Just feeding chickens scratch feed & cracked corn.

[WoodlandWoman]

Quote:
Peas are not cereal grains, though, they're legumes. They have a different amino acid profile than grains, when you're looking at trying to feed protein to chickens. Sunflower seeds also have a different nutrient profile than cereal grains. What you are feeding is good, but I wouldn't call it scratch and it isn't anything like what is marketed as scratch. What you're feeding is very similar to a complete feed for chickens, if you look at the ingredients. It just isn't ground up.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Fred's Hens :

Quote:
Brenda, this is dependent on other factors, such breed type, lighting conditions, etc. Not just feed.

However, do this test. Put them a really good laying pellet or crumble alone for 2 weeks. No corn, no junk foods, nothing but the crumbles or pellets. (additional shells and or grit does not harm this test)

If you laying begins to increase, to say 16-24 eggs per day, then you'll have your answer. Your present feed is high in carbs, and bit low in protein.

A test is a great idea and all good advice as well.
I'm a believer in quality layer feed and extra light this time of year. I have B Rocks, B Orps and Jersey Giants so not at the apex of great layers but I have been getting 8.5 eggs per day average from 10 birds from the time they started. 10 eggs on 5 ddifferent days - 4 on 2 occasions but normally 8 or 9.
They get 12 hours of light. Daylight plus 2 hours artificial.
They're fed a balanced 16% layer plus BOSS and millet as my scratch feed. In summer they free range but most people including myself don't have anything growing this time of year so I add all the greens I can get them this time of year like lettuce, cabbage, onions etc.. A couple times a week I throw them a handful of meal worms or any fish trimmings I can find. They have oyster shell free choice and most afternoons I give them 20% grower mixed with water to send them to bed warm and well hydrated.
I do make it more complex than it needs to be but they are busy so they don't harrass each other or eat eggs. Every day they wake up as laying machines again. The proof is in the pudding.
Corn hasn't nearly enough protein in itself to get good results and if it's cracked it starts to break down nutritionally pretty fast.
As for egg eating, sometimes they can never be broken of the habit and end up as broilers. I never feed layers anything that looks like any part of an egg. Rarely some left over scrambled.​

 

[MeepBeep]

Yes I agree they do use optimum breeds for meat ,however the use of steroids and growth hormones were widely used across the board in food production animals.

Growth hormones and steroids have not been legally used in the US poultry industry since the 1950s, they are no the reason for increased poultry growth in the US...

The reason today's meat birds are bigger is entirely from selective breeding, better nutrition and an environment tailored towards growth...

 

[saysfaa]

Better re-think feeding processed pellets/crumbs from big manufacturers such as Purina, etc. They use soy as a filler. Soy is high in phytic acid. Phytic acid blocks uptake of vitamins and minerals, especially in monogastric animals like chickens and pigs.
IMO, organic feed like Scratch and Peck is by far the best option.

Heating the soy reduces the phytic acid. The soy meal added to feeds is heat treated enough that it is not a factor anymore.

Soy is added because it has methionine - the amino acid that is the first limiting factor in proteins. It is one of the only plant sources of that - or practical sources, anyway. The next best options either have more/worse antinutrients or are much, much more expensive. Usually both, I think.

 

[Avocadoman]

I know this is an old thread but it came to the top of my search. I've tried to feed my chickens laying pellets of four different brands and they simply wont eat any of them except the Nutrina All Flock and they only eat a little of that. The scratch I have though, they can't keep out of it, they love it, it's the only bagged feed they'll eat so I really don't have a choice but to feed them scratch. However, I do free range them a lot and so they get lots of bugs and grass and table scraps too and I put oyster shell in the feed so I figure it's all ok. I have no clue as how it affects laying because I've had so many battles with CRD, predation and egg-drop-syndrome that I have bigger issues as far as egg production.

 

[Avocadoman]

This thread is from 2011, you're not likely to receive a response.

Actually this thread came to the top of my search engine when I queried "why not feed them all scratch" or something like that.

 

[NatJ]

I know this is an old thread but it came to the top of my search. I've tried to feed my chickens laying pellets of four different brands and they simply wont eat any of them except the Nutrina All Flock and they only eat a little of that. The scratch I have though, they can't keep out of it, they love it, it's the only bagged feed they'll eat so I really don't have a choice but to feed them scratch. However, I do free range them a lot and so they get lots of bugs and grass and table scraps too and I put oyster shell in the feed so I figure it's all ok. I have no clue as how it affects laying because I've had so many battles with CRD, predation and egg-drop-syndrome that I have bigger issues as far as egg production.

