Feeding

[neo71665]

Kitchen scraps and treats are not a good substitute for feed that is designed to properly give the chickens all the nutrients they need. It is filler that restricts how much of the proper feed a chicken can eat. Just like giving a kid a bag of candy so you don't have to buy him a full lunch meal.

 

[NatJ]

From the article:

Does fermenting save money?​

"It certainly can. Adding liquid to feed increases its volume, so chickens will need less of it to fill their stomachs.

But that part is WRONG.

When chickens eat dry feed, they also drink water, so it swells up in their "stomachs" anyway.

And no matter how full their stomach may get, chickens need a certain number of calories per day, a certain amount of protein, and so forth. Chickens normally eat the right amount of food to meet their nutritional needs, not just to "fill their stomachs."

 

[Sally PB]

Semi-related... I give my hens a snack in the afternoon. They don't eat the fine bits of dust that fall to the bottom of their feed bowls. I save that to make their afternoon mash snack. Very little of their feed gets wasted.

Piggybacking, offering wet mash with cool water when its hot out has some benefits in helping to mitigate heat and preventing gorging - since the increased volume slows their consumption some.

This is great on those stinking hot days we've been having. A nice cool treat on a hot day.

And you can use warm water in cold weather, too.

If their water source freezes, they get thirsty and quit eating, so nice wet mash lets them fill up on both food and water quickly, before it all freezes again.

I do this in the cold months. A nice warm treat on a cold day.

Reasons for having snack time? It's a chance for me to visit my chickens, sit awhile, interact with them, watch them. I also give them kitchen scraps along with the mash for variety; not to replace their food, just to be a treat. Those can also be tailored to the temperature. Refrigerated melon guts with seeds are a way for them to get more water and eat something cold.

 

[NatJ]

#2 is the biggest plus with #4 following, I'd get so irritated when there would be so much "dust" in the feed. Sorry had to interject my support of fermenting

The dust issue can also be solved by getting it wet, without spending the time to ferment

Since you're happy with what you are doing, I am not trying to change your mind, just pointing it out for anyone else who may be considering the possible benefits of fermented feed.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Yes, I wet mash, and obtain almost all the benefits associated with FF, simply by getting things wet for a while. FF does have limited benefits, they simply aren't applicable to most of our situations, and aren't nearly so magical is its most devout proponents claim. Even w/o trying it ourseleves, our hint that this might be so comes from the commercial side of the business. If it did save a lot of money, allowing one to radically reduce feed amounts, commercial poultry ops would be doing it to raise broilers and maintain layers more efficiently - its an extremely low margin business, even a 10% reduction in feed needs would double or triple their profits.

 

[My Bagurks]

Free ranging can drastically reduce this number. Kitchen scraps, treats, growing chicken fodder are also great things to reduce feed costs. Even mulching your run can take a small dent out of feed due to bugs and such living in the mulch.

Above posts are correct though. It does vary here and there. But calculate it for the higher end of the scale and then trim it down.

 

[WIchickMama]

To reduce waste feed, many find a hanging feeder or pvc pipe feeder or bucket with feeding holes in sides are helpful, then they can't scratch it out all over or tip/dump feeders.

Also if you can get/make one with a cover it protects from weather and feces.

 

[SourRoses]

Nothing comes from nothing.
Good bacteria are part of the normal digestive process, they make Vitamins as a byproduct of consuming carbohydrates.
Not Protein, Calories, or Minerals. Those can't be made by bacteria.

Fermented feed is basically pre-digested, so really only useful to prevent digestive issues, especially because of its lower PH. It likely has a great effect for birds under stress, and that's about it.

It's "cheaper" to put less into the birds but you will also get less out of them. Everything comes from something.

 

[NatJ]

Ok. I understand what you're saying. I didn't write the article. I'm just putting the info put there.

Now that you know it's wrong, you can avoid spreading that bit of error any further

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Ok. I understand what you're saying. I didn't write the article. I'm just putting the info put there.

and what we are saying is that if you look at your source's sources, they largely don't support your source's contentions.

That's pretty common with slick web pages, self proclaimed experts (you will note, I don't claim to be one), and Youtube personalities.

Welcome to BYC. Some of us are quite serious hobbyists, and frankly, more is known about chicken nutrition than human nutrition (an admittedly low bar). By all means, jump in, water's fine - but be prepared with more support than "web page said so". Particularly when webpage makes the kind of ill informed mistakes one would expect to find in a Facebook meme.