Birdsonghill
Crowing
I have free ranged, I have and do feed sprouts occasionally, I feed them garden waste (some of their favorites), I have fed home grown corn, oats , wheat and sorghum grain! But, they have professional balanced and fortified food daily, as well. They choose to eat it, I don't force feed them. It is a lot like a garden. The best gardens have all the trace elements and the proper PH supplied. The plants take up what is available. A quality professional blended feed, usually, supplies all the important trace elements and has the needed macro nutrients, in a proper ratio. You can successfully feed your chickens a home made diet and free range them. However, I believe most people would have healthier and safer flocks over extended periods of time, feeding a carefully balanced and complete ration, daily as a base of nutrition. It is a lot of work to assess and balance a homemade diet, well enough to provide optimum and complete nutrition. Too much of somethings, may be harmful in the long run as well! (or way out of balance as a proportion of the diet). I had a time period I was broke and fed what I had and what they could find free ranging. Some did fine, some did not, none died ,except a few to predator attacks. Some breeds do better than others free ranging. I also experimented with mixing my own Organic feeds, using purchased supplements and found it very expensive. The feed companies could do it cheaper than me. Scale of operations, lending an economic advantage for a big operation, as opposed to the average back yard chicken keeper. Good luck and enjoy your birds!
