Am I doing this feed right?

[Ryli]

Hi all!,

I have read a ton, but this is my first post. I would love to just check what I am doing- since I am a first chicken owner.

I have 6 chickens all around 22 weeks. I am guessing they aren’t laying yet because of the southern heat.
But here is what they are getting-
Unlimited water with apple cider vinegar
Feed- mix of corn, black sunflower seeds, oats (unrolled, cleaned), diatemachous earth, (unlimited supply in treadle feeder)
Morning and after noon- chicken feed (finishing up grower before buying layer)
Crushed granite grit
Oyster shell
Treat Meal worms, watermelon, etc.

does this seem balanced? Too much? Too little?

thanks for any information!

 

[sourland]

I would limit your 'feed mix' to occasional feedings and increase the availability of a flock raiser type balanced diet.

 

[wyochick10]

Hi! It sounds like a lot to me. Do they have access to just fresh plain water without ACV? That very important and just have the nutritionally balanced chicken feed (grower with oyster shell on the side is great) given free choice. And just the occasional treats! if you add too much other stuff it messes up with the ratio of what they are getting from their feed.

edit to say: Welcome to BYC!!

 

[Chicalina]

why do they need seeds, oats, corn etc as part of their staple diet?

Just feed the growers, and have oyster shell on the side or give them layers.

Do they forage at all?

Anything else is a treat and should be fed sparingly.

 

[Ryli]

Unfortunately they cannot forage or free range but they have a 20 x 30 run.
I watched this video and started the seed mix from this Link

Last week. But I was trying to finish up the bag of feed I had bought before my husband had a heart attack concerning the chicken expense fund

 

[BuckeyeAmy69]

Okay…deep breath here cause I know you’re looking for help.

That lady in the video should not own chickens in my opinion. What she is feeding is not a healthy, complete diet. I feel sorry for her birds.

Burn the corn and throw out the DE. Feed no more than 1 Tbsp of BOSS per bird each day as a treat. Same for the oats, and I hope they are whole. Feed an all flock formula with grit and oyster shell on the side. Give fresh water with nothing else in it.
And kudos to you for reaching out for advice!

 

[Chicalina]

All that seed blending etc is instead of using a proprietary feed. All well and good for those who choose to do that but I believe the grower and layer feeds you buy are better balanced in nutrients, macros, etc. Mainly because the intensive farming methods we use nowadays strip the earth of natural nutrients, which we then have to supplement. A cabbage from 100 years ago had a far far higher calcium and mineral content than one we grow today for example. Same with grains. Chickens in olden times thrived on pure grains, seeds, foraging etc but the industrial revolution and many generations since of intensive farming have scotched that.

So if you feed a home made seed/grain mix they still won't have the right amount of nutrients so you'll need to supplement them and how will you know by how much? Plus that defeats the object of feeding whole grains, being more natural, etc right?

Organic grains may have a slightly higher natural nutrient content but that gets really expensive, plus you still need to supplement, so again defeating the point.

The growers/layers are specially formulated and include supplements and can be the only foodstuff for 100% of what the chickens need. And its generally cheaper!

 

[Chicalina]

BTW they will still forage in a 20x30 feet run, eating all the bugs, worms and flies etc. That is really good for them. Free protein! And it encourages natural behaviour. Unless you have used sand as a substrate of course. Nothing much for them to do in sand. Or gravel. A good composting earth substrate with added mulch is perfect for them, in my view.

 

[BuckeyeAmy69]

All that seed blending etc is instead of using a proprietary feed. All well and good for those who choose to do that but I believe the grower and layer feeds you buy are better balanced in nutrients, macros, etc. Mainly because the intensive farming methods we use nowadays strip the earth of natural nutrients, which we then have to supplement. A cabbage from 100 years ago had a far far higher calcium and mineral content than one we grow today for example. Same with grains. Chickens in olden times thrived on pure grains, seeds, foraging etc but the industrial revolution and many generations since of intensive farming have scotched that.

So if you feed a home made seed/grain mix they still won't have the right amount of nutrients so you'll need to supplement them and how will you know by how much? Plus that defeats the object of feeding whole grains, being more natural, etc right?

Organic grains may have a slightly higher natural nutrient content but that gets really expensive, plus you still need to supplement, so again defeating the point.

The growers/layers are specially formulated and include supplements and can be the only foodstuff for 100% of what the chickens need. And its generally cheaper!

Interesting thoughts but I can’t get on board the organic train. I live in the grain belt. We have raped the earth and poisoned it with chemicals that will be there for eternity. Certified Organic means nothing. Just like “cruelty free” means nothing. (All chemicals at some point in their creation were tested on animals. Research it). It’s just a label. But the OP doesn’t care about that. I think the suggestions made are good advice.

 

[Chicalina]

Interesting thoughts but I can’t get on board the organic train. I live in the grain belt. We have raped the earth and poisoned it with chemicals that will be there for eternity. Certified Organic means nothing. Just like “cruelty free” means nothing. (All chemicals at some point in their creation were tested on animals. Research it). It’s just a label. But the OP doesn’t care about that. I think the suggestions made are good advice.

I think that is true. It will take centuries if not longer of organic farming (large scale) to return the soil to what it was. We've ruined the source of our food in order to make more of it quicker and cheaper.