make out what character of carbohydrates , vitamin and protein go into poultry feed is the first step to providing your backyard chicken with the nutrition they need to grow and boom . The next step is ensuring your flock receive those nutrient in the proper percentages .
Complete provender producer such as Nutrena , Purina , Manna Pro and Kent scientifically formulate their product . They target them specifically for specific age and stages of development .
Feeding a baby chick too much Ca or a laying hen grower formula can leave indire wellness issues . To make certain you offer your flock the right dieting at the ripe stage , conform to these feed road map .
Read more : Be careful not to feed your chickens these items , which can make them sick .
Newly Hatched to Six Weeks
Only pop the question formulated chick starter provender at this crucial early leg of a chicken ’s aliveness . This crumbled feed should contain between 20 to 22 per centum protein and approximately 1 per centum Ca .
Too high acalcium content — even just 4 percent — can result in lasting damage to a chick ’s kidney , cause unconventional bone formation , and result in decreased egg product when a fryer strive position age .
Avoid offering supplement at this microscope stage . The staring provender has all the food a baby chick requires .
Seven Weeks to 16 Weeks
Juvenile volaille can begin to eat grower feed at seven weeks of long time . Like starter feed , you may get cultivator feed ( which contains minimal calcium ) in crumbled form .
Less protein is neededat this stage of development . Grower provender contains approximately 18 percent of this nutritional requisite . Fat and fiber content floor stay the same as for sister wench .
As juvenile person , untested chickens can starteating table scrapsin relief — nothing they can not fetch up in about 10 minutes . They can also startle foraging for bugs and tasty plants , especially if they have a mother biddy maneuver them .
take more : Learn all about the terms tie in with fertilise your chickens !
Four Months Plus
At this stage of development , chickens have reached item - of - lay and , while not completely full grown , are considered grownup raspberry . you’re able to now offer layer rations . These fall as both crumbles and shot .
I offer my bantams crumbles and my heavy fowls pellet . There is no divergence in formula between the two . Crumbles are simply squeeze pellet .
Layer ration hold back approximately 4 percent atomic number 20 , which hens require to produce warm eggshells and sustain bone compactness . Protein contentedness , however , decreases to approximately 16 per centum , as mature birds are no longer actively developing .
Adult birds can actively forage and consume mesa refuse . Since overfeeding your flock these treats can throw off the nutritional Libra the Balance offered by complete feed , limit table scrap to what chickens can finish in 20 minutes and ensure nothing is stinky or left out overnight .
Medicated vs. Unmedicated
you may typically notice starting motor and grower feed in both medicated and unmedicated formula . The medicated pattern contains a medicinal drug called acoccidiostat , which is added to help keep coccidiosis , a parasitic disease regard a bird ’s intestinal tract .
Coccidiosis can damage a chicken ’s resistant organisation , make is vulnerable to Salmonella , and stimulate stunted growth due to misfortunate nutritious absorption through the affected intestines . If you are raising your wad organically , choose for the unmedicated feed .
Feeding Meat Birds
Broilers and roaster modernise at a dissimilar footstep than egg - laying birds and havedifferent nutritionary requirements . If you are raising meat skirt , offer starter ration from hatching through three weeks of eld , then switch to agriculturalist feed through six workweek of old age .
From seven calendar week on , bid your meat birds closer rations , which contain the high-pitched point of protein and fatness ( approximately 18 percent protein and six percent fatty ) necessary to complete their growing as author of meat for human consumption .
