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suplementing store feed question

post #1 of 3
4/24/12 at 5:23pm
Thread Starter 

i want my birds to have good nutrition.  that being said, i also am not at a point where i'm willing to invest time/money building my feed yet.

is there things i could/should be adding to their diet to enrich them nutritionally without great expense/difficulty?  i'm currently feeding them 'flock raiser' from tsc.

they have a run 40 x 30 that gives them greens & bugs.

thanks

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post #2 of 3
4/24/12 at 7:29pm

If they have access to greens and bugs that in itself is a great nutritional supplement.  That being said, you can give them BOSS (Black Oil Sunflower Seeds) as a treat.  It's great protein and they love it.  They also love scratch grains.  It's like candy to them, so feed as a treat only.  And don't forget to keep a container on the kitchen counter for plate scrapings and left overs.  Chickens are omnivores and just about anything we can eat, they can too.  My girls absolutely love it when I clean out the refrigerator.  They get all the fruit and veggies that are going soft (but not bad).  Put some grapes out for a treat and watch a game of chicken keep away.  There's lots of other treat and supplemental nutritional ideas in older posts on this forum.  Do a search for other ideas.  Good luck and have fun.

Next time build the coop before you get the chickens!
You can't tell the color of the chicken or the egg by looking at the yolk.
1 Ameraucana, 2 Black/Lavender Split Orpingtons, 2 EE's, 2 RI Reds, 1 Barred Rock, 1 Cuckoo Marans and 2 Silver Spangled Hamburgs.

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Next time build the coop before you get the chickens!
You can't tell the color of the chicken or the egg by looking at the yolk.
1 Ameraucana, 2 Black/Lavender Split Orpingtons, 2 EE's, 2 RI Reds, 1 Barred Rock, 1 Cuckoo Marans and 2 Silver Spangled Hamburgs.

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post #3 of 3
4/25/12 at 6:51am
If you're feeding a balanced ration then you don't really need anything else. Access to green feed of some kind (grass, greens, etc) is always a good thing and can be fed liberally. Everything else is unnecessary.

If you feel like you just gotta you can give scratch feed first thing in the day, but no more than about half a handful per bird per day unless they're free ranging where you can give it more liberally.
Chance favors the prepared mind.
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Chance favors the prepared mind.
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BackYard Chickens › BYC Forum › Raising BackYard Chickens › Feeding & Watering Your Flock › suplementing store feed question