rachel m Posted April 7, 2008 Share Posted April 7, 2008 just wanted some advice, our chickens arrived last week with a bag of feed from omlet. however, we were talking to our neighbour today who has been keeping chickens for some time, and he said that we are giving them layers pellets, but they should be having "growers" feed until they start laying. silly me, i thought layers meant the pellets were made of layers ?!?! should we go out and get a small bag of growers feed to last us for a few weeks until they lay? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted April 7, 2008 Share Posted April 7, 2008 (edited) I used to think that "Layers" was a brand name! Ignore your neighbour. They need growers pellets from about 5 weeks Layers pellets from then on.....they need the extra calcium for eggshell formation. Edited ...said layers when I meant growers Fingers working faster than brain. Edited April 7, 2008 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted April 7, 2008 Share Posted April 7, 2008 I'd agree with Egluntine. You don't say how old your girls are, but if they came from Omlet they can't be far off point of lay and I would think they should be fine with pellets. Are they eating the layers pellets? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rachel m Posted April 7, 2008 Author Share Posted April 7, 2008 thanks for your help, they arrived from omlet last week, so we think about 16weeks ish, nigella seems a bit more mature than delia and is geting a bigger comb and wattles. they are still only eating small amounts of the pellets, but seem to enjoy. they don't seem too interested in the treats we have tried so far (grapes/raisins/greens), but we'll keep trying Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cluckbok Posted April 7, 2008 Share Posted April 7, 2008 Just you wait til they start laying, they will really feed on the pellets then. Our speckledy who isn't laying at the moment doesn't eat as much as the other two who are laying. They will eat more when they need to. Just try to reserve treat time til the afternoon so they can have a go at the pellets that's what we do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hen Watch Posted April 7, 2008 Share Posted April 7, 2008 Layers pellets are fine. Omlet wouldn't give you the wrong stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moomin Posted April 7, 2008 Share Posted April 7, 2008 They need Layers pellets from about 5 weeks till up to about 16/17 weeks or so....and then Layers pellets from then on.....they need the extra calcium for eggshell formation. I thought they needed growers from 5 weeks until 16/17 weeks?? So when you get them from Omlet they should just about be on the layers? Correct me if I'm wrong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HasSumAmi Posted April 7, 2008 Share Posted April 7, 2008 Actually, Carl at Thorne's Poultry said the same thing as your neighbour. He said that putting them onto layers pellets too early can mean that they produce big eggs too soon and that can result in prolapses. That said, my girls were both from Omlet and so we were given Layers when they arrived. Their first eggs have been small and are gradually getting bigger... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daj198 Posted April 7, 2008 Share Posted April 7, 2008 I thought it was pronounced layers as in leres for a while! I didn't realise it meant FOR LAYERS (the birds) until a friend of mine who has chooks pronounced it that way. How embarrassing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted April 7, 2008 Share Posted April 7, 2008 They need Layers pellets from about 5 weeks till up to about 16/17 weeks or so....and then Layers pellets from then on.....they need the extra calcium for eggshell formation. I thought they needed growers from 5 weeks until 16/17 weeks?? So when you get them from Omlet they should just about be on the layers? Correct me if I'm wrong Corrected my mistake in original post ....meant to say growers where I have highlighted in blue...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubereglu Posted April 7, 2008 Share Posted April 7, 2008 You only need to feed them growers' pellets until they reach about 16-18 weeks, (this is what we did when we had Molly and Spice as growers) and after that we fed them layers' pellets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
