Everyone, post your best homemade chicken feed recipes!

[farmer jon1]

I agree with ShanandGem about upset tums. If i give my girls too much watermelon or other veg they get very runny poop.

I get that way too if I eat too much watermelon. LOL.

 

[PluckyJen]

 I get that way too if I eat too much watermelon. LOL.

LOL

 

[ladyearth]

Pinkie Lee died less than an hour ago I was there to clean poo trays and yard for poo. That she was under the shelter by herself..I noticed when I went out after twelve she was quiet....
So I picked her up (NO PROTOTESTING at all) Thank you God for letting me notice her... So she died in my arms whie I was sitting outside and holding rocking her, showing her to Hubby So she didnt die alone. I called her my" Poster chicken "Cause she was so sweet, the only Broody one so far. She would peck at my skirt when I sit out there with them
I called the vet visited last year. We put her in a cooler in a clear plastic bag with Blue ice under her. We will take her to vet tomorrow and he will send her off to stat lab at Murray State..
so sad even Hubby sad
I dont believe she had the runny poo out the 7.... I believed she was the only one laying too. Got an egg a day lately.
thanks for listening.

 

[kconley]

I have no problem paying for chicken feed. I feed my flock corn and laying crumbles, and I feel like I'm paying a fair price for what they get.

My hens also get to free range in the summer, so their diets are supplemented by the bugs they find. Our house has close to zero food waste; any scraps go to the chickens! They love just about everything. I'd be wary about feeding any chocolate to them, since I know it's toxic to some animals, and they avoid citrus fruits, but other than that, the chickens eat great!

 

[PluckyJen]

Pinkie Lee died less than an hour ago I was  there to clean poo trays and yard for poo. That she was under the shelter by herself..I noticed when I went out after twelve she was quiet....
  So I picked her up (NO PROTOTESTING at all) Thank you God for letting me notice her... So she died in my arms whie I was sitting outside and holding rocking her,  showing her to Hubby So she didnt die alone. I called her my" Poster chicken "Cause she was so sweet, the only Broody one so far. She would peck at my skirt when I sit out there with them
    I called the vet visited last year. We put her in a cooler in a clear plastic bag with Blue ice under her.  We will take her to vet tomorrow and he will send her off to stat lab at Murray State.. 
  so sad even Hubby sad
 I dont believe she had the runny poo out the 7.... I believed she was the only one laying too. Got an egg a day lately.
thanks for listening.

Oh this is so sad. Im so very sorry for your loss

 

[PluckyJen]

Got to our health store today in town. Iv got a mix of :
Sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, popped brown rice, crushed corn, sesame seeds, flax and rolled oats. This will b a small treat for them during day as they are eating mainly fruit and veg plus foraging in garden at mo.

 

[chickengr]

Pinkie Lee died less than an hour ago I was there to clean poo trays and yard for poo. That she was under the shelter by herself..I noticed when I went out after twelve she was quiet....
So I picked her up (NO PROTOTESTING at all) Thank you God for letting me notice her... So she died in my arms whie I was sitting outside and holding rocking her, showing her to Hubby So she didnt die alone. I called her my" Poster chicken "Cause she was so sweet, the only Broody one so far. She would peck at my skirt when I sit out there with them
I called the vet visited last year. We put her in a cooler in a clear plastic bag with Blue ice under her. We will take her to vet tomorrow and he will send her off to stat lab at Murray State..
so sad even Hubby sad
I dont believe she had the runny poo out the 7.... I believed she was the only one laying too. Got an egg a day lately.
thanks for listening.

sorry for your loss. at least she didn't die alone.

tell us the results when you get them.

 

[WPFarmstead]

I have no problem paying for chicken feed. I feed my flock corn and laying crumbles, and I feel like I'm paying a fair price for what they get.

My hens also get to free range in the summer, so their diets are supplemented by the bugs they find. Our house has close to zero food waste; any scraps go to the chickens! They love just about everything. I'd be wary about feeding any chocolate to them, since I know it's toxic to some animals, and they avoid citrus fruits, but other than that, the chickens eat great!

I'm still trying to figure out who is throwing away chocolate lol Citrus should be fed in small amounts or not at all, as it makes the egg shells thin. Dunno exactly why, just know it happens.

 

[Foristers]

This is a good thread for me to examine more. This is a list of just some of the "Ingredients" in the bag of feed that my chickens are now eating: salt, thiamine Mononitron, pyridoxine hydrocloride, D-Calcium pantothenate, Manadione sodium bisulfites complex. yadda yadda

Anyway. I tore the label off of my bag of feed after I noticed that my pullets stopped growing (now my roosters are doing just fine). I have that label on this desk in front of me or else I would have never been able to recount all those ingredient names. I know that somehow chickens found a way to survive for thousands of years without having to consume ethylenediamine dihydriodide. So why does the lady at the local Feed & Seed feel that it is so important that I feed it to my chickens now?

I tried a little bit to feed my chickens acrons collected from the woods nearby and they did like the ones picked from white oak trees and live oaks. I would like to feed them more beech nuts also, from beech trees. I can raise earthworms and crickets and perhaps mealworms also. I am growing winter red wheat specifically for the chicken's feed next year but I cannot report on its success yet. I like the idea of finding the things that you can grow during the winter months to help their diet and red hard wheat is excellent for that. I aim to pull my chickens off of commercial feeds and see what natural options can do.

 

[chickengr]

This is a good thread for me to examine more. This is a list of just some of the "Ingredients" in the bag of feed that my chickens are now eating: salt, thiamine Mononitron, pyridoxine hydrocloride, D-Calcium pantothenate, Manadione sodium bisulfites complex. yadda yadda

Anyway. I tore the label off of my bag of feed after I noticed that my pullets stopped growing (now my roosters are doing just fine). I have that label on this desk in front of me or else I would have never been able to recount all those ingredient names. I know that somehow chickens found a way to survive for thousands of years without having to consume ethylenediamine dihydriodide. So why does the lady at the local Feed & Seed feel that it is so important that I feed it to my chickens now?

I tried a little bit to feed my chickens acrons collected from the woods nearby and they did like the ones picked from white oak trees and live oaks. I would like to feed them more beech nuts also, from beech trees. I can raise earthworms and crickets and perhaps mealworms also. I am growing winter red wheat specifically for the chicken's feed next year but I cannot report on its success yet. I like the idea of finding the things that you can grow during the winter months to help their diet and red hard wheat is excellent for that. I aim to pull my chickens off of commercial feeds and see what natural options can do.

good idea!

my result is I have got winter layers while a friend of mine who is feeding commercial feed is waiting for the spring.

I feed my chickens whole corn, red wheat (soaked or fermented when I have time), barly (20%) and oats. I sometimes use cornmeal and put herbs, cayenne pepper, black pepper, clove, cinnamon and garlic (not all of them at once). for proteins I boil eggs twice a week. in winter I give them some BOSS. fresh greens/fruits/vegetables as a treat.