Feed for Longevity

[kwhites634]

Yes, I think so.

'Tis true

 

[kwhites634]

I agree. Mine are currently on half layer/half grower, but only 2/3 are laying right now due to molt. I’d like to find an all flock raiser, as the grower I buy is 22% protein and I wonder if it has issues of its own.

Mine, rooster, juvies & hens, are on 20% Flock Balancer, from the local co-op, free choice, year 'round, plus all-day free range when the predator activity is down.

 

[DobieLover]

My DH and I eat a paleo diet. My dogs and cat are fed a BARF (biologically appropriate raw food) diet. I couldn't, in good conscience, just toss pre-made food to my chickens any more than I would eat it. I don't like the ingredients listed on the bags of commercially prepared feeds.
I KNOW that many here advise against mixing homemade feed. But I have had my flock of 9 chickens on my own homemade mix since they were 7.5 weeks old. I ferment this feed and they are very healthy birds. No illnesses at all. I've had two different "chicken" people meet my flock for different reasons and both kept commenting on how beautiful my birds are.
They used to free-range but I only let them out for about 1 - 2 hours in the evening now. They are confined to a 1/4 acre pen but there is still a ton of green grass, plants and critters available to them.
I just picked up 3 new girls to add to the flock. They are 2 leghorns and one CA white (a LH hybrid). I know they are a more petite bird than my breeds but they are roughly 2 months older than mine and about 1/2 the size or less.
No more data than that but until something changes, I'm staying my current course.

 

[chuckachucka]

My DH and I eat a paleo diet. My dogs and cat are fed a BARF (biologically appropriate raw food) diet. I couldn't, in good conscience, just toss pre-made food to my chickens any more than I would eat it. I don't like the ingredients listed on the bags of commercially prepared feeds.
I KNOW that many here advise against mixing homemade feed. But I have had my flock of 9 chickens on my own homemade mix since they were 7.5 weeks old. I ferment this feed and they are very healthy birds. No illnesses at all. I've had two different "chicken" people meet my flock for different reasons and both kept commenting on how beautiful my birds are.
They used to free-range but I only let them out for about 1 - 2 hours in the evening now. They are confined to a 1/4 acre pen but there is still a ton of green grass, plants and critters available to them.
I just picked up 3 new girls to add the to flock. They are 2 leghorns and one CA white (a LH hybrid). I know they are a more petite bird than my breeds but they are roughly 2 months older than mine and about 1/2 the size or less.
No more data than that but until something changes, I'm staying my current course.

Would you mind sharing the recipe for your homemade chicken food? I agree with you about the suspect ingredients on shop bought feed and I've been contemplating making my own feed, especially since I have three adult roosters who obviously don't need to lay or grow.

 

[Saaniya]

I also.want to know.i really love my rooster I want they live long and happy without getting sick or tired

 

[DobieLover]

I source my ingredients locally. I live near the finger lakes region of New York state and there are a lot of organic farmers there.
I purchase most of my ingredients from Lakeview Organic Grains (LOG).

Here is my recipe for 100 pounds of mix (I usually just mix up 50# of feed because it is easier for me to lug up the stairs):
40# triticale/barley mix
15# field peas
10# whole oats
12# black oil sunflower seeds (in hull)
8# whole flaxseed
7# fishmeal (from LOG) - it is specifically packaged for reuse in feeds
4# of oyster shell
4# of Fertrell poultry Nutri-balancer

I store all my ingredients in my basement in an old apartment sized refrigerator that I had the coolant removed from. I then removed all the metal and sealed the rear penetrations into the body of the refrigerator to create a grain bin with air tight seals.

I offer OS on the side too.

This mix has about 2.5% Ca and 17.25 - 19.25% protein. The bioavailability of the protein is supposed to increase by 12% due to the fermentation process. Who knows how accurate that is?

I mix it up well and ferment each days worth of feed in it's own container for 3 to 4 days until really bubbly and a thin film of yeast has formed. I then drain it with a kitchen strainer and mix well again. I use the drained liquid to start my next batch.

 

[Shadrach]

It’s all really fascinating, isn’t it? It’s really difficult to know what’s optimal.

Mine are confined most of the work week and free range (with access to their feed, too) most of the weekend.

I’ve been experimenting with feed here and I’ve had some interesting results. Unfortunately after six months all I can say is this is what happened under these circumstances which may or may not be relevant to any other circumstances.
I’ve read some papers on the effects of calcium on the parathyroid gland in chickens and some other stuff on hypercalcemia but these studies don’t seem to cover some of the aspects I’m particularly interested in.
Part of the problem is as is often the case the bulk of the research is centered around hens and the effects on egg laying. I’m more interested in the effects on roosters, senior hens that rarely lay and pullets who haven’t laid yet.

 

[Shadrach]

I source my ingredients locally. I live near the finger lakes region of New York state and there are a lot of organic farmers there.
I purchase most of my ingredients from Lakeview Organic Grains (LOG).

Here is my recipe for 100 pounds of mix (I usually just mix up 50# of feed because it is easier for me to lug up the stairs):
40# triticale/barley mix
15# field peas
10# whole oats
12# black oil sunflower seeds (in hull)
8# whole flaxseed
7# fishmeal (from LOG) - it is specifically packaged for reuse in feeds
4# of oyster shell
4# of Fertrell poultry Nutri-balancer

I store all my ingredients in my basement in an old apartment sized refrigerator that I had the coolant removed from. I then removed all the metal and sealed the rear penetrations into the body of the refrigerator to create a grain bin with air tight seals.

I offer OS on the side too.

This mix has about 2.5% Ca and 17.25 - 19.25% protein. The bioavailability of the protein is supposed to increase by 12% due to the fermentation process. Who knows how accurate that is?

I mix it up well and ferment each days worth of feed in it's own container for 3 to 4 days until really bubbly and a thin film of yeast has formed. I then drain it with a kitchen strainer and mix well again. I use the drained liquid to start my next batch.

One of the feeds I used to get here was fishmeal based and if it hadn't had such high calcium and salt content I might have stuck with it.
The current feed I'm using is organic (I'm not sure if it makes any difference) but has no meat or fish content. I feed tuna with the feed just to make sure.

 

[Folly's place]

Diet is only part of the story, although an important part. I don't feed a layer diet either, rather an all- flock feed with separate oyster shell for the laying hens. That's part of the story.
Exercise matters, and ranging behaviors, and a good coop environment.
Then, genetics are the most important part of the story, not mentioned here directly.
At least some breeds, especially some game breeds, do tend to live longer than many others. Their hens weren't bred for extremely high egg production, and so likely have fewer reproductive issues than many other types. These birds are more active, also good for them.
In general, breeders and hatchery breeders use young birds, and nearly never keep hens or roosters around for more than two years, in fact, most are only bred for one year.
This is the most economical breeding model, BUT it does not select for longevity, or health beyond that short time frame.
In a home flock like mine, I favor birds who lay eggs longer, hatch chicks longer, and can have a longer life. It should matter, but over generations, so not a project for a year ot two.
Mary

 

[chickengeorgeto]

@Texas Kiki… My understanding is that almost all research on chicken nutrition is geared toward industry, meaning it is for birds that are meant to be turned into meat in a matter of weeks or for egg layers that will pump out as many eggs as possible and be discarded in a year or two... I wonder if their nutritional requirements are different than what the studies say...

No one posting here has yet to claim that a hens egg production goes up as she as she ages. Hens are not discarded but replaced with newer versions.