What can I temporarily sub for chicken feed?

[citychicks99]

I'm new to keeping 9 chickens and underestimated how much feed they would need. I thought they had enough to last a week and a half or two weeks over the weekend, but I'm looking at their feed now, and it looks like they might only have enough for two or three days at most. The roads are icy right now so I'm hesitating to leave my house. It should be safer on Christmas Eve. I hope they can last till then. If I run out before that, what can I temporarily feed them for a day or two? The things we have that I think we can feed them are eggs, oatmeal, rice, popcorn kernels, bananas, apples, spinach, dried black beans, lentils, quinoa. Is there a ratio of protein to carbs I should aim for?

 

[azygous]

Short term, don't worry about ratios. Oatmeal with Wheat germ if you have it, and sun flower seeds, cooked or sprouted lentils, quinoa. Cooked rice to round out carbs. Eggs are good any time.

Avoid uncooked beans and popping corn. Bananas, apples, and spinach will be great for treats. You have it covered, I believe.

 

[sdm111]

Dry cat food if that's available

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Eggs. You can feed the beans, rice, lentils, and quinoa too - best they are soaked and cooked first. Avoid the bananas, apples, spinach - or keep the quantities very small. Basically, don't count on those as part of the "diet".

Eggs are one per five birds, we did the math. Briefly, you can increase that amount without concern

You can't possibly hit your protein targets with the rest, even if you go very heavy on the beans, something you don't want to do. Oatmeal has a ton of beta glucans - good for humans, bad for chickens. Not more than 20%. Rice is similar to corn - its energy but not a great source of anything else.

Understanding that this is NOT a balanced diet, just to make it thru - I'd go (dry weight) 2 parts black beans, 2 parts lentils, 1 part oatmeal, 4 parts rice. 1LB of each. Mix to combine.

Divide into four parts, one for each of the next 4 days/ Add twice that volume of water, and cook till the rice is done. (add to boiling water, put a lid on it, reduce to bare simmer, wait 25 minutes.) Pull it off the heat, crack between 2 and 4 eggs in it - your own birds eggs are fine, you can even include the shell!

Toss/mix/whatever to set the eggs, then serve it to your 9 birds as their ration for that day.

Save the quinoa for yourself - not that its not a useful part of the bird's diet, but its expensive, and you can do w/o.

Again, this is NOT a complete diet. But its not horrid. With the ingredients you've listed, its what I'd do.

 

[citychicks99]

Eggs. You can feed the beans, rice, lentils, and quinoa too - best they are soaked and cooked first. Avoid the bananas, apples, spinach - or keep the quantities very small. Basically, don't count on those as part of the "diet".

Eggs are one per five birds, we did the math. Briefly, you can increase that amount without concern

You can't possibly hit your protein targets with the rest, even if you go very heavy on the beans, something you don't want to do. Oatmeal has a ton of beta glucans - good for humans, bad for chickens. Not more than 20%. Rice is similar to corn - its energy but not a great source of anything else.

Understanding that this is NOT a balanced diet, just to make it thru - I'd go (dry weight) 2 parts black beans, 2 parts lentils, 1 part oatmeal, 4 parts rice. 1LB of each. Mix to combine.

Divide into four parts, one for each of the next 4 days/ Add twice that volume of water, and cook till the rice is done. (add to boiling water, put a lid on it, reduce to bare simmer, wait 25 minutes.) Pull it off the heat, crack between 2 and 4 eggs in it - your own birds eggs are fine, you can even include the shell!

Toss/mix/whatever to set the eggs, then serve it to your 9 birds as their ration for that day.

Save the quinoa for yourself - not that its not a useful part of the bird's diet, but its expensive, and you can do w/o.

Again, this is NOT a complete diet. But its not horrid. With the ingredients you've listed, its what I'd do.

Thanks for the detailed recipe. I'm hoping I only need to sub for a day or two, but what's the longest a chicken can go for with these subs? A week?

Short term, don't worry about ratios. Oatmeal with Wheat germ if you have it, and sun flower seeds, cooked or sprouted lentils, quinoa. Cooked rice to round out carbs. Eggs are good any time.

Avoid uncooked beans and popping corn. Bananas, apples, and spinach will be great for treats. You have it covered, I believe.

Good to know! I would definitely cook the beans first. I've given them plain popcorn and they liked that. We don't have wheat germ or sunflower seeds but you just reminded me that we do have pumpkin seeds. I also have some nutritional yeast.

Dry cat food if that's available

Thanks, but we don't have dry cat or dog food. My dog just eats rice, chicken and carrots.

 

[sdm111]

Thanks for the detailed recipe. I'm hoping I only need to sub for a day or two, but what's the longest a chicken can go for with these subs? A week?

Good to know! I would definitely cook the beans first. I've given them plain popcorn and they liked that. We don't have wheat germ or sunflower seeds but you just reminded me that we do have pumpkin seeds. I also have some nutritional yeast.

Thanks, but we don't have dry cat or dog food. My dog just eats rice, chicken and carrots.

Feed them what you feed the dog. They're chickens practically anything edible will do

 

[Percheron chick]

Don't wait until you run out. Start adding foods available to their feed now to stretch what you have.
Good time to clean out the pantry and freezer.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Thanks for the detailed recipe. I'm hoping I only need to sub for a day or two, but what's the longest a chicken can go for with these subs? A week?

Good to know! I would definitely cook the beans first. I've given them plain popcorn and they liked that. We don't have wheat germ or sunflower seeds but you just reminded me that we do have pumpkin seeds. I also have some nutritional yeast.

Thanks, but we don't have dry cat or dog food. My dog just eats rice, chicken and carrots.

Honestly, the biggest problem with that formulation nutritionally is the lack of methionine, partially compensated for by the eggs. Its the anti-nutritional properties that are harderto quantify, like the beta-glucans in the oatmeal, the tannins in the black beans (and lesser amounts in the lentils) as well as lectins, trypsin inhibitors, saponins... and who knows re: the vitamins??? The same heat that reduces some of the anti-nutritive properties in the legumes/pulses also destroys some of the vitamins.

Basically, feed science is hard.

But in a pinch, the recipe above you could feed for weeks, and shouldn't notice any difference except in their poops. Longer term, I'd drop the beans/lentils somewhat and increase the rice, 3/3/2/10 maybe??? and look for other animal/insect proteins.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Further explanation.
EVERYTHING has anti-nutritive properties of one sort or another, On their own, they aren't harmful directly (mostly - if tannins get high enough, things like our birds won't eat them - most of us wouldn't willingly finish a plate as astringent as sucking on a tea bag...) its that they impact the bird's ability to absorb/process the good things in their feed. Part of making a good feed involves minimizing the factors present in the raw ingredients, treating them (where possible) via various methods to further reduce them (which, depending on plant and factor can involve soaking, boiling, steaming, roasting, sprouting and others), and then compensating for their effects by going over target where needed in the knowledge that a chicken will never be 100% efficient - some of what it needs from its food will nevertheless not be absorbed and exit out the far end....

 

[3KillerBs]

My dog just eats rice, chicken and carrots.

If you're feeding the dog chicken you must have a supply of chicken available. Toss some of the chicken into the porridge you're creating.

It won't make them cannibalize each other. My birds get the carcasses and the soup scraps all the time.