A chicken eats three different feeds in her first four months or so, and the change between them is not a marketing exercise. Each one is built for what her body is doing at that age. Here is the sequence, what changes in the bag, and the Laucke Mills feeds we use in our own coop.
The sequence at a glance
| Age | Feed | Protein | Calcium |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0–6 weeks | Chick starter crumble | 20% | Low |
| 6 weeks to point of lay | Pullet grower | 16% | Low |
| Point of lay onwards (about 18 weeks) | Complete layer feed | 17% | 4.2% |
Protein and calcium figures are the minimums Laucke Mills publishes for the feeds pictured below. Other mills' feeds will sit close to them.
0–6 weeks: chick starter
A chick roughly trebles its weight in the first fortnight and keeps growing hard for six weeks. Everything it will be, its frame, its feathers, the laying gear it has not grown yet, is built out of what is in the feeder during that window. So starter is the richest feed she will ever eat: 20% protein, fed as a crumble so every mouthful is the whole formula.
Stay on it for the full six weeks. Cutting it short at two or three is the most common mistake we hear about. Whether to choose a medicated or unmedicated starter, and the two we recommend, is on what to feed chicks.
6 weeks to point of lay: pullet grower
This is the stage most backyard keepers skip, and it is the one that sets up the laying years. From six weeks the frantic early growth is over and the bird is filling out her frame, so the protein steps down to 16%. The calcium stays low, because she is not building eggshells yet.
The one we recommend is Laucke Mills Pullet Grower MP. It is a micro pellet, which young birds manage easily, it carries a coccidiostat (lasalocid) to hold coccidiosis in check while their immunity finishes developing, and Laucke formulates it with 1.2% linoleic acid so the bird goes into lay with good body reserves. Feed it free choice from six weeks until she is at point of lay. Laucke's own alternative for this stage is Red Hen Pullet.
Why you don't put a growing pullet on layer feed. A complete layer feed is about 4.2% calcium, because a hen in lay puts a shell on an egg most days and has to get that calcium from somewhere. A pullet is not laying. She only needs enough calcium to build bone, and the excess in a layer ration has to be cleared by her kidneys week after week. Pullets held on layer feed for the weeks and months before lay can develop kidney damage from it. The grower also gives her the protein a developing bird still needs, which a layer feed is not built to do. Feed for the bird's age, not for the bag you happen to have open.
Point of lay onwards: a complete layer feed
Around eighteen weeks the comb reddens, she starts squatting when you reach for her, and the first egg is close. That is point of lay, and it is the moment to switch to a complete layer feed. Now the calcium jumps to 4.2% for the daily shell, and the protein sits at 17% to hold production. If you prefer a gradual change, blend the two feeds over a week.
The two we feed our own hens are both from Laucke Mills. Showbird Breeder MP is a micro pellet, and Red Hen 17 is a no-grind crumble. Same protein, same calcium, neither is medicated. The difference is texture, and either flows cleanly through a tube feeder. What we do not feed is a coarse grain mix as the main ration, because the girls pick out the grain they like and leave the rest, and the rest is where the protein and the calcium are.
What goes in the feeder each day, and where to buy these two now that we no longer stock them, is on how we feed our own chooks. The reasoning behind a complete feed is in chicken feed for laying hens.
Find your nearest Laucke stockist
Three things that stay the same at every age
- Feed free choice, in a feeder, off the ground. A growing bird regulates her own intake well. Feed on the ground is an invitation to rats, mice and pest birds, and it is where feed gets wet and spoils. Our feeders are built for a crumble or micro pellet.
- Warmth for the first six weeks, if they are chicks. A brooder heat plate warms them from above the way a hen does, with no exposed bulb, and they wander off when they have had enough.
- Clean water, always. A hen drinks roughly twice the weight of what she eats, and every feed above assumes she can. Our drinkers carry a bird from day-old to laying without a change of equipment.
- Grit in its own station once they are on the ground. Free choice and separate from the feed. Growing birds need insoluble grit for the gizzard. Shell grit, which is calcium, waits until she is laying, for the same reason the feed does.
See the brooder heat plates See the feeders
Not sure which stage your birds are at, or what to do with a mixed-age flock? Get in touch with how many you have and how old they are, and we will tell you straight.