Everyone, post your best homemade chicken feed recipes!

[OrganicFarmWife]

If you feed strictly commercial feed, then yes, one would consider fruits, vegetables, and insects, "treats". If you choose not to feed commercially, then they are simply feeding them what they are more likely to find naturally in the wild, prepressed pellets are not plentiful naturally. Yes you can make certain that your birds get the exactly what they need (much like a daily supplement would do for you) but you can have perfectly healthy birds, not feeding pellets, and giving them a wide variety of food.

 

[Dawn 09]

Ive only given them pellets this morning but i want to feed them less processed food anyway so once ive used the bag of pellets up or give it to someone whos hens will eat them. Im gonna try more natural way to feed them. Thanks for advice

 

[ladyearth]

I'm betting if you cut out the treats 100% they will eat the pellets, they are like children if you let them skip dinner and go right for desert they will choose that option almost every time...

No you don't need 'layer' pellets the only difference between layer and regular feeds is the calcium levels, offer them a side of oyster shells and you can feed them just about any type of balanced diet from your own to a commericial feed... I tend to avoid layer when possible as I have a mixed flock and the excess calcium is not good for non-layers... I can usually get a non-medicated chick feed o all flock feed for nearly the same price, so I go that route as my 24/7 feed option, while they get a plethora of fresh food each day...

I have Manna PRO oysterr shell in numerous places... but getting some soft shells from one particular girl lately..... they luv crushed eggshells.
Now can I mix up some very fine "blender fine" EGGSHELL...their eggshells eggshell.... and put it in with thir oyster shell? or will they pick thru the oyster shell and fling it out to get the real eggshells? they mostly get NBest Org layer pellets. wish I could find an all flock Organic pellet... since have one or two non layers plus ROO ROO
bought an Organic premix but it a starter. called company and the lady in the know says I can add a "feeding lime" to the starter additive.. a calcium carbonate she said..
have not used the premix , much as I dont have access(right now) to a real nice grain grinder..
thanks
thanks.

 

[MeepBeep]

Now can I mix up some very fine "blender fine" EGGSHELL...their eggshells  eggshell.... and put it in with thir oyster shell?   or will they pick thru the oyster shell and fling it out to get the real eggshells?

Most people will recommend you bake/toast the egg shells prior to giving back to the birds so that they are mostly just pure shell with little to no egg residue or taste left... This helps prevent the birds from putting two and two together that they are eggs and thus avoiding potential egg eaters in the flock if they like the taste...

bought an Organic premix but it a starter. called company and the lady in the know says I can add a "feeding lime" to the starter additive.. a calcium carbonate she said..

You can add calcium carbonate aka lime aka crushed limestone to the feed, but generally crushed oyster shells are more convenient and lower cost in small volumes for the hobbyist... While feed companies and huge egg producers will generally find limestone/lime by the train or truck load to be cheaper...

 

[ladyearth]

but can the blenderized eggshell take the place of the lime?????
. it will be like raTHER is fine and dusty when blenderized
The oyster shell is chunky... I have both....
thank you

 

[MeepBeep]

but can the blenderized eggshell take the place of the lime?????
. it will be like raTHER is fine and dusty when blenderized
The oyster shell is chunky... I have both....
thank you

If you have enough egg shells yes it can replace lime or oyster shell... But, if you are going to depend on the shells you produce alone, you won't have enough, as some of the calcium is in the yolk and used for bone building so the shells will come up short of what is needed to continue the cycle...

Powdered or chunks really makes little difference in the end, the hens absorb calcium very rapidly and it's available for the egg making within hours after consuming so as long as they have free choice they can fully regulate their needs...

 

[Egghead_Jr]

When I feed shells back to birds I microwaved them to cook any residue. This was only done as a means to preserve them as they were on a shelf in kitchen until fed back. There was no other reason other than not to have a bacteria infested bowl smelling up the kitchen. We compost all the shells now. Really dirty eggs or for what ever reason the birds are getting their own eggs back I simply throw on the ground to smash open. Never had an egg eater other than the eggs and shells I smash in front of them.

The basic home feed recipe here is water and bagged feed. Served separately. Garnished with old leftovers from the fridge. Today was a kielbassa that was starting to smell off. Cut into small pieces and served with love.

 

[chickengr]

1 of my hens choked with sprouted wheat and barley. she was one of the best layers. RIP Alina

 

[Athaid]

I made a thread about the homemade feed we were thinking of making, I've been browsing the forums as well but I can't seem to find the info I need. Our feed would consist of;

Barley mash (left over from the local distillery) which is 20% protein and 60% fiber.
Table scraps (bread, pasta, fruit, vegetables, milk, cereals etc..)
Dried seaweed (from the beach, cleaned first, and given in small amounts.)
Anything they find foraging in their run, which is about one acre.
Plus grit from the beach, and crushed sea shells, crab shells etc.. In a separate dish.

We don't want to use a commercial feed as we would like to know exactly what our hens are eating, and want to avoid GMO and soy. Can anyone recommend any seeds or grains which we could add to make this a more complete diet?

 

[chickengr]

I made a thread about the homemade feed we were thinking of making, I've been browsing the forums as well but I can't seem to find the info I need. Our feed would consist of;

Barley mash (left over from the local distillery) which is 20% protein and 60% fiber.
Table scraps (bread, pasta, fruit, vegetables, milk, cereals etc..)
Dried seaweed (from the beach, cleaned first, and given in small amounts.)
Anything they find foraging in their run, which is about one acre.
Plus grit from the beach, and crushed sea shells, crab shells etc.. In a separate dish.

We don't want to use a commercial feed as we would like to know exactly what our hens are eating, and want to avoid GMO and soy. Can anyone recommend any seeds or grains which we could add to make this a more complete diet?

no corn at all? when I put different things together my chickens choose and eat corn first.

how do you clean seaweed? I don't use it because I am afraid it is too salty.