Alternative to Scratch feed???

[Falkenhof]

I'd be a little concerned about the sugar content, I might limit the horse rations or not give it to them. If you're looking to cut down on the feed bins (which I need to do too!) perhaps getting them a 'rarer' snack would help. Meal worms are great but I don't hand them out often. I do know, however, that they will eat every last dried meal worm I put down so I don't feel bad about throwing it to them. There is also a thread regarding chicken treats on BYC and good kitchen scraps to give. If you can get some spaghetti from your grocer that is being discarded and boil it up that day, you can throw it to them as long as it is good. Its a fun treat and I can often grab this snack for them for free. A large container of meal worms is about $12 though. Otherwise, snacks aren't needed, just fun for the hens.

 

[ChickensRDinos]

It you decide you want mealworms they are incredibly cheap to farm yourself and pretty low effort.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

If you can get them out on pasture, they will be in heaven. Mine love the pasture and woodlands, as well as the orchard, lawns and gardens. They will forage all day long, when they aren't resting. It's good for them, too.

 

[mcd311]

If you can get them out on pasture, they will be in heaven.  Mine love the pasture and woodlands, as well as the orchard, lawns and gardens.  They will forage all day long, when they aren't resting.  It's good for them, too.

 

I opened up the pasture to them this afternoon. They were SO EXCITED!!

I failed to mention I have over 25 chickens and eggs in the incubator, so buying them "snacks" would get way too expensive. I wouldn't have been buying scratch had I know before now that it was a "Sometime food"

With summertime they'll get all our kitchen fruit and veggie scraps too.
So with laying Crumble, pasture goodies, and garden scraps they should be pretty happy chickens and I'll be happy not having to get scratch from the feed store anymore!
Come winter in the south I'll fix them up some homemade scratch to keep them happy.

Thank you for all the info!

 

[ElizaJane]

I thought I had read somewhere to NOT give scratch when the weather warms up. I thought I read where it was good to give when the weather was cold because their bodies warm up trying to digest.

 

[flockoffour]

I give my chickens a combination for their scratch. I use a little bit of layena scratch, along with oyster shells, grit, flax seed, and sometimes a bit of leftover chick crumbles and they seem to eat all of it.

 

[Gifa]

Forgive my dirty hands, I had JUST finished planting my sweet corn and pulling weeds. But as you can see from this photo, cracked corn is a VERY small part of my scratch.

It's mostly Whole Oats, Milo, and BOSS.



I only give my girls a cup of scratch 2-3 times a week... And that is for all 7 hens. And anymore just before bedtime. I suspect as summer wears on, they will have plenty of foraged treats to eat... so I will forgo treating with scratch until the fall.

 

[PharmGirl]

Chicks that don't eat cracked corn ? Mine act like it is the greatest thing ever we call it "chicken crack" lol! I made scratch last year for the winter: oats, sunflower seeds, split peas, lentils and cracked corn, they loved. Noe I have sunflowers all over my garden from throwing the coop shavings/poo in there over the winter.

 

[Fuego]

I'm not sure about an alternative. But my experience has been that it depends on the breed. Some breeds are great foragers and others wouldn't know the difference between foraging and a hole in the ground. I have found that heritage breeds are usually good foragers. I have never had great luck getting fancy breeds to forage. My cornish was the only one that didn't require layers ration in order to lay regularly.

 

[beckah1]

For what it's worth, my chickens don't seem to like the goat food.

They free-range though, so I'm guessing they'd rather find unsweetened stuff.