"Treats" vs feed vs free range?

[#Midlifecrisis]

Hello all. Newby here. Lots and lots of great information on this site, but it can get overwhelming and confusing.

I have been pondering the feed vs no feed, treats vs no treats (and the definition of treats!)

Currently I have 6 5 week old pullets. I have grower crumbles available 24/7 as well as fresh water. Although I understand that commercially prepared feed has 100% nutrition for the chickens, I am a huge fan of feeding/providing the least processed, closest to nature as I can. So that brings me to "treats" and the definition of.

I like to "treat" my chickens to seasonal strawberries, mulberries, raspberries ect. I'll pick chickweed, dandelions, clover and other "weeds" from the yard and throw them into the run. I will also dig around in the dirt for worms and bugs and hand feed them to the girls. (Don't pretend you all don't do it too) To me these are all things that they would find while free ranging anyway. I also have buckwheat growing for some extra forage.

The girls are pretty much "free range" in an enclosed 30x40 ft area with a coop/run for weather/predator protection. Within the enclosed area are herbs, berry trees/bushes, annual and perennial edible and ornamental flowers (borage, echinacea, feverfew, ect) as well as "weeds".

So my question is, what is considered a "treat"? I want to raise my girls on as natural a diet as possible with some modern back up but don't want to go overboard. (Although it might already be too late for that)

 

[LittleWillowFarm]

What I call a treat is anything they would not find naturally while free-ranging.

 

[#Midlifecrisis]

What I call a treat is anything they would not find naturally while free-ranging.

I agree. There does seem to be a debate that anything beyond traditional feed is considered "extra" and is highly cautioned. I get that some household scraps and even some grains like corn are not needed and in large amounts can cause health issues.

 

[ChirpyChicks1]

I’m one that calls everything besides feed a “treat”. Chicken feed has all the nutrition they NEED but yes, while free ranging they are of course going to find more goodies. If you’re offering them even more food/treats on top of what their area that already provided, then I’d say that’s too much. Too many goodies will add weight and heavier hens will have more health problems .

 

[Folly's place]

Modern hens aren't all that 'natural', and unless you live in the jungle in SE Asia, it's not a natural environment either.
Feed a balanced base diet free choice, and the ranging is good. Mine eat weeds, bugs, grubs, and whatever is out there in their woods and pastures, and have Flock Raiser with separate oyster shell available at all times. Too many goodies will unbalance their diet, and again, a bird programmed to lay around 300 eggs per year is working very hard metabolically, and can't afford to eat poorly.
Mary

 

[boz]

well to day I just pick up a bag of dry mealworms that is what I call a treat and it has good protein in them.

 

[#Midlifecrisis]

Thanks everyone! I appreciate your time and advice.

 

[Krazyquilts]

What I call a treat is anything they would not find naturally while free-ranging.

Perfectly said! That's what I think, too. Stale Ritz crackers are a treat. Bruised apples are forage.

Very interesting thread! We have both pastured flocks and a free range flock. The free range flock gets a much lower protein feed in the summer (about 1/3 each 16% layer, 8% protein Scratch, and cracked corn) on the grounds that they should be able to find bugs etc and forage. Their feed is available 24 hours a day in their coop along with water. We have about 50 acres and the chickens seems to stick to about 3 acres of that, plus the borders of the woods. We also have an active compost pile and poultry bedding dump area for them to scratch in.

They get all our kitchen scraps and we will also start picking up veggie scraps, trimmings, discards etc from a local vegetable farm. Everything gets dumped on the compost pile and the chickens eat what they want and the what they don't like (onions, raw broccoli etc) breaks down and draws in bugs for them and will eventually be used for in the garden.

We just switched them over to the lower protein summer feed a few weeks ago but so far, my egg numbers remain steady. If we find that some of the hens do better than others, then we will probably think about rehoming or culling the underachievers and replacing them with thriftier breeds that forage better.

Our pastured chickens don't get as many treats because I want to make sure they are getting the right balance of nutrients since they don't have access to the bugs and scratching that the free-rangers do, but I've also thought about trying to turn the Buff Orpington day pen into a "deep litter-compost" combination bed. They LOVE to scratch and turn over the bedding all day long so I think they'd just love it and it would give extra protein and give me compost faster.

 

[#Midlifecrisis]

Perfectly said! That's what I think, too. Stale Ritz crackers are a treat. Bruised apples are forage.

Very interesting thread! We have both pastured flocks and a free range flock. The free range flock gets a much lower protein feed in the summer (about 1/3 each 16% layer, 8% protein Scratch, and cracked corn) on the grounds that they should be able to find bugs etc and forage. Their feed is available 24 hours a day in their coop along with water. We have about 50 acres and the chickens seems to stick to about 3 acres of that, plus the borders of the woods. We also have an active compost pile and poultry bedding dump area for them to scratch in.

They get all our kitchen scraps and we will also start picking up veggie scraps, trimmings, discards etc from a local vegetable farm. Everything gets dumped on the compost pile and the chickens eat what they want and the what they don't like (onions, raw broccoli etc) breaks down and draws in bugs for them and will eventually be used for in the garden.

We just switched them over to the lower protein summer feed a few weeks ago but so far, my egg numbers remain steady. If we find that some of the hens do better than others, then we will probably think about rehoming or culling the underachievers and replacing them with thriftier breeds that forage better.

Our pastured chickens don't get as many treats because I want to make sure they are getting the right balance of nutrients since they don't have access to the bugs and scratching that the free-rangers do, but I've also thought about trying to turn the Buff Orpington day pen into a "deep litter-compost" combination bed. They LOVE to scratch and turn over the bedding all day long so I think they'd just love it and it would give extra protein and give me compost faster.

This is awesome! My problem with commercial feed, even though it is formulated to be 100% nutrition is that it is also full of processed foods, preservatives and additives (even the fancy expensive non-GMO, organic). Those additives and highly processed "foods" have caused many health issues for humans, (yes a great portion of that has to do with processed sugars, "plastic" food and gluttony). Part of the reason so many people have decided to raise their own hens for eggs and meat are to eliminate the hormones, antibiotics and processed items that come in our store bought prepared chicken.

 

[vanlash]

Hello all. Newby here. Lots and lots of great information on this site, but it can get overwhelming and confusing.

I have been pondering the feed vs no feed, treats vs no treats (and the definition of treats!)

Currently I have 6 5 week old pullets. I have grower crumbles available 24/7 as well as fresh water. Although I understand that commercially prepared feed has 100% nutrition for the chickens, I am a huge fan of feeding/providing the least processed, closest to nature as I can. So that brings me to "treats" and the definition of.

I like to "treat" my chickens to seasonal strawberries, mulberries, raspberries ect. I'll pick chickweed, dandelions, clover and other "weeds" from the yard and throw them into the run. I will also dig around in the dirt for worms and bugs and hand feed them to the girls. (Don't pretend you all don't do it too) To me these are all things that they would find while free ranging anyway. I also have buckwheat growing for some extra forage.

The girls are pretty much "free range" in an enclosed 30x40 ft area with a coop/run for weather/predator protection. Within the enclosed area are herbs, berry trees/bushes, annual and perennial edible and ornamental flowers (borage, echinacea, feverfew, ect) as well as "weeds".

So my question is, what is considered a "treat"? I want to raise my girls on as natural a diet as possible with some modern back up but don't want to go overboard. (Although it might already be too late for that)