Can my chickens primary feed be wheat?

[Mary Coleman]

Hmm. Interesting why is that? It said on the side of the bag that you can mix it with your normal feed....

 

[pdirt]

And yes. I'm mixing all of those together. So what I'm getting is mix the wheat with layer crumbles and oyster shells and I should be good to go...?

If you do that, you will have too low of a protein content. If it was short term, I wouldn't worry about it, but 300lbs of wheat is a lot of wheat. You will want to boost the protein with an additional ingredient...soybeans (feed grade, they've been heat treated which is necessary), camelina meal and fish meal are a few you could use. See if your feed store can order a bag or two for you. You can make an excel spreadsheet pretty easy to figure out ratios to come up with 16-18% protein content.

 

[JadedPhoenix]

My dad brought home about 300 lbs of wheat. My chickens free range all day and in the afternoon I give them their feed(which is scratch grains, wheat, layer crumbles, and oyster shell, so can I just give them wheat? Or is that not enough?



I've given mine oats so they should be fine. Layer feed is not a make or break you kind of deal. If they are freeranging and are getting their nutritional requirements met then don't worry about just having the grain. For them, the grain is just extra, anyway. Until recent generations, no one bought feed just for the chickens and they all survived just fine. Chickens would do just as you've described, free-ranged during the day and just fed a little extra at night. Too many over-think the feed sometimes. Make sure that your chickens have access to bugs and grubs and the protien will be taken care of.

 

[Mary Coleman]

They also free range on 5 acres, so shouldn't they get enough protein from the bugs and stuff they find?....well besides in winter?

 

[Eggcessive]

Feeding only one grain (wheat) would be a very imbalanced diet, and possibly could be a cause for enteritis. Look at the tag on most feeds, and it will list multiple grains of corn, wheat, and oats, plus all of the added nutrients and vitamins/minerals which should be in the 16-20% protein range. I would probably use some of that winter wheat to sow as a cover flock in my garden, as well as to use for fodder. It can be mixed in a little at a time in your feed or scratch, but I wouldn't feed just the wheat, since wheat is more in the 12 % protein range.

 

[JadedPhoenix]

They also free range on 5 acres, so shouldn't they get enough protein from the bugs and stuff they find?....well besides in winter?

Yes, while free ranging, you'd be surprised what they find for themselves. Plenty of protien. Never had any issues.