Any ONE grain that is sufficient?

There is no single food that will give them all they need to thrive.
Your best option would be to get the feed mill to make you up a blend and buy a ton of that
Then your birds will be getting a balanced diet with the vitamins and minerals they need

 

No, but in the Way Back they tossed bread crumbs, kitchen scraps, corn, or wheat or whatever they grew, the chickens ranged freely and got other grass grains, got spills from cow feed, and lots and lots of bugs (which are a good source of niacin, by the way), mice, etc. A VERY well rounded diet.

 

Did the "settlers" raise confined chickens or did they have hertiage chickens who are bred for that climate and get a chance to eat protein from worms and forage to supply them with what they needed? I don't know. I know that my husband had the same question when we began to raise our chickens. He's from Mexico and I am from Panama he wanted to know if the chicks need special feed what did our forebears do? Their chickens turned out fine right? My answer is yes, but if you want the *optimal* growth at the correct rate to prevent too much calcuim in the bones or too little growth or too much you feed the prescribed food in the prescribed amounts. We also supplement with scratch and table scraps. That's *optimal* and you have a better chance of not being eaten out of house and home or have skinny chickens (for meat) that are not laying well or consistently (for layers) or prolapse becaseu they are too fat. That's my answer. I don't have that many chickens though and I live in a rural area where I have easy access to feed stoers where I can get 100 lbs of feed for about $20. That's not that different from corn and less expsnive than some other grains. JMHO.

 

Quote:I hate to tell you this but the birds we have today are not even close to what the "settlers" had for chickens...
Most of the settlers birds where Game type fowl and where a feed mixture of grains (mash) and left over meats.

Chris

 

chris09,
You beat me too it..
That was the post I was going to quote.
I fully agree with what you said. The chickens then and what was expected of them is nothing like today.

Growing up in the 70's we had almost wild bantam chickens that were never fed. They just ate what they could by the cows and pigs. When and if you found an egg it had a dark orange yolk.

To the original poster. You might be able to get away with only two or three feed components if the birds are free range. (Maybe, wheat, with oats or corn. Maybe a little roasted soybean and BOSS or meat/fish scrap.) If confined I would stick to a commercial mix if you don't want the trouble of mixing your own. Confined birds need a complete ration. IMHO
ON

 

You could just let them free range and not feed them at all.
But don't expect to get many eggs, and don't expect them to be healthy.

 

Quote:Exactly, you get out of them what you put into them. Some may free range and only give corn, but it depends what you want to get out. Two years of good productivity, go for it. Keeping them good for 5+ years with plans on putting them on a pet status to live out their natural lives of 7-14 years, might want to get a formulated feed to at least have as an option to eat.

 

I hope I am not hijacking the original post

I have a mill very close to me that cleans and sorts grain for human consumption. He has a lot of screenings that he runs through a hammer mill which creates a very very finely ground feed. I am tempted to go get some as he now has it available at 9 dollars per hundred weight as opposed to about 30 dollars per hundred wt for layer feed. It is a mixture of wheat, corn, black beans and perhaps some barley. He tests each batch and it consistently tests at about 16% protein.

I would love to use this feed but I am pretty sure I will need some sort of supplement pack. Any one know what I can use? I think it would be great if there is a supplement that can be fed free choice. I remember my father fed cattle for years with ground corn and a supplement free choice along side. Cattle seemed to regulate the use of the supplement as needed. I have asked a couple of feed store here but they seem baffled by the question

Palatability may be an issue as the feed is nearly a powder after coming through the mill

I sure like that 180 dollars a ton vs. 600 per ton that is for sure.

Looking for some help here feed folks