About Making My Own Chicken Feed

[chrissynemetz]

Welcome to BYC! It's nice to meet you!

 

[Debbie292d]

That is definitely interesting.

How were you making the mash? When I do it with purchased chicken feed, I just put the feed in the dish and add water. By the time I carry it to the chickens, the water has soaked into the feed and it's ready for them to eat. I do that with chicken feed that is pellets or crumbles, and it should also work with the finely ground feed that would exist before it's made into pellets or crumbles. I haven't tried it with actual cornmeal, so I don't know if that would behave the same way or not.

I got in the habit of making "mash" with the all-flock we buy in crumbles due to a cross-beak that's now about a year old. I'd always made it for the chicks, but saw how all the adults liked it too, so now it's a daily ritual and I do the same thing...fill a small bucket half full of crumbles, add water, stir, grab a big spoon, and walk around to all of the pens and dishes and plop some in. It goes fast! The ducks like it too!

 

[chickenbreederinchina]

That is definitely interesting.

How were you making the mash? When I do it with purchased chicken feed, I just put the feed in the dish and add water. By the time I carry it to the chickens, the water has soaked into the feed and it's ready for them to eat. I do that with chicken feed that is pellets or crumbles, and it should also work with the finely ground feed that would exist before it's made into pellets or crumbles. I haven't tried it with actual cornmeal, so I don't know if that would behave the same way or not.

Thanks for the advice. Sounds like we’re doing it pretty much the same way. I also just add water to the dry mix and let it sit a bit before feeding or pressing into pellets. Good to know it works well with crumbles and pellets too. That gives me more confidence.
I haven’t used cornmeal as mash before so I wasn’t sure how it would soak up water. But I’ll give it a try. Right now I’m using mostly cornmeal, wheat bran, and soybean meal. I added a bit of corn flour recently and it helped the pellets hold together better.
Appreciate you sharing. Have you ever added supplements separately or just stuck with what’s in the commercial feed?

 

[chickenbreederinchina]

Hello, and welcome to BYC. Are your birds free ranged or confined to a pen?

Thanks! They’re in a covered run most of the time because of predators, but I let them out to free range for a few hours in the afternoon when I’m home. They love scratching around and dust bathing under the trees. I just have to keep an eye on the garden or they’ll tear through the lettuce in no time.

 

[007Sean]

Howdy, and Welcome to Backyard Chickens.

Happy to have you here with us. Enjoy your time here at BYC!

Thanks for joining our community!

 

[NatJ]

Have you ever added supplements separately or just stuck with what’s in the commercial feed?

I have mostly stuck with commercial feed.

But I also give whatever I have of table scraps, weeds from the garden, and similar things. Depending on how many chickens I have, that can range from quite a bit per chicken down to just an occasional mouthful. And it can be quite variable, depending on what we are cooking and how the garden is doing at that point.

I haven't worried too much about what things are "safe" for chickens to eat, just offered it and let them make their own choices, knowing that the commercial feed is always there for them to choose as well. I haven't seen problems. Then again, I generally haven't kept hens past about age two, so I have no idea what effect it would have past that point.

 

[Debbie292d]

I haven't worried too much about what things are "safe" for chickens to eat, just offered it and let them make their own choices

Same!

We border a forest on one side, and have farmers' fields on the other two. Many of our silkies free-range.

The chickens have gone on the paths the two dogs make into the woods, or down a 4-wheeler path to the creek below. Heaven only knows what's in there that might be toxic. Even these silkies that sometimes seem a bit on the slow side seem to know what they can and can't eat, as they're all healthy. I've never worried about it.

However, that said, many of us have heard of chickens that have been possibly poisoned or even killed by something they ingested. We wouldn't want to discourage anyone from knowing what could be toxic or poisonous to chickens. If your chickens appear to be interested in something you learn could be toxic, remove it or fence it off. Better to be safe than sorry.