Can i raise chicks just with grains?

[duluthralphie]

That does not state what the protein percentage is. It merely states that there are 23 grams of protein in a serving. My bag of BOSS states that the crude protein is 14%. When looking at nutrient break down of items, the protein % does not correlate with the grams of protein.

Actually it does, if you read above it is 23 grams of 100 grams.. Do the math, and you have 23.2%

 

[3riverschick]

I live in kosovo and there has a lot of different chick starter brands and other chicken supplements, but i have a lot of ground corn and i decided to feed it to them!

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Oh you're right in the middle of all this research .there's a lot going on in Europe. a lot going on in the Netherlands .lot of interest in creating supplements for folks who are in Europe feeding grains. supplements to enrich the diet so that the chickens grow better. take a look around on the net and see. there's some big seminars have been held in the last couple of years worldwide seminars in Europe. there's some great companies that have fine supplements Which don't export to the United States . it's just for Europe . so take a look around .
Try looking up a company called Biomin. I think they're in the Netherlands.
Best,
Karen

 

[lazy gardener]

Quote:

Quote: Not trying to be argumentative here. But, I went to the site that you reference, scrolled down to sunflower seeds. Dry roasted kernel without salt. (that would be without the shell, so the protein content would be higher than the typical sunflower seeds that are used for animal feed.) Open up the "more data" window, and it states that 100 grams of sunflower seeds have 19.3 grams of protein. Am I doing the math wrong, or does that not equal 19.3% protein? If that is so, it would stand to reason that seeds with shell, and not roasted would be less protein because of the shell and the increased moisture content. Also, sunflower seeds are very high in fat. IMO that is an issue for laying birds also.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Sunflower seeds are more so of the same old- it depends where you read the information. I've seen 12% to 24% protein, I've seen 30% to 75% fat content. There is always discrepancies but the range on sunflower is ridiculous. Likely due to sunflower and black oil sunflower and some data using shelled or with shells. Bottom line is it's far too much fat content for laying birds. It's not healthy for a bird to be fat and will lower rate of lay.

I use black oil seed as a supplement in winter. Fat is fast access to energy needs. Hard winters and sunflower supplement is a perfect marriage. Far too much fat for the rest of the year and leads to fat unhealthy hens.

 

[3riverschick]

Eggheads right about too much fat.
if you feed the birds too much fat during laying season ,they put on a layer of fat under the skin .the skin needs to stretch to accommodate the swelling reproductive organs .it can't do that if the layer of fat is there so the hen lays fewer eggs.
Best,
Karen

 

[JanetMarie]

Yeah, they are with broody chicken and left free range

If their free ranging area has lots of greens and insects, that is good, but I would get them some chick starter.

 

[cinnabunz]

You could try sprouted grain. Chicjens love sprouted grain

 

[lazy gardener]

Yes, they love sprouted grain, but I would not depend on it to meet the needs of a growing chick. If you don't meet their nutritional needs as they are growing it will affect their entire life long health and productivity.

 

[gregory991]

Get some starter. Growing chicks require a specific balance of nutrients to grow and develop in a healthy manner. At best, they will, grow very slowly, take a long time to start laying and  will be poor producers. Worst case scenario, they develop bone/joint deformities or neurological problems that result in a very poor quality of life. Grains alone are not enough to support them.

Look at those 3 they are 1 month old, are they growing well until now or they should be more grown if i will feed them chick starter?

 

[JanetMarie]

Look at those 3 they are 1 month old, are they growing well until now or they should be more grown if i will feed them chick starter?

I have had some chicks grow up totally on forage like what is in your picture. The reason is that the mom was very shy, and the chicks also were shy and did not want to compete with the feeders, and just wanted to stay away from the others, except at roost time. They grew up normally and healthy, and since they were both boys, we butchered them, and found the organs were healthy, and the birds had good weight on them.