Fat Chickens Are Not On My To-Do List

[ChickenKABOOM]

Wait, of course, chickens get fat too.
I just got two Isa Browns today, beautiful things. We put the startled pullers into their coop and went to go get their food. We were stopped soon after when my grandfather insited that the scratch mix we were going to feed them, although full of nutrients, was far too fatty. It was 19% fat instead of 16% percent fat. I'm not keen on our 20 week ur old chickens getting overweight, especially in the blazing Australian summers they'll have to ordeal. Apparently this is how it goes:
+20% fat, chickens get overweight.
-16% fat, they become under nourished.
We plan to supplement their scratch with plenty of chicken safe scraps.
Please jive me some advice,
Thx BYC!!!

 

[JanetMarie]

Fat doesn't make fat. That is based on faulty and outdated studies. That is the case in all living creatures. Excessive carbohydrates end up as sugar in the bloodstream, and triggers the body to store fat. When giving table scraps, don't give excessive carbohydrates.

 

[Cindy in PA]

Are you sure you are not talking about protein percentage? Seems like an awful high fat % for any scratch.

 

[Mak24456]

Regardless of the fat content, you should not be feeding them scratch as their primary feed. Scratch is a treat, and isn't complete in nutrients, especially lacking in protein. They should be eating grower or layer, depending on whether they are laying or not. Are you sure the food you have is scratch?

 

[ChickenKABOOM]

Thanks guys,
I feed my chickens scratch, but they also eat a lot of veggies. The protein is pretty high on the scratch, which, I guess is what Isa Browns need a lot of. We give them peas, which are also high in protein. What should the main feed be?

 

[donrae]

I'm also wondering about this feed. Scratch is a mix of grains, where is all this fat coming from? A quick search of Purina scratch shows it runs more like 2%, so do most others I saw.

Agree scratch is not a complete chicken feed. You'll get better results feeding either a good grower, or if they are all laying you can use layer feed. If you're going to supplement heavily with scraps, I'd go the grower route unless you're going to be giving your birds a lot of protein in scraps.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Assuming they're not laying yet their primary food should be grower or all-flock chicken feed. If they will be free ranging or kept in an area with lots of greenery a lot they'll fill up on forage as well, if you aren't going that route they'll enjoy some leafy greens or fruits in moderation. Scratch is like chicken candy and I've only started giving mine scratch, maybe just 1 Tbsp a day for 4 chickens, to keep them busy while I check their coop in the morning.

 

[ChickenKABOOM]

Hmm, definitely going to have to change their diets around, luckily it's only day two!

 

[ChickenKABOOM]

WAIT!!! Biggest mistake guys, sorry:/:/
The feed it 2.5% fat and only 10% protein.
It that enough protein?

 

[wamtazlady]

That is not nearly enough protein. I normally feed 18% protein feed, although some chicken feeds come as low as 16%. The girls are just coming out of molt so I've upped them to a 21% feed to help them get over it faster.