What feed do you reccommend I get and why?

[OrlandoFLACoop]

First of all, I am very new to BYC ( just joined today! ) and I love it already!

But anyway, I don't have chickens yet but we are planning on getting some this month. We would go to the Tractor Supply Co. here. We went yesterday and I saw brands like Purina Layena, Dumor, and some others that I don't remember. What brand do you reccommend, even not in those listed?
Thanks!

 

[bhaugh]

What do you use to mix your feed? Does it save money?

I'm not sure it saves me money since organic human grain costs more than chicken feed. But it gives the hens variety. I use the following grains and mix and match.

quinea
oats
wheat germ
millet
corn
bulgar wheat
sesame seeds
other grains on sale
penuts

Then I add black sunflower seeds, mealworms (fed separate) and what ever else I have to throw them. Today the girls had mashed potatoes. Boy was that a hit

 

[RoosterLew]

Ohh I forgot about oreos and crackers.
They eat the horse poo too, but they are not our horses and they just eat grass. I think that makes the horses Organic. I asked the chickens if they preferred organic.... They looked at me for a second and went back to eating the horse poo?

 

[PheasantsFirst]

I'ld go look at some of your near by feed stores, especially the local ones and see if they have their own brand, If they do they are usually cheaper and of better quality.

 

[KitaMick1]

Welcome, I'm fairly new here too. I don't have any suggestions on feed that everyone else has offered. But I do have a tip on the getting your pullets. If your limit is three, I'd get all three at the same time. In my experience, if you initially get 2 then add 1 later on. That loner will most likely get picked on by the first 2 and hens can be brutal. I started with 4 hens two years ago; this year I got six more very young pullets, 2 at a time. Well, needless to say, I have 10 hens but actually 4 flocks. The two-year-olds pick on the six youngsters, the nine month olds pick on the 7 and 6 month old, and the 7 month old pick on the 6 month old. Guess that's where the old saying comes from "Pecking Order".

 

[farmtotable]

We free range from dawn to dusk, plus have free choice oyster shells. The layers go through a ton of shell, I fill up the little feeder dish like once a week. (I think it's supposed to be a rabbit chow feeder, but it works perfectly!) I also have several feeders set up with a local brand of layer pellet (Cenex). They mow through it at an unbelievable rate in the winter, not so much in the summer. We rarely get snow though, so there's food for them year round on the ground. Some of my chickens live exclusively in our goat pasture, and roost up at night in the goats' barn. They've never had any feed at all, chick starter or otherwise, and they're doing great! Now if I could only find their eggs....

 

[TeaChick]

I am surprised at the amount of people that use the expensive brand feeds. I guess I am lucky to like in a farming and ranching community with an awesome feed supply. I get a 50lb bag of layer for $10.15 and make my own scratch that consists of milo, corn, and wheat, (a 50lb bag of each) for just under $25! This usually last my flock of 27 (16 hens, 3 roos, and 8 pullets) for about 3 weeks! I also supplement them with egg shells, and healthy and fun kitchen scraps like spinach stems, pop-corn, watermelon rinds, and apple cores!

My girls are ALMOST to the point where they are paying for their own feed too! By spring I think I will actually be making a profit......until I buy my 'bator that is!

Chickens don't need to be expensive!

A brood hen might save you on the brooder.

 

[jlf1]

I only have one right now.....started out with 7 but due to predators and Marek's, I have one lonely chick. I do have 2 more coming from McMurray's this week that will be about her age, so I am hoping that will also help.

 

[TammyTX]

The most expensive foods I've ever purchased were the ones my chickens didn't eat.

I like not worrying about their "complete" nutrition but I have been intrigued by the thought of mixing my own. So far I've thought of doing a half mixed/half pellet thing....I've also thought about doing a fermented feed, but it smells like pig slop.

We put oyster shell in a rabbit feeder but my chickens are not that interested in it. I guess they don't have a need for much extra calcium. Someone mentioned feeding egg shells and I do that too in the Spring when we have an egg surplus, only I boil and chop the entire egg and feed it back to them.

We have 34 chickens and have owned chickens for about 15 years There have been very few health issues come up. Very few. Twelve of my chickens are five years old and although I had a scare today with my Marans roo, all are very healthy...the roo was fine.

Welcome the couple of Newbies I saw post!!

 

[jlf1]

This is about the coolest thing I've done----has relaxed me immensely, despite the agony over the deaths.