Chicken Feed + Water = Crazy feeding frenzy... why?

[Misfits Farm 92]

Mine love rasins, bread, BOSS, mealworms, pumkins (including the seeds), and bananas. The quail will eat the bananas but also like crickets.

 

[Mimi13]

Soaked feed is a huge treat to them, which makes it a great way to tempt a "down" bird without using foods that are lacking nutritional value. It's also a great way to assure good hydration if you're not sure enough is being taken as straight water

Funny you should mention that. Every time I let my broody out she does not drink any water; however, she does eat the soupy feed. And her broody poops contain plenty of urates so I guess she’s good.

 

[NNYchick]

Mine love there mornings mash. I add just enough water to make it warm a soft but not soupy. Funny thing is they won’t touch fermented feed but gobble this up. Sometimes if I have a lot of eggs that need to be used up I scramble those add it in, pour some kefir on it, or sprinkle dry herbs on it but 90% of the time it’s just their feed and water. I use plastic chip and dip bowls I got at the thrift store to serve it.

 

[Shadrach]

I feed mash. A while ago I tried fully fermented feed. I read stuff about how much better it was for the chickens etc. I also read quite a few comments saying how much less feed got used by feeding mash, or fermented feed. There must be something wrong with the chickens here. The amount of feed eaten since making mash is almost double.
While it’s great that the chickens like it and consequently have put on a little more weight there are a few disadvantages that I haven’t seen mentioned.
1) if your chickens are free range and you change to mash and they like it your feed costs will go up.
2) the poop becomes noticeably wetter and this means poop in the coop is wetter and that means the air in the coop carries more moisture; not necessarily bad, but it has meant for me the coops need cleaning out more often. I want the coops to be as dry as is reasonable.
3) the chickens here are foraging less. This is good because they spend less time exposed to predators but not so good because they eat less of the food stuffs that free ranging provides. My view is commercial feeds don’t supply everything a chicken needs for a long and healthy life. It may be fine for egg production and for particular

 

[Acre4Me]

I feed mash. A while ago I tried fully fermented feed. I read stuff about how much better it was for the chickens etc. I also read quite a few comments saying how much less feed got used by feeding mash, or fermented feed. There must be something wrong with the chickens here. The amount of feed eaten since making mash is almost double.
While it’s great that the chickens like it and consequently have put on a little more weight there are a few disadvantages that I haven’t seen mentioned.
1) if your chickens are free range and you change to mash and they like it your feed costs will go up.
2) the poop becomes noticeably wetter and this means poop in the coop is wetter and that means the air in the coop carries more moisture; not necessarily bad, but it has meant for me the coops need cleaning out more often. I want the coops to be as dry as is reasonable.
3) the chickens here are foraging less. This is good because they spend less time exposed to predators but not so good because they eat less of the food stuffs that free ranging provides. My view is commercial feeds don’t supply everything a chicken needs for a long and healthy life. It may be fine for egg production and for particular

Sounds like you just need to feed less mash - more like a treat.

Although feeds in Spain may not meet the needs of your flock (in your view), in the US, there are a variety of feed choices that are formulated to provide chickens 100% of their needs, for all types, genders, ages. Besides, free range is a bit of a relative term. The urbanite with 0.25 acre lot free ranges in their small backyard, just as well as a rural person free ranges a 3 acre parcel they happen to have available.

 

[MissChick@dee]

I know~right?
I had seen posts about it for a long time and thought well if I ever have a situation where I need to do it I will (injury to beak or non eating hen).
Well when it got down into the single digits I thought something warm would be nice. To say they loved it is an understatement! Just like you no squabbling no concerns about pecking order they just devoured it.
The best thing for me is I am really cutting back on treats and my homemade food for them. I want them to have a long healthy life. So to know they start the day with a belly (or crop) full of their well balanced feed makes me feel good on every level!
I just don’t know why I didn’t do it years ago. It’s a win win situation.

 

[cmom]

90% of the time it’s just their feed and water. I use plastic chip and dip bowls I got at the thrift store to serve it.
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Great idea, I wish I had thought of it.

 

[NNYchick]

I started doing it because I hated to waste all the dusty fines left over in the bag that nobody will eat. I don’t find my feed consumption any higher but my chickens aren’t free range full time and my winters are harsh with nothing green or bugs available from November to late April. My chickens poop is still well formed and not runny maybe because I don’t serve it soupy.

 

[MissChick@dee]

How does this work in colder temperatures? Will the mash freeze and then starve the hens because it can't be eaten? My hens love mash in the summertime and it would be nice to not waste so much when the dry stuff flings all over...but how long does it last outdoors?

Here’s the weird thing. Mine doesn’t freeze. I don’t make it soupy. Hard to describe more fluffy and wet. Too much water and it does freeze. I microwave mine after it’s soaked. Fluff with a fork. You kinda have to play around with it... once you’ve got an eye for it you’ll know.

 

[Shadrach]

The urbanite with 0.25 acre lot free ranges in their small backyard, just as well as a rural person free ranges a 3 acre parcel they happen to have available.

I think the truth in this rather depends on how many chickens you have for a given amount of land and what grows and lives in the soil.
There are a variety of feeds available here. The problem is most are vegetable and grain based. Chickens are omnivorous by nature so I like them to get the odd mouse, cricket, ant, worm, etc from time to time.