feeding teenagers chicken?

[kay-chan]

I feed my chickens sweetpotato, rice and quacker oats. Is that okay for them? Plus can you feed chicken parakeet food? And what kind of food has calcium for them that are not feeders.

 

[Imp]

Quote:
Yes, Yes, Yes & Yes, but as treats only. Not as their entire diet.
Foods high in calcium are dark leafy greens, dairy, & oyster/egg shell.

Imp

 

[kay-chan]

like what kind of dark leafy green and do they need to be chopped and what kind of dairy products?

 

[Imp]

Quote:
Dairy foods
Milk, yogurt, cheese
I sometimes sprinkle powdered milk on the food

Leafy green vegetables
Broccoli, kale, spinach

Fruits
Oranges
There is some debate that citrus is toxic to chickens

Beans and peas
Tofu, peanuts, peas, black beans, baked beans
Cooked beans only-raw is toxic to chickens

Fish
Salmon, sardines

Miscellaneous
Sesame seeds, blackstrap molasses, corn tortillas, almonds, brown sugar
Molasses and sugar may cause diarrhea

Chopping is up to you. I would for chicks, not so necessary for adults.

Imp

 

[horsejody]

Make sure that's just treats and not their main ration.

 

[Imp]

Horsejody is exactly right. There are lots of other nutrients that chickens need.

kay-chan,
They should primarily be on some sort of grower food as teen-agers, then switch over to a layer feed when they start laying, Assuming they are hens.

Imp

 

[dianer29]

I thought I purhased chickies not piggies! My Silkie piggies just turned 9 weeks old today. Everytime they see me I have a couple who are in between chirps and clucks stage of verbalization,they actually screech like they are starving to death. They have their organic chickstarter 24/7 cleaned out daily of pine shavings and get a new batch every morning. I give then 8 am or so cooked brown rice with chopped fine raw garlic ,that they devour lickety split ,then I either give then a dwarf size banana to share out of my hand (7 Silkies),or they get their chick parfait which consists of organic plain yogurt ,thawed out organic raspberries topped with chopped Cherrios.Today I offered in am after the banana organic dark green lettucewhich was cut up small enough for them...gone! I went on about my business .I basically visit and clean and ck them every 2 hours as they are in our garage and I want to be sure they are okay no drafts ,no major squabbles ,clean out pine shavings out of their raised water container and remove pineshavings from their food. It is always the same scenerio day after day . It is very predictable that the monsters will have created a darn mess that needs to be cleaned up.They are currently in a run waiting for coop to be finished. I have small litter pan with pineshavings and De in it and one in particular took it over to sleep in it at night..They are pretty active . This afternoon I offered and they gobbled up cheerrios chopped in organic baby applesauce. I will not be offering those characters anymore food today,which I never do at that hour. I just leave them with their water and chickstarter. I cannot believe how hungry they are. The portions are not all that much and I know they will not overeat like a dog would.Does anyone have same issues or experienced such in past? They have pineshavings on bottom of run.I t is bad enough that a couple want to eat out of hand and not get face messed up....what the heck? Is it a phase or do I have a bunch of con artists ?

 

[horsejody]

Actually, they will over eat and become fat with treats. I think you need to cut back on the treats. They should be eating their starter more and the treats less. The starter is formulated with the nutritional needs for their growing bodies. They could end up with problems from nutritional deficiencies.

 

[kay-chan]

Thank you Imp and Horsejody for those food tips!!!

ive only been feeding my 3 hens or pre-teens their rice/sweet potato/oatmeal and they eat it. For leafy green they dont like it much. I ran out of starter food for them and cant get any for them for a while cuz its very far from where i live. Plus i need my parents to drive me there to get them. So i have to use more regular food for them. My chickens still chirp and doest cluck yet for sum reason and its still cute. Tho their poop is very huge when they poop, its like oh my goodness, its huge 0_0!!! Im hoping what ever im feeding them its not that. Plus i use pine shavings and they seem to not really like it all that much in their box. im trying to find how to keep my chickens from having a foot spa in their water bowl or food bowl do you have any tips????

 

[dianer29]

My nine week old Silkies are getting healthy "snacks".They are quite active and very verbal. I am not concerned about any of the food I provide for them as the variety , quality and quantity needs are being met. They eat their organic chick starter food as well. Their water contains ACV. I will not give them food that does not provide and enhance their nutritional developmental needs. I strongly believe"garbage in ...garbage out". I consider the food I provide them as supplement to the starter food which also encourages the strong foraging instincts chicks are born with. The starter food cannot meet that need.