Alfalfa pellets for my chickens?

[swtamour]

I've been trying to figure out why my eggs taste like store bought so from what I'm reading here, they need more greens. I don't have much weeds or grass in my backyard. I give them the leaves from my peach tree but I guess that's not enough greens to get my eggs to taste farm fresh. Can I give them alfalfa pellets I saw at the feed store and how much should I mix in with their feed? I also give them some corn to get the yolk a bright orange but still look like store bought. What else can I do? Is alfalfa pellet the answer? Thanks.

 

[Cindy in PA]

I use the dried alfalfa cubes made for horses, especially during the winter. I soak them in warm water and they soften up. I throw them in the pen & the chickens scratch at them and gobble them up. I got mine at Tractor supply, but I think most feed stores would carry them. They come in a 50lb. bag & they lasted my 12 chickens almost six months. I plan on giving them more this year, now that I know how long a bag lasts. It took them a few times to really go for them, but they eat them now if I don't have time to cut clover or something.

 

[Tailfeathers]

While I have not gone to the expense of doing this, there is an Ameraucana breeder that I know and trust that says they put their newly hatched chicks on a bed of alfalfa pellets. She says they loved them and when the pellets get too soiled for the chicks to be on, she says they are worth their weight in gold to others as compost.

My birds normally free-range so I don't worry often about them getting enough greens. However, during the time they're in breeding pens, anyone knows that it doesn't take a few birds long to turn a nice piece of sod into a dirt floor. The church we go to has vegetables, bread items, fruits, and other things that they give away. Often there are items that are too far gone for human consumption - at least IMHO. They gladly give them to me to feed to my chickens. So every Sunday my birds get treated to spinach, lettuce, cabbage, carrots, pears (they love pears!), squash, various melons, peppers, kale, and other greens that I can't even remember what they're called.

I'm not suggesting you start going to a church just to get free treats for your birds of course. But you might check around at some grocery stores or open markets to see if they have any "give aways". Just let them know your birds would gladly have them and it's better than a dumpster.

Hope that helps.

God Bless,

 

[coloredcoat]

The experiment was to feed whole corn, and let them get what else they want from the yard. This works from April to October when there is a lot of green stuff plus insects. Now that everything is brown and insects are gone, I am feeding them the cattle cubes to supplement protein and greens. Similar to what has already been said on here, I take about a pound of them every evening when I gather eggs and pour water on them in the trough and let them soak overnight. The hens love it, and usually clean the alfalfa mash up every day. If they don't, no big deal. I just put in a little less next evening when I soak another batch in the trough.

I doubted the whole corn diet might not be optimal since, you know, chickens must be fed 16% crude protein formulated feed from a bag. Well that nonsense is debunked right now. Not only do the chickens thrive on whole corn; bugs, grass, and alfalfa is plenty of extra protein. Egg laying and pullet growth is as good as can be expected. I get between 6 and 8 eggs a day from 8 hens. Mine aren't the fast growing breeds, so I don't care that the rooster fryers seem to hang around a little longer. Hanging around is exactly the point since they do a terrific job keeping the grasshoppers down. They will still taste fine in a few weeks now that bug season is over.

I wish I would have known this chicken diet and money saving method decades ago. That 16% formulated feed is not only ridiculously expensive($15 for 50#) but it also contains soy for the majority of the additional crude protein(hence the high price). I'm not all that excited about feeding my chickens soy. I buy one bag of chick starter crumbles after the eggs hatch, and that bag lasts until 15 chickens grow big enough to start eating whole corn, bugs, grass, or alfalfa mash at around 6 weeks. I don't buy any other bag of feed except for the alfalfa cubes then. I get corn by the 55 gallon drum at the elevator for something less than $9 a hundred pounds as of last time. A drum holds something like 350 pounds. My current rate of feeding is about a gallon of corn a day for 30 grown chickens. This fluctuated lower in summer.

Anyway, this might have been a better post for a different thread, but those are my most current experiments. I am saving a ton of money with this feeding arrangement, the eggs keep coming, the chickens look and act healthy, and I couldn't be happier with the results.

 

[tackyrama]

Quote:
Chickens don't much care for alfalfa pellets. That's from my own experience and what others say on BYC. My flock is free range so they have a wide choice of food. The eggs are bright yellow but that does change during the year depending what they eat most of. I feed my chickens bocking #14 comfrey during the winter months in with their feed. It has the most protein next to alfalfa of any livestock fodder. #14 was developed for livestock/poultry and it is an easy to grow, low maintenance crop that will give up to 5 crops a year. Do a google search for info, you will be surprised.

 

[Chris09]

I have used alfalfa meal.. I soak it water a little then feed it to them wet...

Chris

 

[Davaroo]

Quote:
This business about continuous feed availability has filtered down to us from the commercial business, mostly. Most people do not even know of this origin.

Chickens in tight confinement need to be hand fed, essentially, since they have no other way to obtain sustenance.
As a convenience to the keeper, and to ensure the birds get a controlled intake, keeping the feeder full meets the need.
(When you think about it, confinement rearing is the ultimate form of stewardship, since the creatures every need is catered to by the keeper.)

By contrast, it was common practice a hundred years ago to offer main feedings in the early morning, midday and afternoon. The rest of the time, the birds were on their own. The people who raised chickens this way, did so with great success. There are those today who still do.

To make it easier, we are told by today's gurus to keep the feeder full at all times, and there is nothing wrong with that. If you work, have a family, go to school and/or have other facets of your life besides tending to chickens (gasp!!

) then it is a satisfactory solution.

But it is not the only way. Water, on the other hand, is an essential and should be always available.

AS for supermarket greens, your point about chemicals is a good one. As for freshness, most of the stuff I see trimmed off produce is rejected on appearance, and is fine for chickens. Cut off the bruised or unsightly portions and they are fine. Whether any but the outermost portions are laden with chemicals is for you to decide, I suppose.
Sure seems a good way to utilize a resource that otherwise would go to rot.

 

[Anny]

See if you can get grass clipping from your own yard, or some one near you. As long as they don't spray there yard with heavy chemicals they are ok for the chickens to eat.

If you keep your eyes peeled you'll start seeing those brown bags of
"compost" that people put out on the curb, those are normally full of grass clippings.

 

[swtamour]

The feed store also has alfalfa cubes but it's mixed in with hay, would that work?

 

[Chris09]

Quote:
It will work... I would just soak them in water till there soft... You might want to check and see if your mill has the alfalfa meal it should be cheaper.. Most mills have the alfalfa meal in stock they add to some mash mix...

Chris