Actually, you do have a choice. If you completely quit feeding the scratch, most chickens will eat the complete feed rather than go hungry. It typically doesn't take many days for them to get used to the idea.

You can also try adding water to a bit of the pellets or crumbles, so it makes a wet mush. Most chickens love it that way (after they finish thinking about the "new" thing and actually try it.)

For chickens shut in a coop & run with no other choices, scratch is definitely missing some important things. For chickens that free range like yours, sometimes they can find what else they need to be healthy and sometimes they cannot (depends on the season, the climate, how many chickens, how much space, and a variety of other factors.)

If you think your chickens are fine, you may decide not to make any changes-- I'm just mentioning things you may not have thought of (and if you already thought of those things, maybe this will help someone else with a similar situation in the future.)

 

[Avocadoman]

Search engine looks for word matches, not dates.
An all scratch diet will slowly kill most birds. Feed them the pelleted feed, no healthy birds will refuse to eat. They're just spoiled with the tasty junk food.

I've had 10 chickens and not one will eat pelleted food from four different brands no matter how much I "feed them pelleted food" I just can't force feed it to them. I don't think you understood to what extent THEY WILL NOT EAT PELLETED FOOD. Healthy birds will refuse to eat if the food is not to their taste. I can feed them a piece of wood and they will not eat it even when there is no other option. This really says a lot with regards to what ever is in pelleted food. I suspect it's not actually food but compressed sawdust or something. I can't even use it for squirrel trap bait, even the squirrels wont eat it. The wild birds wont eat pelleted food either. I'm curious why scratch would "slowly kill them." What nutrient is it lacking? Or better still what nutrient is scratch lacking that could not easily be compensated for by grazing for grass and bugs 2-4 hours a day? What evidence do you have that scratch will actually kill a bird? Are there any studies regarding this or is it just one of those opinions passed down by word of mouth with no hard evidence supporting it?

 

[Avocadoman]

It is certainly possible to get a bad bag of pelleted feed (moldy, old, mixing error at the mill, etc.)
Is this just one bag, or have you tried multiple bags and gotten the same results?


That is something that varies drastically from one area to another. If your hens have access to plenty of good sources of protein, they may be fine. And if there are that many creatures they can eat, that might be a sign that your area also provides enough of the various vitamins and minerals that animals need. There are many places where that is not the case, but it might be true where YOU live.

Scratch is a fine source of just plain calories for energy, which might be the main thing your chickens need in addition to what they can forage. (If someone fed scratch to chickens that are confined to a coop, with no other food options, the situation would be very different.)

Nutrition can make chickens more susceptible or less susceptible to many physical problems, but I don't know enough about CRD, or egg-drop syndrome, or the nutritional details of what your chickens eat, to know if there is any effect in this case.

I know I got CRD and egg-drop-syndrome from a full grown Delaware hen I bought on Craigslist and integrated into the flock last October. I will never ever buy a chicken on Craigslist again. I quarantined and treated with antibiotics before integration but none of that matters with CRD since they always have it and can be contagious. I didn't even know about egg-drop-syndrome other than this same chicken kept laying soft small eggs in the middle of the night whenever she was stressed particularly. Then I got another hen doing the same thing once in awhile a few months later and that's when I looked it up. One thing for sure is stress sets off both issues and my rooster was really bugging them both this spring so the rooster had to go, poor guy, good adobo though.

 

[Avocadoman]

It is certainly possible to get a bad bag of pelleted feed (moldy, old, mixing error at the mill, etc.)
Is this just one bag, or have you tried multiple bags and gotten the same results?


That is something that varies drastically from one area to another. If your hens have access to plenty of good sources of protein, they may be fine. And if there are that many creatures they can eat, that might be a sign that your area also provides enough of the various vitamins and minerals that animals need. There are many places where that is not the case, but it might be true where YOU live.

Scratch is a fine source of just plain calories for energy, which might be the main thing your chickens need in addition to what they can forage. (If someone fed scratch to chickens that are confined to a coop, with no other food options, the situation would be very different.)

Nutrition can make chickens more susceptible or less susceptible to many physical problems, but I don't know enough about CRD, or egg-drop syndrome, or the nutritional details of what your chickens eat, to know if there is any effect in this case.

I've had four different bags of pellet food, four different brands all with 16% protein or higher and only one of them do they eat a little of. The one they will eat is Nutrena Naturewise All Flock (smells like spaghetti sauce due to oregano oil in it). I wouldn't say they "like" it but if there's nothing else to eat within 15 feet they'll eat it. It's like prison food to them I guess. One other bag I got smelled like fish, I suspect they use squid meal or something in it, they wouldn't touch it even though they love sushi grade tuna so I think they just are foodies and snobs.