Adding cracked corn to chicken feed? Thought?

Hey everyone!

I know chicken feed already has a lot of corn in it, but to save money and be able to feed my hens better, could I mix a little cracked corn in with my laying pellets? Or anything else that you recommend? Will this affect their egg laying? They get Dumor laying pellets(Not free choice but every day that lasts them most of the day). Is this a good brand or should I switch? I've got 4 golden comets and 2 marans. They are about a year old. They're laying pretty well, but I want them to do better, because the golden comets should be doing much better than they are.

I've also got Muscovy ducks and guineas that are free ranged(the chickens aren't) that I feed the same thing, so it needs to be safe for them. Also, what do you think of "flock blocks" from Tractor Supply?

What about Calf Manna?

My opinion is to not mix cracked corn in with the layer feed. I tried this with my flock and what ended up happening was that they eat all of the corn and avoid the layer feed. Then they would scratch at the feeder to kick out the layer feed to get to more corn. So basically this led to a lot of wasted feed. And cracked corn doesn't really have any nutritional value in it anyway, so if you want to feed your hens better it is healthier just to stick with the layer feed. Now I only feed crack corn as a treat in the winter when they need a little extra something to warm up. I have never fed Dumor feed or have ever seen it at a fed store so I cant say whether or not it is a good brand. I have only fed Country Feed and Nature Wise to my flock. Out of the two the Nature Wise layer pellet was my favorite. On this feed my hens are pretty much laying to their full potential. The added marigolds give the yolks a rich orange color which i love. At $18 a bag I don't know if it is any more cost effective than your Dumor. I have never used Calf Manna so I cant say anything about that either. As for flock blocks I love them. It gives my hens something to do so they don't get bored. They aren't any kind of substitute for layer feed, just a little treat for them to peck at. I like to hang them up just out of reach so they have to jump to peck at it. Keeps them occupied and its actually quite funny to watch.

Adding corn will lower the quality of the feed. Not a good idea, as chickencoop said. Dumor is Purina's price brand, cheaper but not necessarily better. Birds need free choice feed all the time; they will fill their crops right before roosting. Malnutrition does NOT improve egg production or health! Mary

Sorry I sounded pretty harsh here, but good food pays off, and is necessary for good egg production. Mary

Folly's place said:

.....Dumor is Purina's price brand, cheaper but not necessarily better. ....

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Dumor is NOT Purina's brand, it is a brand owned by Tractor Supply company and manufactured by toll millers. While Purina may manufacture it in their facilities it is NOT a Purina brand. In fact, the Dumor feeds have been manufactured by several feed companies over the years.

Brand of feeds are more for the chicken owners preference than the birds. As long as it's a complete nutritional feed is what matters. As mentioned adding cracked corn is not a good idea both for the waste of feed that can occur when birds are scratching out looking for corn and it's overall lowering of nutrition intake, Cracked corn should be used as a treat, small amount given at one time. I prefer to treat birds after they've filled crop in morning with actual feed. Corn is only 8-10% protein. Wheat middlings at 16% protein makes for the commonly used bulk ration in feeds.

I stand corrected about the Dumor feed, but in general avoid price brands because I do want to know who's making the feed. Mary

Rebel Cowgirl said:

Hey everyone!

I know chicken feed already has a lot of corn in it, but to save money and be able to feed my hens better, could I mix a little cracked corn in with my laying pellets? Or anything else that you recommend? Will this affect their egg laying? They get Dumor laying pellets(Not free choice but every day that lasts them most of the day). Is this a good brand or should I switch? I've got 4 golden comets and 2 marans. They are about a year old. They're laying pretty well, but I want them to do better, because the golden comets should be doing much better than they are.

I've also got Muscovy ducks and guineas that are free ranged(the chickens aren't) that I feed the same thing, so it needs to be safe for them. Also, what do you think of "flock blocks" from Tractor Supply?

Click to expand...

Layer feed is already about minimum protein for laying production....adding corn just dilutes that protein.
They should free access to feed all the time, or they may gorge on less appropriate things, like feathers picked off their flock mates bodies and/or eggs.

I like to feed a flock raiser/grower/finisher 20% protein crumble to all ages and genders, as non-layers(chicks, males and molting birds) do not need the extra calcium that is in layer feed and chicks and molters can use the extra protein. Makes life much simpler to store and distribute one type of chow that everyone can eat. I do grind up the crumbles (in the blender) for the chicks for the first week or so.

The higher protein crumble also offsets the 8% protein scratch grains and other kitchen/garden scraps I like to offer. I adjust the amounts of other feeds to get the protein levels desired with varying situations.

Calcium should be available at all times for the layers, I use oyster shell mixed with rinsed, dried, crushed chicken egg shells in a separate container.

Animal protein (mealworms, a little cheese - beware the salt content, meat scraps) is provided during molting and if I see any feather eating.