Adding water to chicken layer feed daily is this ok?

[My Very First 6 Chickens]

Hello chicken friends! I have added some water to my 5 hens pellet layer feed. They eat it all up really quickly and love it. Heres my question, is it ok to offer a free choice wet pellet mash daily? I Wasnt sure if the hardness of the pellets is necessary for the gizzard or crop or something! One gal has a broken beak tip and the soft pellet is great for her. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and time!!

 

[BlueBaby]

I don't see where it would hurt them at all, as long as it's fresh every day. The water in the feed will help to keep them hydrated, and should help with easier digestion of the food. The fact that they love to eat the wet feed, mean's that they are eating more of it. People feed their flock's that fermented feed too.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I offer wet mash almost every day (sometimes I'm lazy).

No health concerns.

I would not recommend putting a week's worth of wet mash out at a time - there's a real risk that things in the air may colonize it, and not all of those things are necessarily beneficial. Depending on your climate, you might want to consider offering fermented feed - much the same benefits as wet mash, but b deliberately colonizing it with beneficial things, its much more resistant to undesired things taking hold if you leave quantities out for extended periods.

 

[sourland]

Not a problem.

 

[janiedoe]

I do this during the summer using crumble feed and cold water. I offer it once a day, every 3rd day I add a probiotics and electrolytes to the mix.
I like the all in one electrolytes & probiotics by Rooster Booster.
I leave it out for about 2 hours. It is too hot here to leave it for very long because it sours.
You should make sure that they have access to grit at all times.
Mine love the Brown's Encore grit. ( It smells like licorice. )
For my rooster that has a broken upper beak, I add a little grit into the mix. I feed him once a day by himself, otherwise he let's the hens have it all. I'm planning to grind a little off his bottom beak when I trim his spurs. I think it will help him a little.

 

[Beaker99]

Some people offer fermented feed everyday.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

U_storm is a walking encyclopedia!

Hahaahaha. Thanks.

I read things, and I know stuff. But its more like I'm the desk librarian - I know where to LOOK for things.

Thank you @HeatherKellyB @My Very First 6 Chickens - seeing that you both took the time to say something nice was a great way to start the morning. Well, that and coffee. Must feed the addiction!

 

[DobieLover]

There is a good article on fermented feed here on byc but I don't remember the name of the article. I'll try and find it.
I believe @DobieLover ferments her feed.

I do.
All I do is keep a container full of fermented Flock Raiser. It's been cooking for well over a year now. I just stir it, dump half of it into a bowl and then add enough dry to get a good consistency and feed this to the flock.
Then I pour more dry into the main ferment container, add water and stir.
It's as simple as that.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Do you have to keep the fermented mix at a certain temperature? I make all of my flocks a bowl of wet feed every night to make sure their crops are full before bed and I leave it for them to have in the morning because some of them have to wait a little past daylight to be let out. I've noticed what I think is mold growing on top of the mash with 12 hours of making it. Is this the temps and humidity? I use those black rubber bowls, so is it that? Last time I scrubbed the bowl with soap and water thinking I didn't clean it enough between uses and it did the same thing. Anything you see that I'm obviously doing wrong? I didn't notice this until the hot humid weather started, so I'm assuming it's related.

Kahm.

Look it up. Probably what you are seeing. It can colonize quite rapidly. Safe. Arguably beneficial, in that other, less beneficial things have a hard time colonizing where the kahm yeast is already established.

I'm on my tablet, or I'd link pictures. It's not attractive. But not dangerous.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Which one, please? Is it this one?

Grit for parakeets is too small for chickens.

Grit for chickens should be in this size range: