Feeding the "Old fashioned way"

[duluthralphie]

Sweet corn

...fluffy white cobs lol

Good point on the electricity...a lot of commercial layers are under artificial light.... Breeding, lets just say when bred for meat or eggs, that's what we get... I personally believe that we've bred a lot of traits OUT of chickens that are essential...disease resistance being a big one... I'm not pushing my chickens to give me 365 eggs a year lol, whatever they feel like is fine

And NO, lol I don't know a single person in the feed industry that would actually recommend mixing your own feed versus buying theirs, but they will admit free ranging is superior over bulk grain any day

... (And I live in grain central USA lol), we Farm, so we can grow our own

I live in farm country to, but my farm has become mainly little houses, I now have to buy my feed, BUT I buy it from those still farming. I agree on free ranging. I have a layer mix in one of my coops, but they really do not use it this time of the year.

 

[HeritageGoose13]

I have one question, when the "chicken nutritionist" that happen to all work for a feed company or a college/university that gets grants from a feed company, do you really expect them to say feeding the "old fashion" way is better or even equivalent to their pricey custom made feeds?

This.

Chickens can lay more than 83 eggs a year without a formula feed. It has to do with breeding and health, that's all.

 

[duluthralphie]

This.

Chickens can lay more than 83 eggs a year without a formula feed. It has to do with breeding and health, that's all.

I am sorry, I do not understand. Are you agreeing or disagreeing with me?

 

[shortgrass]

This.

Chickens can lay more than 83 eggs a year without a formula feed. It has to do with breeding and health, that's all.

Oh for sure... I am pretty certain, in my own little head lol, that I can find feed to mix and match myself that would have my ladies laying better than if I were to buy layer feed... These little birdies know what they need, we just push them a little

Nutrition is key anyway; you can have a laying breed in her deathbed from malnutrition and she is not going to be a great layer lol

 

[HeritageGoose13]

I am sorry, I do not understand. Are you agreeing or disagreeing with me?

agreeing.

 

[duluthralphie]

agreeing.

Thanks, I think I had a senior moment for a second...

 

[HeritageGoose13]

That's okay, sometimes I word things strangely and people don't know what I'm talking about haha.

 

[curtisbirds]

Oh for sure... I am pretty certain, in my own little head lol, that I can find feed to mix and match myself that would have my ladies laying better than if I were to buy layer feed... These little birdies know what they need, we just push them a little

Nutrition is key anyway; you can have a laying breed in her deathbed from malnutrition and she is not going to be a great layer lol

I can not agree with you more, I have two rescue hens and two rescued roos that were suffering from severe malnutrition when I got them. It was so bad that they were believed to be four hens at a year of age. The hens did not lay at all and the roos didn't have combs hardly and no sign of waddles, and crowing was completely out of the question. The reason I know they were a year old was I was there when the original owner purchased said fowl, and the reason I blame nutrition is she was only feeding them scratch from the beginning and keeping them cooped in a very small 4x4 ft coop. Once I got them and fed them correctly and followed my vets recommendations they doubled in size, the hens started laying an egg a day, and the roos have glorious combs and waddles, and one now crows like a champ. The other well, he sounds like he's gonna completely deflate when he does attempt to crow. And their coop is now 10x10 ft with a 20x40 ft pen even though they free range from dawn till dusk. They have amazing personalities despite it all.

 

[Prairiewillow]

So I thought I would weigh in on my original post and let people know how it was going... I realized that there was no way that I was going to be able to afford to make my own balanced feed, so we are buying a higher quality crumble feed and giving veg scraps and locally grown scratch grain, as well as free ranging every day. The chooks have cut down on my grasshopper plague better than any insecticide could! I still prefer to go as GMO free as possible, but I can only do so much. I know they wont get the fun of chasing the bugs here in a month or two, but I'll think of something else to keep them occupied then.

 

[SunHwaKwon]

So I thought I would weigh in on my original post and let people know how it was going... I realized that there was no way that I was going to be able to afford to make my own balanced feed, so we are buying a higher quality crumble feed and giving veg scraps and locally grown scratch grain, as well as free ranging every day. The chooks have cut down on my grasshopper plague better than any insecticide could! I still prefer to go as GMO free as possible, but I can only do so much. I know they wont get the fun of chasing the bugs here in a month or two, but I'll think of something else to keep them occupied then.

You can try raising crickets and mealworms. It's not a lot of work. Then toss them some live feed every couple of days for them to search for in the bedding.