Cracked corn feed

[McChooky]

Training a chicken to eat right is kind of hard when you feed them crack

 

[4th generation farmer]

Wanting some opinions on Feed. I have year and a half old hens who have been on Purina Layena crumbles only after their starter feed . I recently went to my local grain elevator to start getting Feed there because I can get so much more for cheaper cost. they sell a homemade feed with local ingredients with cracked corn in it, I was a little concerned when I first opened the bag because it basically looks like minimal fine powder and mostly cracked corn. Just a little concerned about this being mostly corn. Anyone feed something similar or have any issues with it? Thanks for your input!

I would thi k it be fine bc from October till March my birds chickens ducks geese all live off pure cracked corn and access to the yard so only thing thwy get besides the provided cracked corn is whatever big thwy find on their own when free ranging theu the yard...I have done this for 10 years or better and when warmer weather sets in I co ti ue with the 247 access to cracked corn but provide about 3 pounds of layer pellets in the warm months to help egg production...and again my birds have been thriving the corn hasn't affected any of them including ducks and geese

 

[Brooks_]

So, rancher not farmer. And the sheep are show quality breeders? Not going to the slaughter house for 1k a head.

 

[N F C]

To all participating in this discussion, please agree to respectfully disagree. Thank you.

 

[Meweber]

I agree with those that said without nutritional information I can't answer your questions. It is possible that is a good feed for laying hens, it is possible it is not. But I do have some other questions.

It was mostly cracked corn when you opened the bag. Had most of the powder settled to the bottom of the bag? Was what you first saw a good representation of that feed?

Which brings up another point. If you feed that as is the powder will settle to the bottom of the feeder and the chickens will almost certainly pick out the corn first. A lot of the goodies in the powder may not be eaten, especially not equally by all. If there is enough powder in it to bind it together if you wet it and make a paste you can be more assured they are all getting the full benefit.

Can you chat with the people at the grain elevator to see what they can tell you about that feed? Sounds like you don't know if it has enough calcium in it for eggshells let alone other ingredients.

Without knowing more I'd only use that as a treat and primarily feed them a feed with known nutrients.

Good points, they do just pick out the corn and don’t eat anything else. I think I’ll be switching back to my layena feed. The grain elevator did say there is a lot of nutritional benefit ingredients and a good amount of protein, but they’re only eating the corn, so seems like a waste.

 

[ChikinInThePines]

We give our chickens "Nutrena NatureWise 'All Flock'" feed - its a purple colored bag. We have turkeys with our chickens, as well as a rooster, so you cannot feed them "Layer" feed. We did recently buy some "Producer's Pride (Tractor Supply Brand) Scratch Grains" to throw out in the yard for them once a day or so to nibble on. The scratch is not super healthy as it does have cracked corn and junk, but in the winter months I think it helps.