Best foods? Bedding? Basking? Harvesting?

[servant_of_fluffs]

These are just overall questions I have about chicken keeping. Let me know if I put it in the wrong subforum.

Where I live it can get to the negative 20's or lower in winter. The lighting in winter is 4-6 hours long so we put a LED light in since they were not eating enough to keep themselves warm. What are some of the best foods for mixed flocks that are high in calories and protein percentage so my birds are able to eat enough? I was thinking about feeding them some frozen meat or some other high fat treats. We do feed them freeze dried black soldier fly larvae and leftovers as snacks. My chickens also cannot go outside in the winter because there are loose dogs and our 6 ft high fence gets buried in snow. (The chickens also hate the snow It is common in the winter for there to be blizzards and whiteouts a few times a month. This summer I was planning on renovating their coop and maybe adding sand as a bedding. I normally use straw, but sand seems like it would be better for them as long as I scooped it regularly. I was hoping it would also help reduce bumblefoot and bacteria in their coop. Any experiences with sand? Could I go out to the beach and gather some grittier/pebblier sand or fine gravel? Some of my girls (Stormpuff, I'm looking at you) also do not like roosting and would much rather sleep on the ground or nest boxes. Any ideas on reducing that? I can make their perches be lower down, but the one hen who sleeps on the ground can't really jump very well. If sand is too cold for her to sleep on I could add a heated perch or heating pad of some sort for her? Or I could just have a pile of clean straw in the spot she sleeps.

I was thinking about this and I was curious whether chickens would be healthier with a basking spot (deep heat projector or something similar) and a UVB light over that basking spot in winter. I'm pretty sure some people use UVB lights for caged birds to help them have healthier feathers(?) I just figured that since they are inside more often than I wish they were that could help simulate natural sunlight.

I'm hatching chicks and am going to try to find the friendly/chill roosters good homes. Any aggressive ones I will probably eat because they're too dangerous to be around little kids and house sitters (one of our house sitters was super scared of going into the coop because of how aggressive our last rooster was.) What is the best way to humanely harvest them? Would using a 22 be less painful and stressful for the roo than an axe? I want to try to make sure they feel little pain and stress.

 

[nuthatched]

Hi, I'd get some white grow light for fill spectrum winter lights.
Do they have any type of covered run?
I'dreccomend to get an flock feed, I like nutrena. You don't want to give them to much extra fatty treats, chicken store fat around their organs and too much fat causes health issues and death.

 

[servant_of_fluffs]

Unfortunately, I think my run would be impossible to cover especially in the winter. In the winter it would just blow away. It's probably 20 ft by 20 ft(?) Maybe more. I'm thinking of putting up an electric fence around the coop in the summer to keep dogs out, but most dogs respect a 6 ft tall fence. They could definitely just walk over the fence in the winter though!

What are your experiences with Nutrena and where do you get it? It doesn't look like it ships to my city on Amazon. I would have to ship any all flock feed to get enough for my girls (and one rooster.) Yeah, I try not to feed them too much fatty treats. How often do you think it's ok to feed them BSL as snacks?

Thanks for responding!

 

[servant_of_fluffs]

The cheapest feed where I am is the duck Manna Pro layer feed. Here is the guaranteed analysis of the duck feed.

Is that ok to feed my chickens with supplemented food and oyster shells (beans, barley, leftovers, cooked meat, etc)? Here's an all-flock feed analysis.

 

[ChaosMom]

The cheapest feed where I am is the duck Manna Pro layer feed. Here is the guaranteed analysis of the duck feed. View attachment 4137438


Is that ok to feed my chickens with supplemented food and oyster shells (beans, barley, leftovers, cooked meat, etc)? Here's an all-flock feed analysis. View attachment 4137439

The first appears to be a layer formulation (see the higher calcium levels), but it’s hard to read on my phone. The second appears to be all-flock, but oddly low in protein.

The tricky thing about buying a “barely-adequate” (in terms of protein) feed is that every treat you add throws off the overall ratios of nutrients that they’re taking in. My biggest concern would be the protein. You’d want to offer high-protein treats, preferably animal source because it’s generally a greater percentage of protein, frequently, as in every day. And then animal protein, including insects, generally brings along more fat with it, affecting the overall protein-to-fat ratio.

I’d either do what I described ^^^, or just find a higher protein all-flock, continuing to offer oyster shells and crushed egg shells on the side.

 

[servant_of_fluffs]

The first appears to be a layer formulation (see the higher calcium levels), but it’s hard to read on my phone. The second appears to be all-flock, but oddly low in protein.

The tricky thing about buying a “barely-adequate” (in terms of protein) feed is that every treat you add throws off the overall ratios of nutrients that they’re taking in. My biggest concern would be the protein. You’d want to offer high-protein treats, preferably animal source because it’s generally a greater percentage of protein, frequently, as in every day. And then animal protein, including insects, generally brings along more fat with it, affecting the overall protein-to-fat ratio.

I’d either do what I described ^^^, or just find a higher protein all-flock, continuing to offer oyster shells and crushed egg shells on the side.

Yeah, the second is all-flock. I will definitely be feeding them frozen meat and fish, so the amount of protein should be ok.

Is the extra 5% lysine and niacin a problem for chickens?

 

[ChaosMom]

Yeah, the second is all-flock. I will definitely be feeding them frozen meat and fish, so the amount of protein should be ok.

Is the extra 5% lysine and niacin a problem for chickens?

That, I don’t know. @U_Stormcrow

 

[U_Stormcrow]

That, I don’t know. @U_Stormcrow

That's 0.05%. .60% vs .65%, if I understand the bags you are comparing corrently.

NO, not a problem.

My curret feed has much higher Lys than either of those options. No issues. It is, in fact, desired for birds with larger amounts of breast meat, among other considerations.