Alternative to commercial feed

And didn't live long. People like to romanticize the past, but forget that nobody expected a chicken to live past a couple of years. Males were eaten straight away, except for the 1 designated flock rooster, and the females were cycled out regularly past their prime. Whatever nutritional deficiencies they had, didn't have time to develop into full blown problems, because by year 2 the hen was soup. I know this because I've lived it. We had a fresh round of chicks every spring on the farm. When they came into lay, they replaced the old layers, and the old layers were eaten or frozen before their second winter (to avoid feeding freeloaders during the slow winter period). Every year, for generations, that's just how things were done. Nobody cared what the chickens ate, because they just had to live and lay for about a year and a half before being butchered for meat to feed the family.

If you want to get more than that out of your chickens, you'll need to invest more, too.

I'm largely living this now, by choice. But with the addition of good commercial feed. Its one of the reasons I'm less concerned about the calcium content of my mix on my roosters - most will be on the table before they develop gross clinical signs of too much calcium, and my constant culling ensures I have a pretty decent handle on how my flock is doing, nutritionally - because I can see the organs, touch the meat, get a sense of the fat levels, bone structure, etc in ways that are very hard (impossible for me) to do with any sort of external inspection.

If I wanted, I could inspect tail feathers for other signs of stress, once the birds aren't using them. That's "a bit much", even for me.

and on that happy thought - I need to cull some.
 
I'm largely living this now, by choice. But with the addition of good commercial feed. Its one of the reasons I'm less concerned about the calcium content of my mix on my roosters - most will be on the table before they develop gross clinical signs of too much calcium, and my constant culling ensures I have a pretty decent handle on how my flock is doing, nutritionally - because I can see the organs, touch the meat, get a sense of the fat levels, bone structure, etc in ways that are very hard (impossible for me) to do with any sort of external inspection.

If I wanted, I could inspect tail feathers for other signs of stress, once the birds aren't using them. That's "a bit much", even for me.

and on that happy thought - I need to cull some.
If it's done intentionally with all that in mind, it's totally doable. But people need to be aware of that going in. I cringe when I read about all these new chicken owners, with no animal husbandry or farming experience, who end up with a complicated mix of "I want pet chickens who'll live for 10 years" plus "I want everything all natural because I heard commercial is evil" plus "I read something on the internet so now I know everything", that you end up with potential problems that can blow up down the road. Not saying that that's OP's situation. I have no background or context on that. Just saying that it's a common situation, becoming even more common now that hobby chickens are fashionable (and so is the return to the land, which in itself is great, just needs to be done with knowledge, not just idealistic dreams).
 
Modern science is your friend. I explore it all but always keep the new stuff we now know in mind. I also question lots of things, even industry standards as they might not apply to my goals for my flock,

Just a discussion between myself and another keeper at work perfectly illustrated goal differences resulting in feed differences and egg differences between our flocks. Different goals different results different costs…

Mine are pets and my hippiefied science experiment 😂

Her flock for profit
 
If it's done intentionally with all that in mind, it's totally doable. But people need to be aware of that going in. I cringe when I read about all these new chicken owners, with no animal husbandry or farming experience, who end up with a complicated mix of "I want pet chickens who'll live for 10 years" plus "I want everything all natural because I heard commercial is evil" plus "I read something on the internet so now I know everything", that you end up with potential problems that can blow up down the road. [...] Just saying that it's a common situation, becoming even more common now that hobby chickens are fashionable (and so is the return to the land, which in itself is great, just needs to be done with knowledge, not just idealistic dreams).

Part of why I spend the time here that I do, in hopes others can benefit from my mistakes, and my efforts not to make more of them.
 
Laying contests at the turn of last century had birds producing less than 150 eggs a year.

I have never gotten over the shock of the 100yo poultry book explaining how you could strive to get a profitable 100 eggs per year per bird from LEGHORNS.

My worst layer did better than that last year.

that was me reading old time farm books from when things were dine very differently than today for commercial egg production.

One of the first things that book did was to explain how poultry really *could* be worthy of a serious farmer's attention rather than just left to the wife and kids as a supplement.
 
I have never gotten over the shock of the 100yo poultry book explaining how you could strive to get a profitable 100 eggs per year per bird from LEGHORNS.
Last year I read a farmer's guide book from the 60s that touted 150 eggs a year for RIR's :lol: It's not the same world we live in anymore.
 
Every read the poem, The Blind Man and the Elephant, by John Godfrey Saxe?

The Blind Man And The Elephant


It was six men of Indostan, to learning much inclined,
who went to see the elephant (Though all of them were blind),
that each by observation, might satisfy his mind.

