Dixie Chicks

[hennible]

ok I am feel totally ignorant in asking this however............when I go to my local feed store they say there is no intermediate feed between chick starter and layer.........I thought there was a grower pellet?

There should be a grower pellet... My feed store was out of it and I had to go with one that looks like multi-purpose for hogs chickens ducks geese etc. etc.

Oh, and free calcium offered. Grit we don't have separately, but there's sand under the straw in the run.

Yes free choice calcium in my coupe as well and they have a dust bath full of sand and a dirt floor for grit.

 

[perchie.girl]

I know that many of us have many different styles of how we feed our chickens, what we feed them and why we feed them what we feed them, I was hoping perhaps everyone would share their method on how they feed their chicken and a bit of why they do it.......Noone has the end all be all method but we ALL have a method that works for us........would love to hear from everyone on the matter? Also maybe some methods you have tried and why they didnt work out for you?


oh and good morning one and all @Alaskan @hennible @Beer can @vehve @Outpost JWB @BriardChickens @NotAFarm @Peep_Show @tntchix @idiotswife @Double Kindness @perchie.girl @JW12 @Sharps Big 50 @bamadude @Aliciahess @Sarah1031 @chickwhispers



and anyone else I forgot as I am waking up

when I have chickens again my plan is to free feed flock raiser.... Because I have a mixed coop. Guineas Chickens and quite possibly Turkeys. I will also have a bachelor coop for extra roos.

Flock raiser will be free fed..... then each partition will have oyster shell. I dont need grit because my property is on Decomposed granite.... Lots of little rock particles to provide grit inside the coop and outside....

If I figure out how to automate fermented feed I will be doing that.

but for me simpler is better.

Oh and out in the run I hope to have a deer feeder that will chime every time it dispenses feed. That will have scratch in it. If I can condition them to come to the chime I will be able to allow them to free range....

deb

 

[Amberjem]

The Nissan is great in snow, even though it's not a real terrain vehicle, the 4WD is good enough to not get in trouble as long as there's something resembling a road underneath you. The Peugeot can be a bit trickier in deep snow.


Our feeding is hippy dippy grain mix in one feeder, 27% protein condensed feed in another one (both are the no waste bucket feeder types), and then they usually get some sort of mash (mostly a 50-50 mix of those two feed) every day. Plus we throw some whole oats in the run for them to dig around in the straw. Not with chicks they're getting slightly more interesting food, egg, more veggies, berries etc.

lol hippy dippy lol? .. I wanted to try to find a scratch multi grain feed for giving and for sprouting........I'm at a loss with their very limited chicken food options.........

 

[Amberjem]

when I have chickens again my plan is to free feed flock raiser.... Because I have a mixed coop. Guineas Chickens and quite possibly Turkeys. I will also have a bachelor coop for extra roos.

Flock raiser will be free fed..... then each partition will have oyster shell. I dont need grit because my property is on Decomposed granite.... Lots of little rock particles to provide grit inside the coop and outside....

If I figure out how to automate fermented feed I will be doing that.

but for me simpler is better.

Oh and out in the run I hope to have a deer feeder that will chime every time it dispenses feed. That will have scratch in it. If I can condition them to come to the chime I will be able to allow them to free range....

deb

kewl I been doing similar thing when I feed the scratch I just use a series of whistles.. I think it is doing pretty good I can walk them around my backyard now and whistle and they generally all follow me around............

 

[vehve]

Jem, it's a grain mix made from locally produced non-GMO grains, might even be organic, I don't remember. But the kind of food a hippie would be comfortable feeding their chickens. The condensed feed balances it out though, I think it's like 200% GMO soy and something, probably imported from China where it's produced in some oil refinery or something. The price would at least lean towards that, we paid maybe 20 euros for a 40 kg sack of the stuff.

 

[hennible]

when I have chickens again my plan is to free feed flock raiser....  Because I have a mixed coop.   Guineas Chickens and quite possibly Turkeys.  I will also have a bachelor coop for extra roos.

