The madness of chick season is HERE, and we all want to get our chicks off to a great start this year. It takes an immense amount of growth and development to go from a 60g egg to a 6lb chicken with just months in between. The nutrition in those first few weeks sets the stage for the rest of their lives, so selecting a good starter feed for your chicks is imperative.
Navigating all the options available for starter feeds can be a real headache. So, we've put together a few helpful tips and key things to look for and in a starter feed.
TIP #1 - Pretty Bags Don't Always Have Pretty Tags
Feed companies have whole marketing TEAMS working on their bag designs and packaging - designs and packaging, we might add, that may not be reflective of the actual nutrient levels in their feed. Refrain from grabbing feed just because it's in a nice bag and ALWAYS read the feed tag. On it, you'll find a Guaranteed Analysis (the equivalent of a Nutrition Facts label) with ingredients listed and broken down by weight, which is indicated by a percentage.
This goes for ALL feeds, even if they're Certified Organic, Non-GMO, Soy free, etc. No matter what your personal convictions for feeding methodology are or what the claims are on the bag, read the tag.
Tip #2 - Feed Higher Protein to Chicks
You'll want to look for a chick starter that has AT LEAST 18% protein, but that's the low end. The best chick starters will contain more protein (between 20% and 22%), but even more importantly, they will contain ample amino acids.
Tip #3 - Amino Acids are KEY
You don't see the amino acid content advertised in big bold letters on the front of a feed bag, so it must not be as important as the protein, right? WRONG. Amino acids are the building blocks of protein, and are oftentimes overlooked in favor of the Crude Protein content in feed. While we do want a good amount of Crude Protein in our feed, amino acids are where we really start to get our money's worth (and lets face it, with feed costs today, we want as much bang for our buck as possible).
Lysine and Methionine are the only two amino acids required by law to be labeled in a Guaranteed Analysis and so those two are the only ones you'll see noted on most feeds. Lysine participates in protein synthesis and utilization. Methionine contributes to the development and maintenance of muscles, organs, and feathers.
To get chicks to grow out with a lot of body, bright red combs and wattles, and shiny, luscious plumage, this is how we get it: by sourcing a starter feed with AT LEAST 1.0% Lysine and 0.5% Methionine. A lot of feeds miss the mark here, so follow Tip #1 and look at those tags! If you can find those amino acids at a slightly higher percentage, that's even better.
Tip #4 - Vitamins can make or break a feed!
Chickens, just like humans, need their vitamins!
We have had the misfortune of seeing the clinical symptoms of vitamin deficiencies in chickens first hand. When we first started out, we fed a brand of feed we'd previously had great success with in other species. On this feed, we saw growouts with slipped tendons, wry neck, neurological problems, and general poor performance. The kicker? We were paying out the nose for that feed, under the assumption that this brand's chicken feed would get us the same quality of results as it had in other species. We didn't understand, at that point in time, what nutrient levels for chickens should be.
Many late nights Googling research papers and perusing forums and Facebook groups led us to change our feed. Once we did switch feeds to a more regionally sourced, higher amino acid, higher vitamin/mineral feed, BAM. No more problems. We have not seen a slipped tendon, wry-neck, or neurological problem in our flocks since then. Learn from our early mistake and make sure your birds are getting adequate vitamins in their feed.
So what should the vitamin content be for starter feed?
We personally look for Vitamin A at least 5,000IU/lb, Vitamin D at least 1,500IU/lb, and Vitamin E at least 50IU/lb.
Tip #5 - Don't be afraid to shop around
Don't feel obligated, just because you're at a store, to buy what they have if it's not something that will benefit your flock and get you a good value for what you pay for it. If you've got chicks coming, go ahead and start looking for a feed in order to not be caught on the back foot when they arrive.
IN REVIEW, here's what we like to look for in a starter:
Protein - At least 18%, preferably 20-22%
Lysine - At least 1.0%
Methionine - At least 0.5%
Vitamin A - at least 5,000IU/lb
Vitamin D - at least 1,500IU/lb
Vitamin E - at least 50IU/lb
Vitamin E is, in our experience, the hardest to get adequate levels of in commercial feeds. You can supplement Vitamin E pretty easily if you feel you need to.
Sidenote - These are values that fixed our own feeding program and that come recommended by experts in poultry nutrition, specifically nutrition for the types of birds we're raising (ie. not commercial layers in commercial settings). We'll put some additional resources for you below if you want to do some more reading!
RESOURCES & ADDITIONAL READING
We HIGHLY recommend that you take a look at Jeff Mattocks' work in poultry nutrition; we feed close to his recommendations and have had wonderful results in doing so.
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