Feeding chickens efficiently/free?

[snow5164]

I read an article where they measured ore portioned meals twice a day to the hens then free fed them , even though food eaten was much less egg production didn’t really drop ...

Don’t leave feed out , also if you ferment the feed you use up all the powder at the bottom of the bag too!

Also I sprout grains all winter for the birds , I read a bag of winter wheat is really cheap ,I do lentils, mung beans and broccoli

 

[MissChick@dee]

Well...what will do in winter? Guess you could grow and dry sunflowers. Have a root cellar for squashes, tubers grow and dry grains, corn. But counting on Mother Nature for their protein cannot be guaranteed. I have 4 chickens who’s yard is 1/3 an acre and I can tell you I have zero bugs...and clearly not enough to meet their nutritional needs to be healthy and lay quality eggs. The quantity of bugs they eat qualifies as treats.

 

[Blue Tiger]

I would keep a small number of livestock that ideally would get a little grain in their diet. Feces that result will be of considerable value to the chickens. Also allow development of taller vegetation on areas the livestock are excluded from to provide cover.

Take care not to have so many chickens that there is not enough forage to go around. Lots of chickens on lots of acreage can have chickens roaming too far or simply not taking in enough nutrition to be productive.3

Waste / spilled grains from you local feed miller might also be an option.

 

[Ra_]

I've got 9 birds consisting of two breeds free ranging now. I give the Barred Rock a handful of feed between them in the morning and at night I take the day's leftover feed from my Serama and make everyone a mash. They feed themselves the rest of the day and are heavy layers.
I feed my big Dixie Rainbow hens handfuls of crumble & sunflower seed in the morning and another before bed.
I grow them Purslane, Millet & Milo and Sunflower seed and they like the Sunflower the most. It grows in just 7 days. In Winter I also grow them Rye grass. It can withstand freezes and you get a lot more plants per pound of seed than with Wheat berries.
I'm currently growing them Comfrey. It has been a valuable resource for generations but in the 80s, some Japanese fed massive doses of concentrated Comfrey extract to some rats and that has scared some people away, despite a lot of people feeding it to their livestock with great success.

 

[Corys chickens]

Mine go through a lot less feed the more they are able to free range. Our girls love anything from the garden especially cherry tomatoes. So if you plant plenty of extra plants they will definitely eat the extras. Ours also like zucchini and squash.

i think ill try to feed them the same to see if they eat it

 

[Shadrach]

Some breeds are better at foraging free range than others. The Catalans and Black Minorcans here are generally hardy and many farms and smallholdings here don't provide any bought in food. T he larger dual purpose breeds that seem popular in the USA might not fare so well without commercial feed.
The problem I think you may have is providing enough protein and possible B vitamins.
My niece returned from Senegal a while ago and all the villages keep chickens. Protein wasn't a problem because they grow and eat peanuts but vitamin deficiency often was because green plants grow while the rains are there but die away rapidly in the heat.

 

[Ra_]

As soon as I allowed my Dixie Rainbow hens to free range, they pecked at their breakfast for 2 minutes and then ran off to find bugs and weeds.
My Barred Rock were the opposite. They did NOT want to leave the paddock. I had to stop feeding them in the morning and then I began spreading crumble on the ground in various areas to encourage them to scratch. They finally caught on and are now doing great.
The hybrid I created from the two act more like the Dixie Rainbow hens but look just like big Barred Rock. They want to roam so desperately that it's hard to get them back in the goathouse even after the supervised free-range session before dusk. They're almost big enough at 7 weeks to let them free range now.

 

[ChickenJoe007]

Thanks for all the info and input guys n gals.

 

[Kayla's Lunch]

I grow them Purslane, Millet & Milo and Sunflower seed and they like the Sunflower the most. It grows in just 7 days. In Winter I also grow them Rye grass. It can withstand freezes and you get a lot more plants per pound of seed than with Wheat berries.

Are you growing sprouts? Is that what you mean when you say it grows in 7 days? Where do you grow the Rye grass? I would really appreciate details!

 

[Ra_]

Are you growing sprouts? Is that what you mean when you say it grows in 7 days? Where do you grow the Rye grass? I would really appreciate details!

The difference between sprouts and microgreens is that we don't normally consume the roots with microgreens and they are exposed to sunlight, at least when nearing the time to consume them.

Microgreens are easier to grow than sprouts because you don't have to hassle with rinsing them and washing away any slime. We would chop microgreens to eat them but the chickens of course dig up the roots too, after eating the tops.

I take some of my native sand, which is terrible for growing most anything long term, put it in a tray, or you can just prepare a spot on the ground, cover the surface with seed and sprinkle a thin layer of sand over the seeds. You can use your native soil. You may have to put a cage over the spot or move the trays to where birds or other critters can't get at the seed.

Soak them well for the first 2 days, then only water them in the morning, so the sun can dry them out and prevent mold from forming.

Sunflowers are ready in 7 days. Same with Rye grass.