Leasmom1013
Songster
- May 6, 2020
- 67
- 166
- 103
I used to be on this website quite a bit when I had chickens twelve years ago. Everything about raising chickens has changed like fodder and fermenting feed.
I had access to a feed store back then, something I don’t have now. Nor do I have a car. My daughter works six days a week. I babysit my granddaughter at my home three days a week in one state and her father and paternal grandfather watches her three days a week in the other state. I can’t expect my daughter to pick up feed for me across the state line when she’s so busy. That’s where the nearest store is. So I would have to have feed delivered which raises the cost for me. I used to buy the typical feeds but would mix in store bought oats and bird seed which has the black oil seeds, cracked corn, milo and millet. I gave them kitchen scraps as well. I had about sixty chickens back then and only one chicken died on me. I started selling eggs. My egg shells were thick and the eggs were a deep orange. The hens were healthy and happy and disease free. I sold them when I moved out of state back then.
So I’m planning on getting less than six chickens in 2021. I need to find a feed that doesn’t cost much and that I could supplement with store bought additions like oats, lentils, split peas and toss in meal worms. So, I’ve been re-educating myself about Chicken care but I happen upon two different theories. One that chicks and hens must have commercially made feed vs. scratch, fodder and fermented feeds. So many people feel that a mash or pellet is a necessity even though chickens never had this until recently. Another is that scratch is like junk food even though this is some of the foods that chickens ate before commercially made feeds. Fodder and Fermenting are ways of stretching feed. I saw a YouTube video where someone took scratch and grinded up to make a chicken starter. I was thinking, that’s no different than what chicken starter is. But we’re often told that you must buy your feed? But why?
I’m not going to have free range chickens or run in a chicken tractor because I’m disabled and unable to physically move a tractor around. I’m going to have a fixed coop. What I want is a feed recipe that I can afford so it isn’t a high cost like it was previously. I intend to soak the scratch (with less corn and mostly other ingredients in it) overnight to bulk up the feed. Not necessarily fermenting. But I’m planning on adding split peas, oats, and food scraps and garden waste. And possibly adding Apple cider vinegar to their water. In other countries, they too just make their own feed out of whole grains. If worms and bugs are added and I can also make fodder to help. Why isn’t that considered a good feed for them? This is what I’m learning towards.
I had access to a feed store back then, something I don’t have now. Nor do I have a car. My daughter works six days a week. I babysit my granddaughter at my home three days a week in one state and her father and paternal grandfather watches her three days a week in the other state. I can’t expect my daughter to pick up feed for me across the state line when she’s so busy. That’s where the nearest store is. So I would have to have feed delivered which raises the cost for me. I used to buy the typical feeds but would mix in store bought oats and bird seed which has the black oil seeds, cracked corn, milo and millet. I gave them kitchen scraps as well. I had about sixty chickens back then and only one chicken died on me. I started selling eggs. My egg shells were thick and the eggs were a deep orange. The hens were healthy and happy and disease free. I sold them when I moved out of state back then.
So I’m planning on getting less than six chickens in 2021. I need to find a feed that doesn’t cost much and that I could supplement with store bought additions like oats, lentils, split peas and toss in meal worms. So, I’ve been re-educating myself about Chicken care but I happen upon two different theories. One that chicks and hens must have commercially made feed vs. scratch, fodder and fermented feeds. So many people feel that a mash or pellet is a necessity even though chickens never had this until recently. Another is that scratch is like junk food even though this is some of the foods that chickens ate before commercially made feeds. Fodder and Fermenting are ways of stretching feed. I saw a YouTube video where someone took scratch and grinded up to make a chicken starter. I was thinking, that’s no different than what chicken starter is. But we’re often told that you must buy your feed? But why?
I’m not going to have free range chickens or run in a chicken tractor because I’m disabled and unable to physically move a tractor around. I’m going to have a fixed coop. What I want is a feed recipe that I can afford so it isn’t a high cost like it was previously. I intend to soak the scratch (with less corn and mostly other ingredients in it) overnight to bulk up the feed. Not necessarily fermenting. But I’m planning on adding split peas, oats, and food scraps and garden waste. And possibly adding Apple cider vinegar to their water. In other countries, they too just make their own feed out of whole grains. If worms and bugs are added and I can also make fodder to help. Why isn’t that considered a good feed for them? This is what I’m learning towards.
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I think fodder & fermented feed are still popular, as there are always threads popping up on those topics. A lot of folks are more interested in whole grain diets - Scratch & Peck Feeds seems to be quite popular right now, and their organic layer feed is running $24.49, for a 10 pound bag! And that stuff looks like scratch to me - but it's wheat, barley, peas, etc. There are lots of ways to do this. 
