Feeding chickens only sprouts

[Sea Wolf]

People will try to differentiate and say a grouse isn't a chicken but it's just a easy to argue that all chickens are grouse.

Factory food? About as soon as I'd raise my kids on store bought mac and cheese only...

That is a really skewed way of thinking to justify not feeding domestic chickens properly. Not only are chickens not grouse, grouse are in no way related to domestic chickens. Domestic chickens were developed from wild jungle game fowl from Asia. The diet of the current domestic birds is in now way connected to a wild diet. "Factory food" that you are opposed to is made for these birds. There are many makers that turn out an excellent product and the diet is based on many years of knowing what makes chickens tick .. as well to keep them supplemented correctly to deal with the excessive egg laying and other features we have bred into them over the centuries. It is the proper way to keep your birds healthy and laying properly without issues. Not "Mac n Cheese" as you seem to think.

But then, you do feed commercial food so I assume you found one that was not "Mac n Cheese".
"We feed ours Starter Crumbles until they get big enough to eat the pellets and free range. At that point we moved them to a 50/50 mix of All-Flock pellets & Scratch twice a day, we sow it in their forage area. They also get kitchen scraps, although we don't put out meat scraps as it tends to draw predators.

For calcium we save our egg shells, bake & crush them and put them in a separate feed bowl; they seem to know when they need the boost."

 

[Sea Wolf]

You don't have to purchase mass produced feed. Many people feed "sprouted grains", but they also feed vegetable and meat scraps. Chickens are omnivores. They naturally eat protein in the form of worms, bugs, frogs, mice, lizzards to supplement any greens and grains they eat.

Even then, the "sprouted grains" is not a complete diet. It is used as a treat, not the main source of food.

 

[Vicker]

Even then, the "sprouted grains" is not a complete diet. It is used as a treat, not the main source of food.

We might be thinking of different things. I'm thinking of fermented sprouted grains, not fodder or "sprouts". You still feed the whole grain and this is not considered a treat.

 

[Fluffybuttmomma]

I asked a question of if I could feed them sprouts and supplement anything else they needed if that would work, I’m not interested in a class I just wanna know what else I could supplement with it, I want mine organic and fed a more natural diet it’s a waste to buy organic feed, it was just a simple question

Why don’t you ask your veterinarian?

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Why don’t you ask your veterinarian?

Not everyone has a vet that knows how to care for poultry

 

[Emmeran]

I think the big problem here is that we don't know which precise breed of chicken we're talking about. I favor heritage breeds which don't produce as many eggs per year and are much more self-sufficient. If we're talking about one of the new sex-linked birds that are focused on maximum egg output then those were definitely built to feed on processed food for their short brutal lives.

Of course since there was never such a thing as a pellet tree to feed the poultry from, what goes into to those pellets is basically anything the factory can get away with unless the government wants to spend enough money to catch them. We can trust the feed factories, after all these are the same folks who brought us mad cow disease. Pretty much meaning that those male chicks that get sorted out most likely end right back up in the feed you are giving your hens.

Remember, you can trust the marketing blurb on the package, when was the last time an advertiser lied to you?

 

[Jan Croot]

sprouting doubles the

That is not a complete diet and will be woefully lacking in protein. Stick to a complete feed for the health and well being of your flock.

protein

 

[Jan Croot]

Not everyone has a vet that knows how to care for poultry

my vet would look it up on the internet. Poultry are not a focus for vets here

 

[Sea Wolf]

We might be thinking of different things. I'm thinking of fermented sprouted grains, not fodder or "sprouts". You still feed the whole grain and this is not considered a treat.

I was. I also ferment feed but I've never seen it really sprout. I was thinking green sprouts like it was growing.

 

[DobieLover]

sprouting doubles the

protein

Please provide a link to the data that supports this claim.