Chickens Diet

Hi, everyone. I'm still new to this; this is my first year with chickens. bought chicks five-ish months ago. I bought Rhode Island Red and Americana cross-breeds. I've been researching feeds for layers and I'm confused. Been trying to find a chicken feed that's not over $15 bucks per 50 lb. bag, but I don't want the super over processes stuff. I've been buying the starter feed from my local Co-Op and I'm going to change it to laying feed soon, (My roo's are crowing, so excited!!!) but I don't know if I should buy something better, maybe from TYC. I was wondering if anybody had a favorite feed or mix that's not over the $15 dollars a bag. Also, whats the deal with feeding them other stuff? Ex. Oats Corn (cat kibble?!?) oyster shells, egg shell, scratch and gravel. I'm (as you may be able to tell) very confused. Thanks for the support!

Madeline

HERE IS THE BREAKDOWN..
Oyster shells, egg shell and gravel are not food. The first 2 are supplemental calcium. and gravel is grit. ALL IMPORTANT.
The feed that you speak of , DON'T BE TOO WORRIED THAT IT IS OVER PROCESSED. It is made by legitimate companies like Purina and others equivalent that make a complete nutritional product for you to use. They don't shove garbage or recycled ground up plastics into it. Now as for all the other grains you would like to give your chickens.... That falls into the category of scratch. You can buy ready mixed bags of scratch, or combine your own recipes. I do both.
A note about using layer feed.. It is ideally formulated for laying hens. It has the 4% calcium that laying hens need. Roosters do not need that much calcium, so that puts you in a slight bind. ???? What is the solution.??? Stay with the starter, grower, or allflock feed , At about 2% calcium. and the free choice oyster shells will supplement the laying hens needs. Chances are layer feed wont finish off your rooster all that quick, but the excess calcium is not good for the non laying birds. It wipes out the kidneys and liver at a faster rate than normal. The free choice oyster shell pose no danger of overdose because the chickens eat it if they think they need it. Remember also that chickens free ranging also pick up calcium from the greens they eat .

WISHING YOU BEST

I'm checking to make sure I got this right: I should feed my flock an allflock feed, and just put in a oyster shell or egg shell feeder in for the females. Thank you so much! And gravel is a grit? Is grit the same as a scratch or are they two different things? A friend says he uses gravel as a digestion helper, and it helps to prevent sourcrop. Thanks for your patience!
Madeline

I'm a fan of giving my chickens everything in moderation. Leave the grain out all times, as well as a bowl of oyster shell. Then, feed them table scraps, let them free range as much as possible, give them as many weeds as you can, grow some plants for them, I raise mealworms for mine (which is an awesome project for kids!), catch bugs for them (I use a bug zapper over a bucket of water), cook them an egg every once in awhile, gather free day old bread (I get mine from church), ask a local fruit stand for their old fruit...the more you feed your chickens, the less grains they will eat making it more cost effective, but make sure it is in moderation!! I have overfed mine fruit before and they didn't eat their grains at all which caused the eggs to be very brittle and break in their nesting box for over a week.

I agree with Cavemanrich, there are valuable nutrients in the grain, so you can provide other sources of food instead of just grain, but I wouldn't get rid of it entirely.

Mine are free range, they get lots of table scraps. I've not fed them grains before, but would Quickoats qualify? And I agree. Moderation is important. We've been having lots and lots of tomatoes and they get all the bad parts. They love tomatoes! They also get fruit and moldy bread when we have it. We also give them old oatmeal (cooked). I think that qualifies as a grain. If there is anything else I'm missing, please feel free and tell me. I'm open.

madditremaine said:

I'm checking to make sure I got this right: I should feed my flock an allflock feed, and just put in a oyster shell or egg shell feeder in for the females. Thank you so much! And gravel is a grit? Is grit the same as a scratch or are they two different things? A friend says he uses gravel as a digestion helper, and it helps to prevent sourcrop. Thanks for your patience!
Madeline

Click to expand...

Have the oyster shells available to all.. The roosters will eat some... The hens will eat more. Chickens are smart as to deciding what they need.
Gravel is grit that helps grind the food in their gizzard. Eventually the little stones deplete in size and go thru the chickens digestive system and out. Some of the minerals in grit are absorbed by the chickens digestive system.. ALL GOOD. Chickens are constantly replenishing their supply of grit into their gizzard. Grit is necessary if chickens get feed such as scratch and other food and grains that need grinding. Chickens do not have teeth. Chickens being fed only layer feed like battery hens in egg production farms do not need grit. Scratch is not grit but referred to a mixture of different grains and cracked corn.

Okay! Do the hens need scratch or is it optional?

They haven't started laying yet, but a couple of my Roo's are crowing. So excited!!!

madditremaine said:

Okay! Do the hens need scratch or is it optional?

Click to expand...

I just started mixing scratch in with my grains to save money about 4 parts grain to 1 part scratch...but not sure if that's a good idea? I have heard only to give them corn during the cold months as it is just non-nutritional calories...but I live in Florida so we don't have cold months. I also throw it in my composter for them to dig through it and hurry the composting process...

If I had to answer, I would say it is optional and all depends on how much access they have to free ranging and other foods. It takes up a lot calories to make an egg, so if they aren't getting much else food wise, I'd say throw them a few handfuls a day...but I'm sure someone else will have a totally different opinion.

madditremaine said:

Mine are free range, they get lots of table scraps. I've not fed them grains before, but would Quickoats qualify? And I agree. Moderation is important. we've been having lots and lots of tomatoes and they get all the bad parts. They love tomatoes! They also get fruit and mold bread when we have it. We also give them old oatmeal (cooked). I think that qualifies as a grain. If there is anything else i"m missing, please feel free and tell me. I'm open.

Click to expand...

Just read your post. Awhile ago I did some research on making your own grain as I wanted to stop buying it too. I came to the conclusion that there is medicine and vitamins in the grains that they need to prevent illness and I didn't want to have to supplement that, so I gave up on that idea. You can add the medicine to their water but who knows how much they get. So, I'd think the oats and bread are probably sufficient for their grains, but I do think there is stuff in the layer feed that they should have. I could be wrong, but that is the answer what I came up with when I was researching it. I'd love to hear others thoughts, as I hate buying 200 lbs of grains a month!