grandma's way vs. the experts way

[ten chicks]

I disagree with the comment regarding no experts on BYC,there are many on this site that have years of experience regarding chicken care and give freely of their time in helping those that have little or no experience,so yes i would classify them as experts. Do they know everything,probably not,but the information they provide is correct and based on years of experience.

The reason commercially prepared feed is suggested is b/c it is nutritionally balanced and contains all the vitamins/nutrients that chickens require. I am not interested in debating this with anyone,it is a fact read the guaranteed analysis/ingredient list on feed bag,then read the ingredient list/analysis on bag of scratch. Scratch does not contain the appropriate vitamins/nutrients required for optimum health.

Most dogs/cats are fed a commercially prepared dog/cat food for this very reason,same applies to chickens.

 

[ShockValue]

Being a devil's advocate here.... Grandma's way worked for grandma. But if you were to take Grandma's scenario, keep everything else the same, but substitute her scratch for good quality feed.. Would they have done even better?

I'm new to this.. But my intent is to free-range all the time and supplement with quality feed if they're still hungry after a full day of bug-hunting.

 

[winteree]

hard to say her 10 oldest birds at the time they got taken out by the dogs were 9 years old can't beat that with a stick

 

[ten chicks]

Many on this site have birds of that age and older,not uncommon.

My grandmother had chickens too,would i raise mine like she did,no b/c i understand why the correct nutritional requirements are so crucial to animal health and do not view mine as livestock.

To each their own,you will find out what works based on the health of your birds.

 

[Beekissed]

hard to say her 10 oldest birds at the time they got taken out by the dogs were 9 years old can't beat that with a stick

Nope, you sure can't.

Pretty much all different methods are results driven, though many will never know any other results if they never vary from bagged feeds, so they will not have any other perspective from which to judge. If you always do what you've always done, you will always have what you always had.

Don't let anyone tell you not to think out of the box just because they enjoy the safety of the box. If your grandma had great success, then I'd say 'nuff said. If it works for you, also, then I'd say 'nuff said X 2.

 

[ten chicks]

You are correct,"the safety of the box" works. I have never had any health issues in my flock,so i would say yes,bagged feed is definitely the wise choice.

Thinking outside the box is never wrong(i personally apply this philosophy to everyday life)but just make sure you understand what you are doing and the nutritional requirements of your birds,otherwise you might end up with sickly birds.

 

[Beekissed]

No, sometimes the safety of the box doesn't work when it comes to livestock paradigms...which is why so many people are trying to grow their own chickens in their back yards. The "in the box safety" of the commercial growers has resulted in bland, tasteless and tainted food supplies.

There are many who have strayed from the safety of the box and have healthy flocks and have those flocks for many a long year, so warnings of sickly birds if you don't feed commercially designed foods doesn't ring true. Sure, it has a balanced ration and it can keep a bird alive...sometimes....but it's not the be all, end all in poultry nutrition. There are options.

 

[CrazyChickGirl]

If you want to think outside the box: Free range. That is probably the most natural food for chickens. Buying a bag of scratch vs buying a bag of feed seems to be the real question here and it just doesn't make sense to me.

Here's a story: My husbands family bred miniature schnauzers for a few years. They kept three of them, sold the rest and gave one to us. They fed theirs leftovers, and my Mother in law made them chicken, rice, and vegetables nearly every day. She didn't feed dog food. We fed ours dog food with the occasional healthy treat. Her dogs all had major health issues and died young. Ours is still alive today... He's outlived all of his family, including his younger brother from a litter 1 year after him. That brother died a year ago. Do I think they had good intentions? Yes. I do believe that maybe they weren't getting the right nutrition, or maybe something was missing from their diet. Some key nutrients. But do whatever you want and you will probably not know the difference. They don't seem to have realized it.

 

[Beekissed]

I do believe the OP mentioned her granny free ranged, so free range is part of the equation. That's where this stops becoming bagged feeds over personal feed mixes. Where the bulk of the nutrition comes from good forage, what you feed as a supplement is less crucial. Sure, penned animals are going to need that premixed, balanced nutrition, though I don't think they will be healthier for their balanced nutrition and their penned life than the free ranged and whole grain group.

One, because a chicken is a monogastric animal and cannot digest grains properly and are not getting the full benefit of the nutrition listed on the bag, so you have no way of knowing just how many of the nutrients, vitamins and minerals your birds are actually absorbing.

Two, because "healthy chickens" relies so much more than on mere nutrition. Genetics, age, environment and livestock management practices, etc. all will play a big part in the health of your chickens. One is not guaranteed a healthy and long lived flock merely because they are consuming a prebagged feed. If that were so we would never need the section of this forum that deals with illnesses.

 

[grampsjim]

I keep layer feed in the feeder all the time. I give scratch and kitchen scraps for treats, and they free range whenever I'm close by, because we have many predators in our area, including the neighbor's dogs, hawks, coons, snakes and raptor type bird predators.
I put oyster shell out for them to use at will. They all seem healthy and the eggs I'm getting have nice shells.
I think its like others have said "each to his own healthy birds".