Can I raise baby roosters on corn and table scraps only?

[Nona Urbiz]

I buy whole grain at the feed mill. Corn, oats, wheat, sunflower seeds. The whole wheat cost me $5.70 per 25#. That's 22.8 c per pound. The oats were 24.4 c per pound. The corn was even cheaper. You can also grow red wiggler worms in a box so the chickens have them over the winter when they can't forage. The worms will eat your table scraps, so once you buy a box you never have to buy them again.

If you soak the grains for 3 days before feeding, the fermenting process will destroy the anti-nutrients, making the grain higher in digestible nutrients.

What recipe or quantity of each to you mix for feeding? is there a percentage of each you recommend?

 

[Poultrybonkers]

Birds need protien to grow. Feeding corn and scraps will make them stunted and they will start eating eachother for protien. Also corn is very fatty so your birds will grow fat and not meat ive processed a hen that had more corn then feed in her bin and she was pure fat inside she never also started laying. If you want chicken so bad your prolly better off buying it already processed at the store

 

[Penpal]

My recipe, generally, is: 2 parts whole wheat, 2 parts whole oats, 1 part whole corn, 1/4 part sunflower seeds. I soak the wheat, oats, and corn for 3 days, the sunflower seeds for 12 hours, or not at all.

Because it is winter and they can't forage many worms or bugs, I also am adding meat in the form of a little ground venison, ground beef, or tuna.

 

[Huntmaster]

My recipe, generally, is: 2 parts whole wheat, 2 parts whole oats, 1 part whole corn, 1/4 part sunflower seeds. I soak the wheat, oats, and corn for 3 days, the sunflower seeds for 12 hours, or not at all.

Because it is winter and they can't forage many worms or bugs, I also am adding meat in the form of a little ground venison, ground beef, or tuna.

You don't add any feed supplement to your mix?

 

[NatJ]

Rather than raising them with expensive chick starter, I would be feeding them corn and table scraps to save money. Has anyone done this and will it work or will I stunt their growth and make them inedible not raising them how they are suppose to be raised.

You will not make them inedible.

Their growth may be stunted (especially by lack of protein), or it may be fine, depending on what is in the table scraps and how many scraps you are giving them.

You might consider a mixed strategy: give them some amount of chick starter each day as a protein supplement, but have a lot of their food come from the cheaper corn and table scraps.

You might also check prices on Turkey Starter and Gamebird Starter. They often have more protein than chick starter, but similar per-pound prices. That can make them a better deal as a protein supplement.

I have raised chicks, with no obvious stunting, on a combination of turkey starter or gamebird starter, along with corn or a mixture of corn & other grains. One time I mixed the turkey starter with a corn/oats/barley blend, in the right ratios to make the total protein come out correctly. Some other times I put cracked corn in one feeder and gamebird starter in another and let them choose their own ratio. It would probably also work to serve the starter as a wet mash (which usually makes for less wastage), and just give them an amount that you consider reasonable each day, along with the corn and scraps.

I agree, chick starter has not been around long, so table scraps and other meat/fish products might work.

I would definitely look at what prices you pay for what things, and make a plan based on what is available to you.

For example, buying turkey starter may be cheaper than buying meat or fish that was intended for people to eat, but it would be cheaper yet to feed meat from someone cleaning out their freezer before deer-hunting season rather than buying anything.