Are there other feeding options?

[Red Mangrove]

https://www.teagasc.ie/media/website/animals/dairy/Whats_in_Grass_Todays_Farm_May2014.pdf
edited to add, for those who don't do pdfs, the nonsense is revealed by the bit that says "The energy demands of the dairy cow can be met by a grass only diet throughout the main grazing season, with some supplementation needed at the shoulders of the year when grass supply is limiting. Likewise the energy demands of the suckler cow, calves, yearlings and finishing steers & heifers can be met by a grass only diet", written in a farming publication, for farmers, by the Irish Agriculture and Food Development Authority, in Ireland. The facts and figures for grass nutrition are given in the pdf.

See-
https://baos.pub/cows-are-not-really-herbivores-dbf61790ace2

Cows do eat grass, but they can’t digest it. 90% of grass composition is made of cellulose and lignin, which can’t be absorbed by the ruminant. If you observe the composition of cow dung, you will notice intact little straws. These, under the microscope, reveal to be cellulose and lignin, that went all the way through the digestive process without being absorbed. So what do cows feed on?
The cow’s rumen represents up to 15% of the weight of the animal, which is a volume 100 to 250 L. This pouch receives the grazed grass and hosts a multitude of microbes — 50% of the rumen dry mass. The rumen contains 100 billion bacteria per mL and 100 thousand fungi per mL, which are able to digest plant residues. There are also 10 million ciliates in there, feeding on the bacteria and fungal spores.
These short chain fatty acids produced by the cow’s microbiota are typical of the smell of fresh milk, and crucially, represent 80% of the animal’s energetic resources.

Thus, beneath their herbivore look, cows actually digest… microbial output and microbes themselves! Cows are microphage and use grass to breed microbes — internally

In other words, symbiotic bacteria that live in the cows massive and complicated stomach are the ones that actually eat and digest the grass

Thanks to such optimizations, microbes in the rumen convert every day grass and urea into 1 to 3 kg of protein, used as a food source by the cow. The microbes also supplement their host with vitamins K and B — you know, the vitamins we humans can’t do without if we go vegan.

Certain microbes in the cow’s rumen are also able to detoxify food sources for their host — as is the case of Synergistes jonesii which detoxifies mimosina, or Oxalobacter formigenes consuming oxalate. But this is another story.

Symbiotic bacteria also produce vitamins for the cow that are absent in the grass itself. They also remove a poisonous chemical from the grass called oxalate that would otherwise kill the cow

Chickens are not cows. Cows need a massive amount of symbiotic organisms in their bodies in order to digest grass and they devote 20 hours a day to this arduous process

 

[L-plate chicken mum]

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7858154/
https://foodprint.org/issues/raising-animals-sustainably-on-pasture/
https://cairncrestfarm.com/pages/grass-fed-chicken
https://www.bhwt.org.uk/blog/health-welfare/do-chickens-eat-grass/

Having read a bit around this topic it seems that, like many animals including humans, variety is good. Whilst just grass would not provide all the nutrients needed, it does provide some important nutrients, as well as bugs, grit and allows variety in their routine. While other species of plant may not be present (although how many weed free lawns / pastures do we have?) there are still nutritional and welfare benefits to be had from grass.
I love watching my chickens enjoying the garden and my (currently) sole egg layer is always first out to snack on some grass. The not laying at the moment hens are not so partial to grass but the rooster also likes to graze. I guess they must be getting something from it over and above the chicken pellets?

Their genetic ancestors have a very varied diet too:
https://www.researchgate.net/profil...WQiLCJwcmV2aW91c1BhZ2UiOiJwdWJsaWNhdGlvbiJ9fQ

 

[Penpal]

I agree in so far that the additions in many lawns are better than the grass we love to mow. Plantain, clover, lamb's quarters, etc. Also, the many delicious insects that populate a lawn, such as fleas and ticks.

 

[tigger19687]

Depends on the quantity and quality of the land. A quarter acre of grass will provide next to no nutrition

It isn't the Grass they are mainly eating, it's the bugs and grubs & other plant life

all flock/flock raiser feed, I like better with oyster shells on the side.

