Actually chickens prefer wheat to corn and wheat is better suited to them. But corn is, or has been tradtionally cheaper. It is also a more regional crop, grown widely, so can be available locally all over the country.
It should not be the only part of their diet you offer them, however. Chickens will deplete a range of edibles in a short time. Anyone who keeps them confined in a run will attest to their abilty to strip a landscape bare. Given this ability, and since it takes an acre to totally free range just 2-3 chickens, its safe to say that most people should give their chickens something to eat.
That shoud be chicken feed, not corn alone.
One way to feed them is to give them a feeder full of ALL Purpose feed, a hopper of grain (corn, wheat or whatever is affordable) and a container of oyster shell grit. Here's the logic behind this method:
For my hens, I use the three-feeder system. I have one feeder full of 19% protein "All Purpose Poultry" pellets, one feeder full of whatever whole grain is cheapest (usually corn), and one feeder full of oystershell. You can replace the "All Purpose Poultry" ration with a high-protein layer ration.
The reason I do this is that chickens have a definite calcium appetite (oystershells), energy appetite (grain), and protein appetite (high-protein poultry ration). A hen who lays an egg a day will eat far more calcium than one who lays an egg a week. If the only source of calcium is the chicken feed, she will eat feed just for its calcium, and get fat. With calcium offered on the side in the form of oystershell, she can eat the calcium she wants without unwanted calories. Similarly, a hen who is not laying at the moment wants little calcium or protein, and will eat mostly grain, which is cheaper than the other ingredients.
Furthermore, forage is high in protein. When the pasture plants are bright green and succulent, or when there are lots of slow-moving bugs and worms around, the hens get a lot of protein by foraging, turn up their noses at the pellets, and eat mostly forage and whole grain. When the pasture plants turn brown and the insects move too fast, they fall back on the pellets.
For pullet chicks, I feed chick starter for several weeks, then offer grain in a separate feeder. Once the chicks go onto pasture, they get the same ration as the hens.
Broiler chicks start with a 22% broiler starter, graduate to a 20% broiler grower ration, which is later supplemented with whole grains.
Turkeys are similar to broilers: start with a 28% turkey starter, graduate to a 20% broiler grower, which is later supplemented with whole grains.
All my poultry also have access to range.
-- Bob Plamondon
www.plamondon.com
It should not be the only part of their diet you offer them, however. Chickens will deplete a range of edibles in a short time. Anyone who keeps them confined in a run will attest to their abilty to strip a landscape bare. Given this ability, and since it takes an acre to totally free range just 2-3 chickens, its safe to say that most people should give their chickens something to eat.
That shoud be chicken feed, not corn alone.
One way to feed them is to give them a feeder full of ALL Purpose feed, a hopper of grain (corn, wheat or whatever is affordable) and a container of oyster shell grit. Here's the logic behind this method:
For my hens, I use the three-feeder system. I have one feeder full of 19% protein "All Purpose Poultry" pellets, one feeder full of whatever whole grain is cheapest (usually corn), and one feeder full of oystershell. You can replace the "All Purpose Poultry" ration with a high-protein layer ration.
The reason I do this is that chickens have a definite calcium appetite (oystershells), energy appetite (grain), and protein appetite (high-protein poultry ration). A hen who lays an egg a day will eat far more calcium than one who lays an egg a week. If the only source of calcium is the chicken feed, she will eat feed just for its calcium, and get fat. With calcium offered on the side in the form of oystershell, she can eat the calcium she wants without unwanted calories. Similarly, a hen who is not laying at the moment wants little calcium or protein, and will eat mostly grain, which is cheaper than the other ingredients.
Furthermore, forage is high in protein. When the pasture plants are bright green and succulent, or when there are lots of slow-moving bugs and worms around, the hens get a lot of protein by foraging, turn up their noses at the pellets, and eat mostly forage and whole grain. When the pasture plants turn brown and the insects move too fast, they fall back on the pellets.
For pullet chicks, I feed chick starter for several weeks, then offer grain in a separate feeder. Once the chicks go onto pasture, they get the same ration as the hens.
Broiler chicks start with a 22% broiler starter, graduate to a 20% broiler grower ration, which is later supplemented with whole grains.
Turkeys are similar to broilers: start with a 28% turkey starter, graduate to a 20% broiler grower, which is later supplemented with whole grains.
All my poultry also have access to range.
-- Bob Plamondon
www.plamondon.com
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