I've been lurking here a bit and wanted to ask, while you guys are on the subject of feed; Do any of you use fermented feed with your breeders? And/or do any of you try to produce your own chicken feed with gardens/mealworms/etc?
Where I'm at, nobody seems to care about anything organic or frufru, the types of feed are always changing at the feed stores, and a couple of the smaller ones have reduced what they have available to only a few options. I can't even get non-medicated chick starter anywhere so I have to go with game bird feed. I have to drive almost two hours just to get non-medicated goat feed. I just don't believe in medicating before there is anything wrong, so sue me...
I guess where I'm getting at, is I would rather not have to rely on the ever-changing feed stores and if I can produce my own feed, and breed chickens more suitable to free ranging, all the better. I just don't know enough to make sure they are getting all the nutrition they need...yet...
I do not use medicated chick feed either.
I grow cabbages for the chickens, store a long time, they went through them quick. Have a big bed of kale in the garden, still good even with freezing and snow, tough stuff. I ordered a 1/4 lb of giant mangel seeds from R H Shumway seeds to try this next winter for the tops and roots. Link to mangels; http://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0LE...hickens//RK=0/RS=2dVuZs1IogT2Lo6d7DkGc0Jxxvc-
During the summer I have a pond full of duckweed, they love it and the little frogs, tadpoles, leaches that get scooped up with it. I grind small blue gills/sunfish and perch whole, fish burgers, they love them. I sometimes add free 40% solids condensed whey from work, they don't seem to care much for it though. Thought about adding ground wood chuck or road kill deer...
ALL organic of course

Edited to add, I go back and forth on the fermented feed, not sure if it is worth it, feeding them it right now.
I look at cost, if I don't see any negative effects to being frugal, I'll continue. I don't care about decimal points in growth or egg laying, but I do enjoy reading everyone's opinions/facts, learning here every day.
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