Before your Chicks Arrive Part 2 of 4

    Now that the brooder is taken care of you should obtain a good quality feed to give them a nutritional start to their life. We start ours on a certified organic 20% chick starter. This is a good start for a layer flock as well as a meat bird flock. For your layers we recommend keeping them on a 20% ration for at least 6 weeks. For your Cornish Cross broilers, we recommend 2 weeks and for your Red Ranger Meat birds we recommend 6 weeks. After the appropriate time period you will move them to a 18% ration. Make sure your feed is stored in a cool dry place. You can find weekly feed requirements in the learning section at www.rcrorganicfeedstore.com. 

    The size and number of the waterers and feeders will depend on how many chicks you are raising. The recommended feeding/waterer space to allow chicks to have adequate room to eat and drink is as follows: 1 1/2" - 2" per bird upon arrival, then 2 1/2" per bird through week 4: weeks 4-8 should allow 3 1/2" per bird: 8-12 weeks should allow 6" per bird.

Update:  Detailed feed charts for Laying Chickens, Meat Chickens (Broilers) and Turkey have been added to the learning section of our website.  These are the charts that we've developed and used for over 20 years.