Many more feed questions

Once again I have read all the rules but I seem to be confused.. I keep getting the don't you dare switch but you could switch if you... so lets ask straight questions.. maybe clean up my poor old confused brain.

My birds are all 13 weeks old. They are still eating grower feed
Well, Me & U are 14 weeks, are eating 16% layer feed, for the calcium to straigthen their legs/bones

No one gets extra grit, all get junk food, ie scraps, noodles, fruit, a little scratch.

I just started "free ranging" this week. I let them out around noon, they run straight for the mulberry trees. I also found that they LOVE japanese beetles.. darn and just when I have gotten use to having those beetles around.. I find they are gormet chicken food.

My confusion is.. why are they eating this "special" baby grower food, when they are out eating like grown-ups all day long. Why can't I switch to layer feed.. And what do I switch to, 16%, 21%, crumbles or pellets?

And when I do switch.. can everyone eat the same..
Can the silkies, ie 6 roos & 1 pullet eat layer food, or will it raise thier voices an octive?
They have a sand pit, they do eat it.. should I add a calcuim bowl in their houses?

I am having trouble believing they get enough to eat by free ranging.. dh says, don't fill the feeder and they will search more tomorrow.. instead of laying under the shade tree.. How can I tell they are getting enough to eat?

Is their anything I should be watching for?

Other than the darker (mulberry color) feces.. they seem to be having a great time outside the yard.. and come in promptly at bedtime.
That is until all that corn in the background is ready to harvest.. then they may be a little harder to talkinto coming home.

The problem with high calcium food in non-laying chickens is it messes up their metabolism and can cause organ damage.

There is Starter (medicated and unmedicated); Start to Finish (which I think is for Cornish crosses that aren't going to live that long anyway and need a lot of nutrients), Grower/Developer--for young chickens that are past the first really high nutrient/protein stage of chickiness but aren't yet reproductive yet (Damerow suggests just gradually adding crimped oats to starter until you get to a 50/50 mix if you can't get grower/developer) and then their is Layer which is higher in Ca and protein because of the demands of egg laying and, I guess, whatever it takes to be a rooster;0). The more they free range the less they will eat of whatever you offer so they are able to balance it out--but I would always offer them enough pelleted food if you want them to have the reserves to lay reliably.

Supposedly the layer offers enough Ca, but I think chickens differ in their needs so I offer ground up eggshells for Ca and some of them really go for it. Grit is sometimes spiked with Ca--but on its own it is just to help the gizzard breakdown food.

Silkies seem to have higher needs for certain minerals/nutrients, such as Selenium, but if they are thriving I would just give them the regular layer.

My pullets and chicks are in seventh heaven with all the figs and cherries and apricots that are on the ground now. I think these are very good for them. I am also buying cheap fresh corn for them--I am NOT making money on this.LOL

I am sure yours will always come home to roost, they can eat a lot of fresh corn before the sun sets:0)

Interesting about the fruit your chickens are eating ... I have a peach tree in the yard that went from pecan-sized green fruit to just the pits still hanging in the tree practically overnight, and was going to cut it down but now I think I'll keep it for whatever my [future] chickens can get out of it. I miss my pineapple guava from the old house so I will plant another. But the dogs eat those low-hanging fruits ... I rarely get any. Maybe I should train the next one into a tree, with a chicken ladder that's dog-proof. Dianne in Houston

Thats funny.. little chicken ladders leading up to the fruits on your trees..

train them to chase off those dogs!

this is a good thread for feed Q&A...