bread for feed?

[j_d]

ive just found a souce for whole/multi grain bread, the really expensive stuff that reminds me of cardboard that is a couple of days old and really cheap. my chickens, buff orpingtons and also some cornish rock crosses right now are all about 7 wks old. those rocks are pigs and id like to substitue some of their feed with this bread. i should also add that i keep them on grass and some scraps. im wondering with the bread and grass/ranging how little feed i could get away with providing and still get good results. any help is appreciated.
josh

 

[SeaChick]

Chickens can't tolerate too much salt. Bread has too much for them, I think. We feed wholegrain bread as a treat only.... like no more than 1/4 of a slice per bird every other day or so.

 

[scrapmom5]

I agree with seachick. You will also need to watch the overall nutrition. Bread, besides being too salty, doesn't provide a balanced diet. I let my girls loose in my yard daily and/or provide them with fresh veggies and fruits. They prefer the fresh over the feed but will still eat the feed. I would just give them an occasional snack of bread rather than use it for their main intake.

 

[chicksinthemachine]

Mine love whole grain breads but I don't think it is a good supplement it should only be given as a treat.

 

[j_d]

thanks folks, i appreciate all the advice. I wont be totally supplementing bread for feed but i think im going to go out on a limb a little bit and experiment with feeding a significant amount of bread. my rational is that bread is mostly grain and that i still give them free access to their regular feed and they get significant free range time. i will be monitoring closely for any changes in health or behavior.
thanks
joshua

 

[JennsPeeps]

I have to pipe in & say that if it's a whole grain bread that would be considered heath food for people, then the nutritional value might be OK. Check the nutrional labels - if you'd eat it (or if someone you know who is very healthy would)... maybe OK.

If, however, it's the equivalent of wonderbread with no nutritional value, I wouldn't give it to the chickens. It would be empty calories for them. Chicken junk food.

On a somewhat related note, I've been feeding a small corn tortilla every day to my neighbors' 6 chickens (I'm chicken sitting while they're on vacation). Their chickens don't come to "here chick chick"... but they're starting to now!

 

[FloridaChickenChick]

This is sort of off topic but it's REALLY important to have your chickens trained to come when you call! Mine escaped today...one of my dogs killed one. I was able to get the other 11 back home quickly because they know to get their fuzzy little butts to where I am when I call them (can you say TREATS?).