 

[Red Mangrove]

It isn't the Grass they are mainly eating, it's the bugs and grubs & other plant life

I'm well aware. You should be telling this to the other guy that was talking about the "nutritional quality of grass"

 

[U_Stormcrow]

The "nutritional quality of grass" is a rounding error. There isn't an unmodified, unprocessed plant on the planet that can meet the nutritional needs of a modern chicken - even by focusing on the most nutrient dense portions of plants, the seeds, it is damned difficult to produce a nutritionally complete feed for a modern chicken using corn kernels, wheat grains, dehydrated beans, etc. the moisture-rich stems and leaves, so much less so.

Is it completely devoid of nutrition? Obviously no. Is it a significant portion of the nutritional intake of any modern chicken? Just as obviously, No.

If that's not obvious, you either haven't done the research, or you are one of those humans that thinks that 9 Million is a bigger number than 2 Trillion, becuase the first digit is larger. You aren't alone - but neither are you correct.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

The minimum nutritional requirements for an adult laying hen, based on a 100g ration, is usually given at about 16% crude protein, 0.3g Methionine, 0.7 Lysine, 0.6g Threonine, 0.2g Tryptophan, with a total energy value (measured in mKe) of between 11.5 and 13.8 MJ/kg).

Grass is typically 83% water, and just 2.2% protein (best case), it drops to about 2/3 that value late in the season). Just to meet its crude protein needs, a hen would need to eat between 700 g and 1000g of grass per day. 1.5 - 2.2# of grass per day!!!! That's 1/4 to almost 1/2 the body weight of a Production Red...

 

[Debbie292d]

I would consider being allowed to free range to be as good as it gets. Omit the scratch.

Ferment the scratch! Then it's a treat, just a heckuva lot more nutritious!

 

[Perris]

The minimum nutritional requirements for an adult laying hen, based on a 100g ration, is usually given at about 16% crude protein, 0.3g Methionine, 0.7 Lysine, 0.6g Threonine, 0.2g Tryptophan, with a total energy value (measured in mKe) of between 11.5 and 13.8 MJ/kg).

Grass is typically 83% water, and just 2.2% protein (best case), it drops to about 2/3 that value late in the season). Just to meet its crude protein needs, a hen would need to eat between 700 g and 1000g of grass per day. 1.5 - 2.2# of grass per day!!!! That's 1/4 to almost 1/2 the body weight of a Production Red...

The Irish agricultural development board knows what it's talking about. Here's the pdf which you apparently didn't bother to read (and yes it's about cows, but I've yet to find anything from the pastured poultry sector that compares). No-one is suggesting that chickens can live entirely on grass. The question is, is grass good for them? what's in it?

Source:

 

[Stephine]

I don’t understand this tortured discussion about grass… Is grass good for chickens? Likely. They seem gaga about it. Of course they can digest it. They can eat sunflower seeds with the shell on and grind them up in their gizzards to break them up and digest. Grass should not offer more resistance. There are minerals and vitamins, protein and sugars to be had from grass, just like from other leafy greens. And fiber, just like from other plant foods. The amount of fiber varies according to the maturity of the plant (stemmy grass has lots of fiber), but chickens don’t eat stems, they eat the soft tips of the leaves, which have more sugars and less fiber.
And grass is growing in soil of course with all the yummy bugs and grubs that come with that….
Of course cows digest grass. For many it’s their only feed. The do it with the help of bacteria, just like other animals and people, too. Cows have a special digestive system and as ruminants regurgitate their stomach contents ( they don’t spit or vomit) and chew their cud, but that’s just a special way of digestion, which allows them to thrive even on very fibrous grasses. Horses, rabbits, sheep all thrive on grass that they digest with the help of bacteria. Nothing unusual at all. Geese eat mainly grass. My dog eats grass, enthusiastically, daily. He doesn’t throw it up, he digests it, because like the chickens, he only eats the tips of the leafy blades.
I don’t think anyone suggested just feeding chickens grass for a complete diet. But free ranging on fresh greens is of course very good for them, with whatever they choose to eat there supplementing their formulated feed.