BEST chicken feed recipe, ever.

[Island Roo]

Got it.

I use it for dust baths - well actually I put it in the chicken's dust area. LOL

Also through it on the compost pile.

I thought you were adding it to the chicken feed - kinda freaked me out.

 

[Kilsharion]

You don't have to break the peanuts up for them I have found- they can beak beat them to the ground to break them up in pieces themselves. I used to take a rubber mallet to them in a ziplock bag before I discovered that.

Romaine lettuce is very good for them- all the greens. Clover is a favorite of chickens I have found. Kitchen scraps- leftovers from my kids that they won't eat off their plates, food left in the fridge too long so that it is kind of stale but not moldy. Stale bread ends, soup that I waded through bowl after bowl and now just need to be done with, and so on. I never feed anything moldy or that we wouldn't eat if desperate ourselves, but seeing as that it is stale no one wants it. I do feed very tiny amounts of citrus and any kind of fruit if it is available. We usually finish off our citrus though so it doesn't really happen, but there is the occasional wedge of orange left out overnight that is all shrunken.

Tomatoes, definitely. They get our split cherry tomatoes and I have to admit I share lots of cherries and grapes from our yard, also apples. All carrots that went limp and the tops (they will peck them and you don't have to chop the carrots).

I do sow clover for them sometimes but you must be cautious as some seed is treated. Grass seed is available (but not clover from what I have found around here) that is not treated. I keep them off it until it is growing well. Don't allow them to eat treated seeds.

Enjoy your chickens and there is a treat chart that you can find if you google "backyardchickens treat chart." For some reason the BYC search bar is ineffective now and I go out to google to do my searching.

BTW some people say no citrus and no potatoes, but I just don't follow along with that thinking.

Thanks for the feedback about breaking things up. They were pecking at stuff, but not really making much headway, so I didn't realize they'd get there eventually

Yeah, they innoculate clover seed to help it catch faster. Definitely want to keep them away from those chemicals **shudders** We have pastures of it all around due to the deer. We've found that if the deer get enough of what they actually like, they leave the other stuff alone - most of the time. So, I managed my deer "problem" by over planting stuff I know they like and spraying an egg-tabasco mix on stuff they don't prefer, just in case they decide maybe it's not that bad afterall. I don't imagine the chicks would be too thrilled to get a mouthful of egg-tabasco coated plants, so I intend to keep them away from those areas. **the mental image that brought to mind had me laughing**

It's great to know about the table scraps. All my kids are grown and gone and my oldest grandchild is going to hit college next year, so it's just me and my husband. I still cook like there are seven kids in the house, though - so we always have stuff wilting or being left uneaten. My compost heap's been getting most of it; but, now I get a feeling the girls will be getting a good portion, too

 

[Kilsharion]

No potato or tomato greens for the chickens - theres something toxic in leaves of that family of plants.

ChickensAreSweet - do you add the wood ash to your feed? How much?
I've been counting on kelp meal, alfalfa and sea salt for trace minerals.

ETA - I just did a quick search on wood ash. Seems a bit controversial as a feed source. No?

Well, IIRC, they are in the nightshade family. Then again, eggplants and bell peppers are in that family, too - wonder how the greens from those plants are tolerated? Probably not well. Interesting.

Wood ash...I'll have to consider that. Goodness knows we have more than enough of it.

 

[Blingaling1]

Well, IIRC, they are in the nightshade family. Then again, eggplants and bell peppers are in that family, too - wonder how the greens from those plants are tolerated? Probably not well. Interesting.

Wood ash...I'll have to consider that. Goodness knows we have more than enough of it.

My chickens and turkeys eat tomato and pepper leaves all the time. No ill affects. But like it's been said time and again, "different strokes for different folks." Love seeing all the opinions though. I'm seriously considering doing my own chicken feed but it may have to wait till I finish school.

 

[Sorca]

New to forum, and while raised on a ranch, we raised meat animals and milked cows. Now that I am married to a city boy, nearly ten years of fighting the city council, finally got the hens up and running four years ago. Now I only have half an acre for the hens, so I only maintain a single dozen, except in the spring when I am rearing half of the replacement hens and harvest half of the previous years hens. Yes, I know they will lay eggs longer, but the meat gets so darned tough.

Having said all this, you can take what I say with a grain of salt. I once used an organic grain mix, (not scratch), even though every single month I went in, the price would raise by about $2 per 50 lb bag. I happily went along until one day I went in and the feed store no longer carried the organic food any longer. Here I was purchasing a months supply because everything I read said that the degredation of quality and nutrients of older grains was not good. Had I known that I was the only one purchasing the original shipment the feed store had, I might not have purchased it so long. Anyhow, since I was the only one according to the store that ever purchased the feed, they had no intention in ordering more just for me.