The first approached the elephant, and, happening to fall,
against his broad and sturdy side, at once began to bawl:
"God bless me! but the elephant, is nothing but a wall!"

The second feeling of the tusk, cried: "Ho! what have we here,
so very round and smooth and sharp? To me tis mighty clear,
this wonder of an elephant, is very like a spear!"

The third approached the animal, and, happening to take,
the squirming trunk within his hands, "I see," quoth he,
the elephant is very like a snake!"

The fourth reached out his eager hand, and felt about the knee:
"What most this wondrous beast is like, is mighty plain," quoth he;
"Tis clear enough the elephant is very like a tree."

The fifth, who chanced to touch the ear, Said; "E'en the blindest man
can tell what this resembles most; Deny the fact who can,
This marvel of an elephant, is very like a fan!"

The sixth no sooner had begun, about the beast to grope,
than, seizing on the swinging tail, that fell within his scope,
"I see," quothe he, "the elephant is very like a rope!"

And so these men of Indostan, disputed loud and long,
each in his own opinion, exceeding stiff and strong,
Though each was partly in the right, and all were in the wrong!

So, oft in theologic wars, the disputants, I ween,
tread on in utter ignorance, of what each other mean,
and prate about the elephant, not one of them has seen!

*******************************************************
Everything is something, but nothing is everything.
 
Every read the poem, The Blind Man and the Elephant, by John Godfrey Saxe?

The Blind Man And The Elephant


It was six men of Indostan, to learning much inclined,
who went to see the elephant (Though all of them were blind),
that each by observation, might satisfy his mind.

The first approached the elephant, and, happening to fall,
against his broad and sturdy side, at once began to bawl:
"God bless me! but the elephant, is nothing but a wall!"

The second feeling of the tusk, cried: "Ho! what have we here,
so very round and smooth and sharp? To me tis mighty clear,
this wonder of an elephant, is very like a spear!"

The third approached the animal, and, happening to take,
the squirming trunk within his hands, "I see," quoth he,
the elephant is very like a snake!"

The fourth reached out his eager hand, and felt about the knee:
"What most this wondrous beast is like, is mighty plain," quoth he;
"Tis clear enough the elephant is very like a tree."

The fifth, who chanced to touch the ear, Said; "E'en the blindest man
can tell what this resembles most; Deny the fact who can,
This marvel of an elephant, is very like a fan!"

The sixth no sooner had begun, about the beast to grope,
than, seizing on the swinging tail, that fell within his scope,
"I see," quothe he, "the elephant is very like a rope!"

And so these men of Indostan, disputed loud and long,
each in his own opinion, exceeding stiff and strong,
Though each was partly in the right, and all were in the wrong!

So, oft in theologic wars, the disputants, I ween,
tread on in utter ignorance, of what each other mean,
and prate about the elephant, not one of them has seen!

*******************************************************
Everything is something, but nothing is everything.
Some see a larger fraction of the elephant though, and even if it's not complete, it's enough to be functional. Even if nobody is capable of seeing the whole picture, if we can see a large enough part of it, often that's good enough - both for our own sake, and for the understanding of that which others are seeing. We should strive to keep expanding our fraction of the elephant.
 
We had a fresh round of chicks every spring on the farm. When they came into lay, they replaced the old layers, and the old layers were eaten or frozen before their second winter (to avoid feeding freeloaders during the slow winter period).
I grew up with that pattern too.

But in my case, the chickens were fed commercial chicken feed free-choice, while also getting all the table scraps, vegetable peelings, weeds from the garden, and so forth (which caused them to eat a lot less commercial feed than they would otherwise have needed.)
 
I grew up with that pattern too.

But in my case, the chickens were fed commercial chicken feed free-choice, while also getting all the table scraps, vegetable peelings, weeds from the garden, and so forth (which caused them to eat a lot less commercial feed than they would otherwise have needed.)
We didn't have commercial feed available at the time. We grew corn, wheat and other grains for animal feed (chickens and the other livestock) so that's the bulk of what the chickens got, plus greens in the growing season, and table scraps. Nothing was purchased, all homegrown. I guess that's the life that people idealize nowadays when they want to go "all natural". A$$-busting work that was done out of necessity, not by choice, and none of the animals were raised to last. They were all a means to an end - feeding the human family - so they all had to live just long enough to be maximally productive. I would not go back to that if I had the choice. I appreciate how far science has come, and how much strain it has taken off of farmers' shoulders. I appreciate the availability of commercial feed, and would still choose that even if I had a farm again someday. Right now, my chickens are pets and I'm playing the long game, so I'll feed them whatever has the highest chance of giving them long, healthy lives. And right now that happens to be commercial feed.
 

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