Chickens for 10-20 years or more? Pull up a rockin' chair and lay some wisdom on us!

[al6517]

I am a wheat straw hay guy myself, it just works best for me for several reasons. I am fortunate enough to be able to cut & bale my own, so it's readily available and aside from a few gallons of deisel fuel and some time it's economical. I get to use the leftovers in the compost pile then to the garden. The birds like picking the seed from it, it's compfy and dry and makes great nest material. it's not dusty and is easy to manage. So yeah I guess you could say I am a straw guy. I just moved 20 bale from the stack barn to the side of the breeder barn for use the rest of the summer.

 

[MagicChicken]

No I don't think most of them do, it really depends on several factors. if your looking to correct an issue such as an injury or an illness then a temperary addition to their feed may be warranted. Then if your conditioning your birds for a particular reason, or possibly to speed up a particularly nasty molt. but for the most part if your birds are otherwise healthy and content and if you feed real chicken feed of decent quality properly, and avoid excessive feed treating, they will be just hunky dory. There are many times during the year when I feed simple ration and at times do some custom mixing for particular reasons. But for the most part basic rations will sufice for many ordinary flocks.

Time for a dumb newbie question: How do you tell what is "real chicken feed of decent quality"? Reading feed labels gets me confused because I don't know what I am looking for. I am currently using a basic layer pellet with 16% protein because that is readily available in feed stores nearby. The forage quality on my land is awful - scorched-earth desert - so the birds get most of their nutrition from what I feed them. I do supplement the pellets with greens and other veggies because the forage here is so bad.

My gut is telling me the hens need more protein. They are mature birds, about 2 years old, going through a partial molt, and still laying 3-4 eggs/week each in this heat. One of them is periodically short on calcium despite the free choice oyster shell they have available. (She is next in line for the stew pot if those eggshells don't thicken up soon.) I would like to feed them "real chicken feed of decent quality" and cut back on the supplements if I could figure out what "decent quality" feed actually is. I suspect it is not the basic layer pellets they have been getting, but I could be wrong.

I'm trying to work out the kinks in my chicken-keeping skills before I invest in good quality birds. Advice would be most appreciated!

Thanks,
Sarah

 

[20736]

I think the underlying theme here is you almost have to buy what is available at the feed store. My local family-owned stores will order almost anything with a minimum order (like 4-5 bags) and a 1 week delivery time.
That said, I did find an organic crumbles that is 22% crude protein, and they were stocking it. It is being used with turkey chicks and Welsummer chicks with great results.
SO, my suggestion: ask your feed store what they can special order for you. Hopefully, you have a place you can safely store the extra feed in until you need it. If you plan carefully, you should be able to come up with a perfect feed for you.

 

[Clay Mudd]

Time for a dumb newbie question: How do you tell what is "real chicken feed of decent quality"?

I'm going to go way out on a limb here and predict a huge variety of answers.

Wonder if we'll see that 400-ingredient organic hippy recipe?

 

[thedragonlady]

Nesting material?

What nesting material do you prefer?

We always had straw. Either oat or wheat. We have also used hay and dried grass clippings. Tried apice of carpet and did not like using it. After over 30 years with poultry I keep going back to straw.

Good clean wheat straw with NO mold. I also use it under the roosts on top of DE. Every morning I shake out the straw. The droppings fall through the dry straw into the DE. NO flies. Once every 2 weeks I flip the straw to the side and sweep out the droppings. They go on the garden. The still clean straw is scattered again, and more added if needed. A wire bound bale of straw lasts me about 4 months for 25 birds. The trick is to have a ledge board to keep the straw in the roosts, and nest boxes. Nothing but dry sand in my covered yards.Wet, decomposing straw or shavings mixed with droppings = flies and smell.

 

[thedragonlady]

I use it as well. I am on adobe, so during the winter I have to use straw to build a substrate to keep the birds off the mud. When the ground is full of water it just starts to puddle. Straw is the only thing that lasts here...I just keep adding to it and during the summer I let the chickens plow it up so that I can shovel it out and put it in the garden.I throw scratch into the middle of it and the birds do the rest. It has the consistency of potting soil by then. I have some 20' X 40'...or so flight pens that I have to cover with straw during the rains, so I use a lot of straw to keep the birds clean and the white ones white.

Walt

Walt,
In red Georgia clay I used marble dust, or white crusher run in the runs. NO mud, and it kept the white birds,very white.

 

[thedragonlady]

Time for a dumb newbie question: How do you tell what is "real chicken feed of decent quality"? Reading feed labels gets me confused because I don't know what I am looking for. I am currently using a basic layer pellet with 16% protein because that is readily available in feed stores nearby. The forage quality on my land is awful - scorched-earth desert - so the birds get most of their nutrition from what I feed them. I do supplement the pellets with greens and other veggies because the forage here is so bad.

My gut is telling me the hens need more protein. They are mature birds, about 2 years old, going through a partial molt, and still laying 3-4 eggs/week each in this heat. One of them is periodically short on calcium despite the free choice oyster shell they have available. (She is next in line for the stew pot if those eggshells don't thicken up soon.) I would like to feed them "real chicken feed of decent quality" and cut back on the supplements if I could figure out what "decent quality" feed actually is. I suspect it is not the basic layer pellets they have been getting, but I could be wrong.

I'm trying to work out the kinks in my chicken-keeping skills before I invest in good quality birds. Advice would be most appreciated!

Thanks,
Sarah

Sarah,
Try adding a 1/2 handful of Calf Manna per bird to your feed. You won't believe the difference.

 

[bruceh]

here is a question on feed. most people buy layer feed, starter, grower, flock raiser because that is what is told to them to use. so what is the difference ?

 

[galanie]

I'm holding off my opinion of quality feeds because I'm not an old timer. Observation will tell you a lot though.

There is a local feed mill for which the differences in the layer, grower, and starter are none except for this: Grower is the plain feed. Layer has more calcium. And starter has Amiprolum as a medication. All are 18% protien.

Across the different brands you'll see differences in protien but really what it boils down to is that flock raiser and grower are basically the same thing and at their bases, all chicken feed is pretty much the same feed except that layer has extra calcium and starter is medicated. There's a simple basic answer.

Yes, I know I'm not an OT and I know there are other differences but this starts it out, just boiling it down to the minimal basics.

 

[fowlman01]

Walt,
In red Georgia clay I used marble dust, or white crusher run in the runs. NO mud, and it kept the white birds,very white.

I haven't used marble dust, but anything hard/heavy goes to China to never be seen again. In my covered pens I can use anything, but these large flight pens are open to the elements. There is no smell or flies. I have it down on how often to add straw etc. By summer it is the nicest soil you would ever want for a garden.
I had tons of sand and pea gravel put in this place at the beginning and it is all done after the first good rain. The only thing that comes UP is large rocks for some reason. They also come from China I expect since I don't have any here until they push up out of the ground. All the gates have an adjustment of at least a 1/4" to compensate for the ground swelling and contracting. Right now you would need a jackhammer to dig in this stuff but when it rains it will literally pull your boot off.

Walt