Feeding chickens only sprouts

[JacinLarkwell]

Oh well you should’ve said that earlier, thanks I’ll keep that in mind !

They've been trying. You kept arguing

 

[21hens-incharge]

Like what else could I give them, maybe other kinds of plants ? I’ve seen many people say that their chickens eat a diet mainly consisting of plants

I have chickens that live LONG healthy lives. I will share my feeding regimen and know that I put it out there and you can take the advice ....or not.

Layer pellets for high production breeds.
All flock or flock raiser for my aging birds no longer laying often.

Everyone has grit and oyster shell available at all times.
19 birds share 1 cup of scratch a day.
Greens from the garden, grass from having mowed, the occasional cantaloupe and corn cobs are rare treats that they all share. Once in a while they get meat scraps from the kitchen. Meat is always cooked and not fatty.

Water is dumped on my plants every night and fresh water is given at dawn every morning. Yes 365 days a year (366 on leap year).

I have bantam cochins going into years 8 and 11. Most full sized hens are culled around age 7-8 to make room for new layers. There haven't been issues with sick, skinny, dying birds in my flocks. I have been keeping birds going on 20 years.

You can take our advice....or not. It's your choice.

 

[Hunter81103]

I said something of the sort about two pages back too, but maybe it got lost among all the other things being posted so quickly.

It's the second half of post #19, I think.

My bad I didn’t get to reply but thank you

 

[Hunter81103]

I am amazed by this. You know these posters responded to your question quickly, gave you good advice and did so out of the kindness of their hearts. They don't get paid to share their knowledge.

A little gratitude would go a long way. I would, truthfully, not have answered you after you responded so curtly. They are better people than I.

I honestly would rather them not have I mean I understand it’s not a good idea but it’s not like I’m torturing my chickens I mean I’m wondering if I should feed them sprouts or not it just came off that everyone thought they were being malnourished and I was a horrible person because they weren’t being taken care of right, but I understand it isn’t a good idea and I will not be doing it so sorry to anyone who I worried I am not doing anything different they are still getting all their feed that they were before

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I honestly would rather them not have I mean I understand it’s not a good idea but it’s not like I’m torturing my chickens I mean I’m wondering if I should feed them sprouts or not it just came off that everyone thought they were being malnourished and I was a horrible person because they weren’t being taken care of right, but I understand it isn’t a good idea and I will not be doing it so sorry to anyone who I worried I am not doing anything different they are still getting all their feed that they were before

They're not saying your birds currently are malnourished, only that they would be on the original diet you asked about

 

[MamaBelle5]

I honestly would rather them not have I mean I understand it’s not a good idea but it’s not like I’m torturing my chickens I mean I’m wondering if I should feed them sprouts or not it just came off that everyone thought they were being malnourished and I was a horrible person because they weren’t being taken care of right, but I understand it isn’t a good idea and I will not be doing it so sorry to anyone who I worried I am not doing anything different they are still getting all their feed that they were before

They were just answering you. If you don't give them what they need, it will malnourish them. The posters wanted you to be aware of that so you could make an informed decision.

 

[black_cat]

I honestly would rather them not have I mean I understand it’s not a good idea but it’s not like I’m torturing my chickens I mean I’m wondering if I should feed them sprouts or not it just came off that everyone thought they were being malnourished and I was a horrible person because they weren’t being taken care of right, but I understand it isn’t a good idea and I will not be doing it so sorry to anyone who I worried I am not doing anything different they are still getting all their feed that they were before

I think that you're misinterpreting what we're saying. We didn't think that you're a horrible person, and we don't think that you're torturing your chickens. You asked if you could feed them only sprouts, and we told you no, and that WOULD be malnourishing your chickens. You then continued to argue with us.

 

[Hunter81103]

They were just answering you. If you don't give them what they need, it will malnourish them. The posters wanted you to be aware of that so you could make an informed decision.

I know but then I asked if there was anything else I could give them to help and that’s where no one would answer but I get it it’s more complicated then that

 

[black_cat]

I honestly would rather them not have

@Kiki , @NatJ , and @21hens-incharge are among the most knowledgeable posters on this entire site. I would trust them with my chickens' lives. If you don't want advice from them, that's on you.

 

[black_cat]

I know but then I asked if there was anything else I could give them to help and that’s where no one would answer but I get it it’s more complicated then that

We don't have an answer for that because none of us have done the extensive research needed to know that, as every single one of us uses a balanced, commercial feed. I had an answer for you here:

NatJ gave you a pretty good answer. If you don't like that answer, you'll have to do extensive research on how much of each nutrient, protein, etc a chicken needs per day, then pick stuff that's 'natural' enough for you that fits that diet. You'll also have to figure out how to make sure that each chicken is getting the exact right balance of different things, and isn't picking things out or eating way more than they're supposed to.