Does anyone feed chickens "the old fashioned" way?

[Wifezilla]

My dad is 83 and I asked him this question as his parents always had chickens. He said they only kept enough over the winter to lay enough eggs for the family and his mom would go out twice a day with fresh thawed water for the hens. Sometimes three times a day depending on how cold it was. They would cull 1/2 of their flock right before winter for food every year about the same time. Then right before spring they would allow a few hens to hatch out a bunch and start all over again. They would then cull the hens that lived through that current winter for the next winters food by that time the new hens would be laying eggs already.

But what did he feed the ones he kept over winter?​

 

[Wildsky]

Quote:
Scratch is considered a treat and not a complete feed.

 

[Wildsky]

I keep feed in my coop 24/7 when there are bugs and grass and other goodies to eat, they chose those first, the feed is more like a suppliment in the summer time. I would hate for my girls to go hungry - and they can't tell me when they are that way, so I will continue to keep food available to them 24/7 no matter what other goodies are available.

 

[NYREDS]

In the early days of farming in America most farms had a flock of nondescript, cross breed chickens for both eggs & meat. These birds were commonly known as "Dung Hills" because that's where they earned their living. They scratched around in piles of dung for bugs & undigested grains from the cattle & horses. This diet was sometimes supplemented with corn &/or other grains. There was no layer mash in those days.

 

[Hangin Wit My Peeps]

But what did he feed the ones he kept over winter?

He said they fed them whatever they ate for dinner

And they said they had corn left on the cob for them. They all did good on that. The only thing he said was his mom would take the food out before flavouring it with salt and pepper or any other spices.​

 

[Cottage Rose]

Try keeping say just 1/2 dozen hens so you
don't have a high feed bill. To get more bang for your buck get some Isa Browns or other production hybrid.
You can get by with less feed if they have alot of forage spring through fall but since you're in the Chicago area you will need to feed your birds during the cold winter months.
You can get whole oats from feed mills or feed dealers
but to be realistic you really need to feed a layer formula during the laying season and you will also need to provide oyster shell when your hens are laying.
If you feed them corn and/or oats or scratch grains (a combo of cracked corn, oats, barley or wheat) all the time, that would be like you living solely on a diet of pancakes.
If you're trying to save money simply keep a small amount of hens. They don't eat that much.

 

[solmate9]

please, can someone help? I'm used to a chat room and I don't know how to do this forum. I am trying to get info about how hard/messy/costly etc it is to raise your own hens for laying. Can anyone help me navigate?

 

[Cottage Rose]

Not sure what you mean by helping you "navigate" (apparently you figured out how to post a message) but chickens are dusty, poop alot and stink.
Its cheaper to buy eggs from the store but if you're an animal lover and like farm fresh eggs buy a few and give it a try.
Theres tons of info on this website and the Internet on raising chickens.
So get busy and do your homework.

 

[lalyswishytail]

I've really enjoyed some of the responses you all have made. I especially like the ones that start, "My grandfather..." or "I asked my dad..." Hearing about people's experiences from the past is exactly what I was hoping to get as a response to 'the old fashioned way.'

I'm not concerned about trying to save money--I'll bet the worst stuff we could give chickens is probably the cheapest. I'm more interested in the reduction of processed food, including processed pet food. The more I learn about how agricultural consumption effects the rest of the world, the more I would like to be able to trace every bit of food I eat, (or give to my future chickens), to the source that it came from. **Bonus points for knowing the name of the person who grows the food! Realistically, I can't trace everything and I'll probably succumb to buying some parts of the chickens' diets from a feed store. On the other hand, I've gotten some really good ideas from people on this and other posts so I think I can minimize the "damage."

Please keep writing more!

 

[Hangin Wit My Peeps]

What I do is try to give my hens a lot of people food like pancakes in the morning or scrambled eggs. Then give them yogurt for a treat for lunch and some corn mixed with some flax seed and sunflower seeds for dinner. They always love something different. In the spring they get watermelon a lot and in the late summer it's pumpkin (also a natural wormer) and in the fall it's apples (we have LOADS of apple trees around the hen house). I always try to find something different that they enjoy. They also forage all summer long (we free range every day) and MAN does the food last WAY longer in the summer