do you feed your chickens scratch in the summer months?

[bucky52]

Thanks for all the information on the scratch.I have 10 hens and I usually give them a cup every morning.I sprinkle it in their run after I have fed them their layer.

 

[bluemini]

This may sound dumb,but if your not feeding scratch,what do they eat ,grain wise? I have young chicks(3 months) so they are on grower,do they switch to just layer or?

 

[centrarchid]

This may sound dumb,but if your not feeding scratch,what do they eat ,grain wise? I have young chicks(3 months) so they are on grower,do they switch to just layer or?

The use of the term "scratch" is often used interchangeably with "incomplete diet". If you go free-range with quality forage you can go that way just fine. If you know how to do it or have a formulation that has been proven, then you can provide a mixture of course / intact grains and a few other feedstuffs that provide complete nutrition (all the birds need). Otherwise, especially with young birds in confinement, you need to go the complete formulated route that is based on a mixture of ground feed-stuffs and is usually purchased from a feed miller.


With my confined birds they get a grower until their adult feathers are nearly in. Then intact grains (whole corn, oats, millet, black oil sunflower seed) and alfalfa pellets are mixed in effectively diluting the dietary protein level down in the range of 12 to 14%. If they are expected to be in lay then dilution will make so dietary protein level is in the 14 to 16% range and they are given free-choice access to oyster. Whenever they go into heavy molt or have health issues then I raise protein level up in the 18 to 20% range. I go higher on protein than is recommended because my birds live outdoors where they also tangle with parasites which is very different from the more controlled life of production flocks that are fed optimally for such milder situations.

 

[Inmybackyard]

OMGosh! That is so good to know. My husband pulled a scab smaller than a pencil eraser and all we saw was a yellow corn colored thing (the core) it was flat, but it didn't come out when he puled the scab off. Do you scoop the hole in the foot to make sure all of the infection and core is out? How do you control the bleeding?
Thanks!

 

[humphrey farms]

You could try feeding oats during the summer instead of scratch. I use scratch as a extra during the long cold months aw well as BOSS and layer feed.