Feeding chickens only sprouts

[Emmeran]

I'm glad that layer feed works for you.

It didn't for me. Here, in the high plains after a year of no rain, there is nothing to find. Our dirt is blowing away.

I hate to laugh but my sweetheart and I chose to buy our retirement home out here in New England instead of in my home state of Nebraska because of that, I still dearly miss the plains though. My current novel is set in that area, although it's set in the time period before industrialized farming destroyed the area. It get's hard to look at the old maps, drawings and paintings and realize what used to be.

I guess you could say we voted with our feet...

 

[aart]

Funny this thread came back up, alive and still fighting, musta been in the news letter.

 

[NatJ]

Funny this thread came back up, alive and still fighting, musta been in the news letter.

It was-- 2nd in the list.

Yes, I also thought this was one was over--question answered, answers discussed at length, solution reached.

 

[Red Dirt Rose]

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

My chickens get a lot of free produce scraps from the grocery store. I put these scraps in the compost pile they have access to. They eat greens, fruit, squash, etc. and leftover scraps of other things from my kitchen (oatmeal, cheese, meat). They also eat plenty of grubs and bugs out of the compost pile. I still give them feed, but a lot less than I would otherwise.

If you want to get into natural and/or free alternatives to chicken feed, check out Justin Rhodes videos. He has a whole bunch on the subject (just search You Tube for “Justin Rhodes feed chickens for free”). These videos are good to start with:

 

[Emmeran]

It was-- 2nd in the list.

Yes, I also thought this was one was over--question answered, answers discussed at length, solution reached.

 

[hal9000jf]

Yeah I got it from someone I bought a chicken from that I should not have, they are not stressed at all and I don’t understand how it is malnourishment it’s natural and I would be able to supplement anything I needed I could supplement vitamins, minerals, protein and calcium so I really don’t see the problem if all their needs are met

Your chickens, your call. But the layer feed is researched and tested to be the correct ratio for a layer chicken - not meat bird. That's a different rato. Is there something you don't like in the layer feed? Or are you just a naturalist? I don't care to go through the extra work myself when it's done for me and the chickens love it and the price is right.

 

[Dottie Ferrell]

I was wondering some of your thoughts on feeding chickens only sprouts, I’m relatively new to all this, I have been giving layer feed but I wanted to switch to sprouts only and I will be providing vitamins/ minerals and oyster shells, but my question was, will my chickens continue to lay the same as on layer feed ?

Chickens are so much more healthy when allowed a wide variety of feeds, starting with a well balanced food as the staple. I enjoy giving them snacks of treats from time to time, ie: watermelon rinds, warm oatmeal with a scoop of yogurt on especially cold days, and you can easily make a crock or bowl of fermented feed that also has many health benefits as well as being a special treat for them. I try to let them out of their outside pen to free range in the yard, the garden (unless the strawberries and blueberries are ripe as we don't get to eat them ourselves as they gorge on them, LOL). Occasional sprouts are also fine if you want to grow them for you and them. Their systems are well equipped to digest worms, bugs and lots of things we might believe yucky....My chickens are extremely tame and love to follow me around when I am doing anything in the yard.... A particularly favorite activity is the compost pile that has abundant amounts of night crawlers and bugs. I also give smashed oyster shells and crushed egg shells. They have nice strong egg shells to their laying eggs. Sorry for the long post..

 

[Chris2018]

Au Contraire, there are many breeds of wild chickens in the world, look no further than the Prairie Chicken out in Nebraska. 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.

You can safely say that the "refined, overbred chickens" sold today can no longer survive in the natural environment.

I for one feed my birds a mix of scratch, wild bird seed and pellets in the winter with table scraps, sprouts and chicken cakes to supplement. Baked egg shells for calcium.
In the summer they have the run of the yard and will ignore any feed to get out and hunt bugs and new sprouts.

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

Oh but you are 100% incorrect..
Do a little research and you'll that wrong.
The "Prairie Chicken" also known as a Pinnated Grouse and a Bommer is a grouse.

Chicken --

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Galliformes
Family:	Phasianidae
Genus:	Gallus
Species:	G. gallus
Subspecies:	G. g. domesticus

Jungle Fowl --

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Galliformes
Family:	Phasianidae
Subfamily:	Phasianinae
Genus:	Gallus

"Prairie Chicken" Grouse --

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Galliformes
Family:	Phasianidae
Genus:	Tympanuchus
Species:	T. cupido

 

[Birdsonghill]

I suggest you research making organic chicken feed rations. Many companies sell the various ingredients needed to mix a balanced ration/diet. You will need a number of ingredients, a feed mill/grinder and a lot of work and dedication. Various ingredients can be substituted for each other, with care, to balance the proper ratio of nutrients. Sprouts protein content varies considerably, and being a fresh item, spoils rapidly. Feeding them as a snack could be good, if the chickens don't neglect the food containing the other requirements too much(don't give them too much)! They need fat, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals not supplied sufficiently in any one plant food source. Fatty liver syndrome (too many snacks/high energy/protein feeds), malnutrition, poor laying or weak egg shells , premature/excessive moulting and more , may result from poor feeding practices. Most of the low producing and short lived birds, in other flocks, otherwise well cared for, I have seen, were caused by feed issues. Table scraps, homemade feed rations, "chicken treats" and too much "scratch grains/corn" are the typical sources of problems. When large healthy looking and "correctly"behaving birds suddenly drop dead, it is often fatty liver syndrome from feeding them too many snacks, table scraps or too much high protein/energy diets (meat bird rations for old hens.) Mixing feeding organic rations in smaller batches, I could manage, increased my per egg and chicken dinner cost, way too much and was a lot of extra work. Good luck and best wishes for you and your birds.

 

[Birdsonghill]

Chickens eat people,a matter of fact. I have heard of it occurring from time to time, but have personal knowledge of one such incident. An old and beloved friend of my mother(many years ago-mid 1970's) had retired with her husband to a rural retirement hobby farm, with chickens. Mrs. Bird had a stroke and fell in her chicken pen one morning. Her husband found her that afternoon, when he returned home, dead, covered by chickens and partially eaten. Her eyes had been pecked out and she had parts of her face eaten. The autopsy showed she died of trauma and blood loss after suffering a disabling stroke. The chickens ate her alive. Chickens are indeed omnivores and insects, small animals and carrion are all on a normal chickens menu, along with seeds, and any other morsel that they can find. Likely, foraging chickens eat as much or more insect/animal protein than that from seeds. The chiton(insect exoskeleton)and other mineral and vitamin containing insect parts are as important as the proteins to chicken health. That's why so much attention is payed to creating balanced formulas by pros. Chickens need that attention to be their best! Happy chickens eat "meat "with their salads but will do fine with suitable attention to balancing their dietary needs with substitutes. Insects should be the only meat you feed! Flies,stinky poop, possible worms are all problems when chickens eat flesh.