Chicken Scratch

[Sharon Bee]

Hi: I am just wondering how much chicken scratch I should feed my 11 chicks who are now almost 5 months old now. I throw them a few handfulls in the morning and then later in the afternoon as they look to me for more when I come into their coop and run. Is this too much?

I am getting about 6 to 7 eggs now per day! yeaaaaa.

 

[Kelsie2290]

If you feed a commercial food, generally they say that treats should not exceed 10% of the diet so you don't unbalance it too much, and most treats like scratch tend to be lower in protein than their regular food. Most Layer is around 16%. If they free range or you feed a higher protein % food you maybe able to get away with more. Sounds like they are laying nicely for you already.

 

[Sharon Bee]

I'm feeding them layer food now. I also throw in some grass for them to scratch. We don't have a good setup for them outside yet. My husband has to make fence higher with a netting over top so they can't fly out. I have a little run inside the carriage house for them and they seem to stay in which leads to their coop inside the carriage house. Once in awhile i find one outside of the fence and she is usually anxious to get back in with the others.

 

[write2caroline]

Scratch is more of a treat or a winter addition. You don't need to feed it to them unless you want to when you have them on a good layer feed.
Caroline