Completely lost on what to feed my chickens

[BigBlueHen53]

Thank you so much! When it comes to chickens their food is probably the thing i know least (even though its one of the most important things.) So this is amazing.

I just have one more question, if a chicken is molting, do i need to give different food to her individually or the flock? Sorry if some of my questions seem silly.

There are no silly questions. We were all newbies once, and you need info in order to take optimum care of your flock. Some day soon you'll be helping others along.

It's almost impossible to feed one chicken differently than the rest of the flock unless you isolate her, a bad plan for flock dynamics and also a royal pain. You can increase protein for everyone, it won't hurt them, and chances are if one is molting the others will soon follow anyway..

 

[Ridgerunner]

You are right, it is under specifications and the analysis looks pretty good.

This is the total analysis I saw when I first looked. I did not dig deep enough.

Crude Protein​

17.00%

Crude Fat​

4.00%

Crude Fiber​

6.00%

 

[Chicken poppy]

So how's it going?

Thanks for asking.
I really appreciate everyone taking the time to comment on this thread, im going to re-read everything and gather up the info and see what i can find at TSC. I got busy so i forgot to go shopping for it.

 

[Chicken poppy]

I don't have males but oyster shell on the side 24/7 should provide the calcium needed. I've also started mixing in crushed eggshell as some birds prefer that over oyster.

Dirt is not grit. If you have very hard stones (i.e. granite) in the dirt then that can be used. You're looking for stones around the layer size range.
View attachment 3375841

Since i have a rooster can he have the layer grit as well?
Thanks!

 

[Chicken poppy]

I feed my chickens Eggland's Best Starter/Grower feed which has 19% protein and I feed to all my chickens regardless of age as I never know when a hen will go broody and hatch out chicks. I order mine from Chewy.com and it autoships based on when I need it. I don't keep any boys past 14-16 weeks so I offer a Poultrycal on the side which covers both calcium and grit.

Do whatever works best for you, as long as you are providing your chickens with the nutrients they need, how they get it is up to you.

Best of luck!

If you shop at tractor supply, look for either Nutrena "All flock" or Purina "Flock Raiser", they are both a higher protein feed (20%) without the added calcium. Tractor supply also sell huge 50lb bags of Manna Pro oyster shell.
I use both products and my girls do very well on it.

We don't have all that many options where we live. We take what shows up. To me the brand name is not as important as the % of protein and the mill date. You want what's fresh, as far as the date is concerned.* And as for protein, I'm probably going to confuse you and I'm NOT an expert!**. So consider this a general sorta-introduction by a very green newbie!

Most layer feed (this is the one with calcium) is going to be about 16% protein. You'll also find formulas with 18% and up to 22% protein. The higher protein formulas may variously be labeled something like "Feather Fixer," "Grower," or "Meat Bird." We will use different formulas at different times of the year, depending on what our birds need, as best we can tell.

Before I end I will see if some of our REAL experts will come take over for me before I make a, er, donkey of myself!

I'm glad you're giving your flock calcium and that they like it! But don't forget they need grit too.

@aart
@Ridgerunner

Thank you so much! When it comes to chickens their food is probably the thing i know least (even though its one of the most important things.) So this is amazing.

I just have one more question, if a chicken is molting, do i need to give different food to her individually or the flock? Sorry if some of my questions seem silly.

 

[WI chickens]

I feed layer food all the time to my chickens, with the exception of very young ones that eat starter/grower food, along with whatever kitchen scraps I have. In the summer, they eat lots of weeds, bugs, grass and whatever else they find, and they eat almost no "store bought" chicken food. I've been raising them this way for 15 years or so and my chickens are healthy, happy, and live a long time. People worry more about what they feed their chickens than they do themselves sometimes. My advice is, don't over complicate it.

 

[Sussmarolle]

I use 18% grower for all my flock, with oyster shell on the side for the hens.
This is certainly a good option, but if you only have hens then a good layer feed is also good.

What brand do you like/use? I need to find a new feed for my flock

 

[Sussex19]

What brand do you like/use? I need to find a new feed for my flock

I'm sorry, I live in Australia, and it is a local brand.

 

[Trux]

A while back i had people consistently telling me that i fed my chickens totally wrong by giving them this (i think henhouse reserve) layer feed, that looked like scratch (But isn’t called scratch) saying it would kill my chickens if i gave to much, so i gave more layer feed pellets.

Now i keep hearing that you need to stop using these layer feed pellets (Layena maybe?) because its going to make them stop laying.

Im completely lost here. Its obviously just me and something im not understanding, can someone explain this to me?

The latest I heard has been about TSC (Producers Pride) layer feed. Been several homesteaders saying that they switched from TSC feed to local mill feed or started mixing their own feed and their hens started laying again.
A couple years back I quit feeding TSC feed in the middle of the summer cause my egg production fell off way more than I thought it should have. I went with a local mill feed instead and my egg production went back up, and this is the samething that people are doing now, and they are getting same results. So IMO it isn't B.S.

 

[Blue Ridge Farm]

My chickens stopped laying around the end of July/first of August. I had always fed Dumor and producers Pride when Dumor was out. I've raised or been around chickens my whole life and know they slow down in the winter but I have never had them to almost completely quit laying. I changed over to Sunrise Farms Non-GMO last Friday. Now after one week of the new feed, instead of 1-4 eggs a week from 36 hens, I'm getting 5-10 per day. I am not a conspiracy theorist but something has changed in the feed I used to use. Just my 2 cents!