midgie Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 Chook food query: We have 5 hens already; 3 laying, 2 will be ready soon, all over 20 weeks old - they eat 'layers' food. Just collected 2 new girls, both around 15 weeks old. What do I feed them? And if they need different food from the others, how has anyone else managed to make this work?! All my hens are free-ranging, so it's not easy to keep them separate from each other Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 Generally all new hens need to be quarantined and have seperate housing while you are introducing them - that would make it easy. As you seem to be planning to pop them in with the existing flock, then they will have to eat layers with them; it's not recommended, but it sounds like your arrangements don't leave you with any alternative. Details on introducing new stock here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 They should be on growers pellets till around 18 weeks. Personally I wouldn't put them on layers pellets much before this as the extra calcium in layers pellets can have a detrimental effect on them. Claret has taken the words out of my mouth re introductions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwing Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 I agree with the others re intros, 15 weeks is very young and they are quite little breeds so will not be massive at their age so will be prone to bullying on two counts If you have no choice but to put them in together feed them all growers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midgie Posted September 21, 2009 Author Share Posted September 21, 2009 Thanks for those replies. The intro has been as gentle as we've been able to make it - but not ideal, I know The original flock has only been together a few weeks, and they're all pretty laid back - there's been very little in the way of bullying when the new girls joined. The wee ones are finding their own space in the garden, keeping to themselves so far. The older ones are curious but haven't been particularly aggressive with them - mostly it's just been a bit of 'getting in their space' now and then until the little ones take a step back. I have been feeding the new girls Growers, and manually keeping the older ones out of it, but was worried about how I'd manage to keep it up over the next few weeks, as I'm not going to be around so much during the day. Good to know that the older ones can have some Growers for a while if need be. Thanks again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 They can have growers, but they might just stop laying - it doesn't contain all the nutrients needed to form eggs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jools Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 Just double check the growers to make sure it isn't medicated if you're planning on giving it to your layers, otherwise you won't be able to eat their eggs. Who said chickens were easy lol! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 Should be OK, you don't often see medicated growers around, it's usually just the chick crumbs which are medicated - they need to get the medication in the first 6 weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jools Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 Medicated growers pellets are readily available and you may not know that your's are unless you ask. I couldn't get Smallholder growers this year as my supplier didn't have any, and the only ones I could buy were medicated. It's fine if you're only feeding them to growers and you move them onto layers a month before they're due to start laying, but they're not suitable for laying hens, or table birds. Cocci can hit young birds after six weeks, so it's certainly not a bad idea to keep them on medicated food, particularly reading about the problems some people have had with their youngsters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
