Can chickens eat this?

[Chickenteacher]

uh huh....not interested in fighting that fight...I can't imagine how our forefathers ever got along without the commercialized products of today....keep drinking that koolaide cher'

 

[junebuggena]

Our forefathers did not have the selectively bred, high producing chickens that we have today. It takes a specific balance of nutrients for modern day chickens to reach their full production potential. Not every person with chickens is in an environment that can support a flock of chickens through foraging. There can be serious problems with a chicken's long term health if they are not fed properly, especially for the first several months of life. Can they live and survive, sure. Will they be healthy and productive, probably not. I consider myself very fortunate to have a field of at least 20 different grasses, patches of woods, and several types of wild berries on my property for my chickens to utilize for forage. I also provide them with a balanced chicken feed. There are multiple threads on this site of people telling their stories about hard lessons learned in feeding chickens, and what happens when you don't feed them well.

 

[HeritageGoose13]

A long time ago people free-ranged chickens over acreage. We cannot assume the average person here has so much land. Therefore, supplements are needed.

 

[jws353]

We have backyard chickens which do not free range any more as we have lost them to foxes and hawks. As I weed my garden, I will give them some of the grassy weeds and some of the broccoli leave and cabbage leaves as well as scraps such as watermelon rind. Can you give them too much of this type of food? They, of course, get water and grain in addition but I want to make sure that I am not overdoing the leafy greens.

Thanks.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

We have backyard chickens which do not free range any more as we have lost them to foxes and hawks. As I weed my garden, I will give them some of the grassy weeds and some of the broccoli leave and cabbage leaves as well as scraps such as watermelon rind. Can you give them too much of this type of food? They, of course, get water and grain in addition but I want to make sure that I am not overdoing the leafy greens.

Thanks.

Welcome to BYC
Ideally, "treats" (which includes scratch grains and the foods listed above) should make up no more than 10% of the overall intake of your birds - the remaining balance coming from a balanced poultry ration
(edited to correct run to ration)

 

[Folly's place]

Birds that are genetically programmed to produce 100 to 300 eggs per year, and/or to grow bigger than three to four pounds body weight, need a balanced diet. Malnutrition as a way to reduce egg production is a very poor management plan! Mary

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

uh huh....not interested in fighting that fight...I can't imagine how our forefathers ever got along without the commercialized products of today....keep drinking that koolaide cher'

Understanding the differences between the poultry of "our forefathers" and the poultry available today would be the first step in understanding where that statement begins to go wrong. While not a fan of koolaid, I am a fan of responsible animal husbandry.

 

[Chickenteacher]

sponsored by purina, enough said...

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Wild bird seed is designed to be nutritionally sufficient for wild birds -- wild birds are significantly different than domestic poultry. One basic difference is domestic poultry of today is designed to, when properly supported by nutrition, produce hundreds of eggs in a nearly year-round reproductive cycle. Wild birds are programmed for a short breeding season in which they produce eggs 10's of eggs (not 100s) and function in much different ways biologically speaking. The two are very different and, as such, so are the nutritional needs of each. As I said before, poultry can survive under a lot of less than optimal conditions, including being malnourished, but so too can humans -- we could, for example, "live" on a diet of pure fast food - that does not mean that we would be healthy individuals living an optimal life cycle.

 

[Chickenteacher]

Hi, I'm just wondering if my chickens can eat/live on this?



This is the only feed I can find that's close to chicken feed.

Thanks

The answer to the question is.....yes....