Flock raiser will be free fed.....  then each partition will have oyster shell.   I dont need grit because my property is on Decomposed granite....  Lots of little rock particles to provide grit inside the coop and outside.... 

If I figure out how to automate fermented feed I will be doing that.

but for me simpler is better.

Oh and out in the run I hope to have a deer feeder that will chime every time it dispenses feed.  That will have scratch in it.  If I can condition them to come to the chime I will be able to allow them to free range.... 

deb

Something that's neat about my FF feeder is even when it's really warm the stuff doesn't go bad... I think it has something to do with the exposure to the air... I put some FF out for my older chicks and they weren't that interested in it and they left it, within two days it was fuzzy with white mild... but the stuff that I make in my feeders sits for weeks and has never developed mold.
Have you looked at the big swine feeders? the automated ones that dispense slop?

 

[perchie.girl]

@Amberjem I free freed my chickens layer diet in the coop. Reason for that is that it's simply too cold to even open the coop door. Free feeding layer diet seems to work with my schedule and especially in this cold weather here I'd rather they have food available at all times to keep warm.

They also get ~1 cup of grains every few days which they scratch for on the coop floor. Or some "fresh" cow fat/meat from the butcher on those really cold days. (or when I remember to thaw it out, so about once a week).

I also sprout 2 trays of wheat for them and try to rotate one tray into the days where they don't get scratch grains or other kitchen scraps. They get more scraps on days where I don't work as I spent more time in the kitchen. From now on every other weekend!

oh Yeah I forgot to add.... because there is so little green in the summer here I put out a half a flake of hay in each partition for them to dig in... I buy alfalfa for that for the leaves. Since I was feeding my goats Alfalfa it was a win win. But now that I dont have goats One bale of Alfalfa should last me almost a whole summer...

Though Katee LOVES alfalfa I may start feeding her a flake a day. she normally gets alll the bermuda she wants. Typically the best way to feed horses is Half and half here. Because there is no pasture. Free feed bermuda and then give about a ten pound flake of Alfalfa sometime during the day. It balances out the calcium and phosporous ratio.

Edited to add: For those who don't know about Alfalfa, or Lucern, It is a legume and is very high in protien and minerals.... can be used as a complete feed for both cows and horses... With only an addition of a mineral salt to complete the diet.

Its so rich its often used as a cover crop for fields. Grow it up and bale it for feed Here, in the desert, we can get five or six cuttings off it..... then plow it under to replenish the soil.

deb

 

[BriardChickens]

I make it in The coop when it is warm enough. Now I make it in the boot room. But if you want check out my FF feeder thread you could make it in your coop too
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/931194/fermented-feed-feeder
The feeder works well until it hit -10 for a few days in a row...

Brilliant, mom brought me some large ice cream pails like yours. The ice cream store sells them 4 for a dollar in Victoria!

How long does your pail last your chickens?

 

[BriardChickens]

oh Yeah I forgot to add.... because there is so little green in the summer here I put out a half a flake of hay in each partition for them to dig in... I buy alfalfa for that for the leaves. Since I was feeding my goats Alfalfa it was a win win. But now that I dont have goats One bale of Alfalfa should last me almost a whole summer...

Though Katee LOVES alfalfa I may start feeding her a flake a day. she normally gets alll the bermuda she wants. Typically the best way to feed horses is Half and half here. Because there is no pasture. Free feed bermuda and then give about a ten pound flake of Alfalfa sometime during the day. It balances out the calcium and phosporous ratio.

deb

As in alfalfa hay? Or a pellet form?

I am not feeding enough green I think, the yolks in my eggs aren't as dark as I would expect them to be..

 

[perchie.girl]

ok I am feel totally ignorant in asking this however............when I go to my local feed store they say there is no intermediate feed between chick starter and layer.........I thought there was a grower pellet?

They may not know.... talk to the manager or the buyer for the feed store. they will know. but I usually mixed the chick feed with flock raiser till the chick feed is gone... Maybe I was wrong....

deb