Growers pellets

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Tallulah

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Hi all

I have a 9 month old pekin cockerel who has been with us a month, he lives with 5 ex-bat girls who are feed on ex-bat pellets. I still have my little chap on the growers pellets that he was on when I got him and he obviously gets to eat the ex-bat pellets as well. My question is; when do they stop having growers pellets? I've never had a youngster before and any info would be gratefully received. Cheers :)
 
Hi Tallulah. Our individual cockerels never go off growers pellets. Bottom is 4 now and very healthy on them. Those penned with laying hens have to have layers pellets which is not ideal, as they are taking too much calcium which is not good for their kidneys. But at their age (18 months) they seem to be OK on it. If their hens are not laying, like when they are moulting, I have switched them all back to growers mistakingly thinking that the higher protein in the feed would assist in feathering up only to realise (last week) that the protein levels are the same on my brand (Smallholder range) in both layers and growers. On the positive side they are not getting excessive calcium that appears to result in some non-laying hens pooing whitish grit slurry sometimes -jury is out on that one at the moment.
 
You can put him on layers & no harm will come. If you feed a little corn, the protein and the calcium levels will be reduced from the layers anyway. Nearly all males are on layers pellets as they are with hens, some go on to breeders pellets when in the breeding pens so really, it doesn't matter.
 
thank you both for the advice - he has corn when the girls get their afternoon treat, but that is very interesting re the excessive calcium not being good for kidneys. I shall keep my little chap on growers then which incidentally my girls seem to like as well!!

Another question for you....I am shortly getting some limestone flour to be used when my girls go into moult (one particularly had a very bad time recently which I want to avoid that next time if I can), as limestone flour is high in calcium how does my little man stand on that re his diet?
 
Same issue about excess calcium and kidney failure. Problem is severe in very young birds and it seems to decrease as they get older. So chicks absolutely must be on chick crumb not bits of mum's layers pellets. At 6- 20 weeks should be on grower pellets (1% Calcium) for best development. After that the males best on grower but they have sufficient tolerance to be on layers (3% calcium).
 
Tallulah said:
thank you both for the advice - he has corn when the girls get their afternoon treat, but that is very interesting re the excessive calcium not being good for kidneys. I shall keep my little chap on growers then which incidentally my girls seem to like as well!!

Another question for you....I am shortly getting some limestone flour to be used when my girls go into moult (one particularly had a very bad time recently which I want to avoid that next time if I can), as limestone flour is high in calcium how does my little man stand on that re his diet?
Click to expand...

Do you mean she had a terrible time due to a hard moult or something else going on at the same time?

Just a note on limestone it a quickly absorbed form of calcium, I would reserve for a clear calcium deficency, soft shelled eggs or egg binding, where there is a clear short -term need. The more slowly absorbed calcium through oyster shell is probably better in the long run. Hens moulting sometimes lay a soft shelled egg, that is normal as energy is diverted to growing feathers so increasing the calcium at this time is not normally needed, laying also tails off in most cases although a young hybrid may still lay through the moult. A good balanced diet should suffice at this time, some do change over to growers or breeders rations, depending on the circumstances, protein is the main ingredient in feathers so a slight increase in protein percentage in their feed can help.

It is best during a moult to avoid ad hoc feeding, this can upset their system and may cause more harm than good, so it is best really to stick to good brands of poultry feeds.
 
Thanks for all the advice.

Foxy - sorry I wasnt clear but I meant that my chicken was particularly poorly, lack of appetite, general apathy, diarrhoea. I took her to the vets who gave me a course of baytril for her - didnt do much but I gave it to her along with nutridrops and I even gave her some critical care formula at one stage as I really thought I might lose her. She eventually improved and is an absolute stunner in the feather department. I could only put it down to the severe moult - none of the other 4 chickens were poorly just her! I got the idea re the limestone flour from another person who has had chickens for a long time and suggested for a short time only give a small amount of their pellets. Having read the above I'm now totally confused as the two lots of advice contradict each other!
 
We've all got slightly different ways of doing things Tallulah. Often what we do hasn't gone wrong for us so we stick with doing it. Then when it does go wrong we have to change -its just the learning process. It pays in my experience to be bit 'technical' when it comes to decisions and not just do things because someone says that's what they always do. Which reminds me of a joke, but best not get sidetracked. So Foxy's advice is sound, based on technical knowledge, about increasing Calcium and Protein as required. But it is wise to do it in a controlled slow manner as Foxy says as chickens don't like sudden changes in any context, being feed, environment or routine. So the other person is correct about perhaps needing increased Calcium but it would be better administered as slow release Oyster grit rather than a sudden surge of limestone flour. You can save the limestone flour for the circumstances Foxy mentioned, should you be unlucky enough to encounter them.
 
I agree with Foxy.

I've got laying hens and rare breeds and give nothing extra during the moult if they are on layers pellets with a little mixed corn as a scratch feed. My experience has taught me that they don't need it.
 
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