earth, stone, and sand.

Can you feed baby chicks?

There really are no guidelines as to the amount of feed to offer baby chicks. Being the “always hungry” ravenous little critters that they are, it’s just fine to keep their feeders filled and at the ready. They will peck and peck until their little bodies let them know they’ve reached their fill.