Anybody not give store bought feed at all?

[jennmugg]

Would it be bad if I just fed yogurt, oatmeal, cheerios, garden vegetables, sunflower seeds, etc. I want good eggs and healthy girls, but would like to avoid buying layer pellets if possible.

 

[toletiquesbysam]

If they aren't laying eggs yet then they need to be on starter/grower feed. If they aren't on feed they aren't getting the right balance to help them grow to get to they laying stage. I can see your thinking on this but I would not deter off feed, those extra's you want to offer are "treats" but aren't enough for them to live on.

 

[jennmugg]

They are still on starter, but I wondered about when they start laying. Aren't there other foods that can provide enough calcium, etc? What did people do in the days before pellets?

 

[toletiquesbysam]

They might not have gone to the store to buy feed but they made their own with a blend of things to get the right balance.
Here's a good website I found...
http://www.mybackyardchickenfarm.com/chickenfeed.html

 

[Glenda L Heywood]

well you need to go to
lions grip and study nutrition and feed recipes

CHICKEN FEED: Main Menu Information exchange on natural, organic chicken feed and poultry nutrition, free range chickens, pastured poultry, grass-fed grass fed poultry, ...
www.lionsgrip.com/chickens.html - 44k - Cached -

the way the things were fed was to produce healthy chickens and healthy feed

the old timey study books would have educated you and others in having healthy protein eggs

thus many people because meat was slaughtered on farms for humans then went to using the meat for chicken feed

with the anount of grains that the farmers had on hand
they then went to studying protein levels
and consequently got to todays commercial crumbles or pellets

I never was a believer in getting something for mothing
and the use of cereals instead of grains is a very expensive way to feed chickens properly

Do take somew time and study what the protein levels need to be

protein levels need to be at least 16% for layers

if the chicks are old enough to be put on grower do so
then put them on layer crumbles when they start to lay

you will need to feed oyster shell to laying hens no matter what you feed them
85% of daily calcium eaten daily by a chicken is for egg shells and if they do not get that
the egg shells makeup takes calcium out of the chickens bones

So there is no amount of trivial feed stuffs supplies laying hens with complete protein and vit and minerals as does CRUMBLES OT PELLETS

 

[cybercat]

Quote:
Could you free range them a bit? That way you would not have to feed. I see you have 3 acres that is enough to free range. Before corporations started making money of people selling permade food people made there own. Most chickens were left to their own devices to get their food and did real well on it. Then Corps came along and said"you are not feeding a complete diet unless you use our food." Hogwash I say. Corn is not good for chickens and plant byproducts are no better than animal by products. What is out in the yard or in the woods is alot healthier than what is in the bag.

 

[Akane]

They won't get enough protein unless you supplement it. Before chicken feed there was lots of other things around a farm. Animal manure, leftover parts from butchering, the feed given to other livestock, etc... Plus lots more bugs, mice, and other critters than most of us have around. Since few have a full running farm like that or endless land to free range on their chickens will require lots of supplemental protein and possibly some grains as well. It gets very difficult and complicated in some cases to make your own feed if there isn't a wide variety for them to find naturally. Your best off just buying chicken feed and then allowing them access to as much other stuff as you can so they eat minimal feed.