The hens are free range on their little 1/2 acre. They have their coop they like to sleep in and lay their eggs. In various locations around the yard they have what I call "day pens" where they have an opening large enough to enter and exit, its covered on the top and one side to provide shade/protection from the elements....its a cute little "city chicken" set up........But when my option was to pay $50 per 50lb bag (by the time you purchase the grain and pay shipping).

Then Gaga, my rather "blinged" hen turned more wild than all her domesticated sisters showed me the light. She would wait till everyone was sleeping, then run under the rabbit cages and hunt for worms until the others got curious as to what she was doing. Hmm, okay, they like worms, so we ordered a worm bin, which turned into a tilled up, floor board over the top---OMG keeps the coop a little warmer from the compost section and the other half worm section. While her sisters were all busy snuggled up in the coop when winter hit, there was Gaga, up in her tree, under a thick branch that kept the snow off of her.....she finally settled in the rafter of the windsurfing shed during the coldest winter nights. Gaga prefers to forage and scratch for her food and doesn't really take to the feeder. I gave her all sorts of complicated recipes and supplements and made all kinds of time hogging special cakes of this and that for her. One day as I was grumbling to myself about all the fruit flies in the new batch of red wheat I got for my wheat grass juice......coupled with Gaga's desire to be a wild little hen......I realized that I failed to understand WHY I was working so hard. I tossed the rest of the seeds into greenhouse flats and grow one for each day through the winter months. Now they get one red wheat, one teff and one various other treat, sometimes sprouted sunflowers, sometimes sprouted peas....they love adzuki bean sprouts. Yes, they love their feed containers (some of them) but they ate very little of what I provided in the summer, rather all they wanted was fresh water and to forage all summer long. So out came the turf, replaced with things such as teff grass, oats, barley, red winter wheat, rye, barley-----all set up in cute little gardens all around the yard......the hens feed themselves. The mullberries that drop from the trees----they love em....as for the strawberry patch, lets just say I haven't eaten a home grown strawberry since they discovered them. Rather than ground cover and flower bushes, we have planted food sources for the hens. The yard looks great, we have parties and everyone always compliments. We grow them at various heights, with various lawn ornaments, mow certain areas, leave some a little more on the wild side. I harvest some so that I can provide them with good forage grains in the winter....but just as I eat seasonal, so do the hens. The shells are thick, well shaped and the yolks are so deep they look nearly red, not orange---certainly not lemon yellow like the store varieties.

The bottom line is keeping your hens happy and healthy. Mine prefer to free range with a treat each day of scratch. They love to be wild, sleeping in the trees in the yard, chasing the worms we have cultured all over for them......Nature once fed them without special bags and lotions and potions and they were healthy.......so rather than forcing that first wild hen to domesticate and be like me, I let her make me a little wild....and now, she gets to have her cake and eat it too.......AND free range like she was once allowed to be. I realize that creating a micro climate of "bird foods" growing live around the yard might not be for everyone.....but all summer long, I fill the feeder up once with 25 pounds of food-----they don't eat from it, but the wild sparrows do....nope those hens love hanging out in the long grasses eating the oats, teff, wheats, barley and fruits from the trees and berries from the bushes.............they will get around to eating that "store bought food" only when they have to...aka when winter hits and the forage options are reduced.

 

[littlemama]

My recipe was close to that. their poop is loose today. maybe mixing the old food in with the new gradually is how to prevent that.

 

[PrairieRidge]

I can't seem to find any where here in Montana to buy bulk organic grains :/ \At our ranch all of our critters are organic except for the chickens. If any one out there has any advise....

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

I can't seem to find any where here in Montana to buy bulk organic grains :/ \At our ranch all of our critters are organic except for the chickens. If any one out there has any advise....

http://wheatmontana.com/mill.php
they have organic on their price list

I have never ordered from them though.

Also you might try azurestandard.com but there is like a $550 minimum order I think.

 

[keesmom]

http://wheatmontana.com/mill.php
they have organic on their price list

I have never ordered from them though.

Also you might try azurestandard.com but there is like a $550 minimum order I think.

We belong to a local COOP that orders a truckload of grains from Wheat Montana every 4-6 months. Their prices are quite reasonable. We've only bought the conventional wheat (bronze and gold), but have been happy with it. They also have oat groats, flax seed, and some other items I'm forgetting.

 

[PrairieRidge]

http://wheatmontana.com/mill.php
they have organic on their price list

I have never ordered from them though.

I thought about Wheat Montana but didn't check into it. Thanks for the help

Also you might try azurestandard.com but there is like a $550 minimum order I think.