Has anyone succesfully had chickens without feeding chicken food

[chookchick]

You can find directions here on raising meal worms--that would be easy and highly nutritious. You can also feed them vegetable garden scraps and kitchen scraps. I would keep corn to a minimum though, as it is so low in protein and other nutrients. Can you range them on grass? Be creative, and I am sure you can find ways to keep their food costs to a minimum. Call around and see if you can get a better price on their feed somewhere else...There is a wide range in this area.

 

[1acrefarm]

I feed mine feed because they can't free range right now due to my sisters husky. It would not save me much to switch to corn because it is less than two bucks cheaper. I supplement that feed with table scraps, trimmings from the veggie garden and the entrails and fat of the small game I harvest. My neighbors also bring me the table scraps that their dogs won't eat. It costs me roughly 10 bucks every 2 months (50 pound bag) to feed 8 chickens and two ducks. If I free ranged I could easily cut that in half or better.

 

[kennedyscochins]

If you happen to get any eggs from them that you do not eat yourself, you could scramble the eggs and feed them back to the chickens for protein. That would help if you're just feeding corn. Having said that, my father raises chickens and mainly feeds them corn and they seem to be very healthy-but they also free range on a large farm.

 

[SteveH]

As a child we had " banties " that thrived on their own resourses along with some table scraps and scratch . Although our own fields were gleaned by our stock cows , I used to pick up ear corn that was missed by the combine from a neighbor's field [ most farmers will allow you to do this if they don't have livestock as it helps control pests and volunteer corn next season ] . We had a little hand grinder that I made cracked corn in , but you can use a blender [ noisy LOL ] or even a hammer to make some with . I suspect they would eat whole grain anyway ..... it can be soaked in water over any heat source in small amounts to aid palatability if you want ....... just put it in a covered pan and set it on a heat register . With winter there will be little or no insects or fresh growing plants [ our banties were lucky as they got to pick through our livestock's droppings for partially digested treats ] so feeding is pretty much a must . Our banties ate mice , so if you trap some don't waste them LOL . With a limited number of chickens you will get through this tough time if you want to do the footwork . Best wishes to you supported by my prayers .

 

[chickiewhite]

Free range can work. Have the kids take them to neighbors' yards and free range there too. They will eat your neighbors bugs and leave fertilizer. They just have to be home by night. I have found the eggs sell more than the food costs. I am not a fan of eating animals that may think they are part of your family. My girls love *healthy* table scraps.

 

[rcentner]

We fed our chickens cracked corn (free range) only for the 1st few months we had them and I had a good amount of eggs and all the chickens were happy. When we got the chickens my DH said that's all we needed cause that's all his grandparents did with their chickens. Then I learned more about chickens and thought, since I can afford it ($12/bag of layena here) that I would be sure they got the right nutrition. And guess what? No difference in the chickens, same amount of eggs and everything. Good luck with the finances, I hope you don't need to get rid of the chickens.

 

[prancie]

Chickens can find a lot of food on their own, they may be fine if you let them. I would feed them any scraps you can, I even scrape the egg pan after making scrambled eggs and feed mine the eggs bits. Old food from your freezer too. I hit the jack-pot when my parents offered me their nitrogen packed stored grains they had bought 10 years ago and I haven't bought any chicken feed at all, and I don't even feed them much of that. You might cruise craig's list or post an add for people who have food storage like that who would like to have it hauled off. The stored grains last 20 years or more, i even sprouted some of the 10-year old wheat. So you can feel confident even if it's really old.

You really don't have that many chickens, I think feeding them off of table scraps and letting them free range will be fine. Start a compost/scrap bucket in the kitchen and give them left-overs or old food/milk that you would otherwise throw out.

 

[Sillystunt]

Nooooo Milk!!!!

 

[Happy Chooks]

Grocery stores throw out TONS of food. It's not bad, just past it's prime and people won't buy it. I know people around here that get free fruits/veggies from a local grocery store to give to their cows.

 

[Chris09]

I think milk is fine to give to chickens. For years people would soak wheat in milk over night and feed the soaked wheat to the hen that might not be laying well..
Also in the POULTRY RATIONS and Feeding Methods they recommend to feed milk power to chicks and under FALL CARE OF PULLETS they say to give 3 gallon milk per 100 head and all so milk can be add to mash to make a "moist mash"...

Chris