⠀ Help- I just found out I was sold horse feed rather than chicken feed- they've been on it for months

[kurui]

I currently live in rural Spain and have very limited Spanish. I'd always wanted chickens, so I bought four POL chickens from a local supplier who also has a feed and supply business, and at the same time bought a 30 kilo bag of feed. Being new and inexperienced, and I guess a little more trusting/naive than I should be, I didn't check what exactly was in the feed- I just assumed that the guy knew what I needed (I'd asked him to sell me everything I needed for the chickens when I bought them).

I just had a case of an impacted crop with my girls and while dealing with it I noticed my girls were underweight... and when I checked the label of the feed bag to put it through Google Translate, I found out the bag wasn't chicken feed at all...


ANIMAL FEED
Legaz E-2 SADDLE HORSES WITH FLAKES

Type of Feed: Supplementary Feed
Animal species: Equidae
Age and weight: Horses from 3 months of age
How to use: Administer 3-6 kg per animal per day divided into 2 or 3 shots with good quality forage.

ANALYTICAL CONSTITUENTS:
Gross Protein 12.50%
Gross Fiber 10.62%
Gross Oils and Fats 3.97%
Gross Ashes 7.18%
Sodium 0.26%

ADDITIVES:
Vitamin A (E-672) 6000 IU / Kg
Vitamin D3 (E-671) 600 IU / Kg
Copper (cupric sulfate pentahydrate) (E-4) 5 mg / kg
Zinc (zinc oxide) (E-6) 30mg / kg
Iron (ferrous carbonate) (E-1) 20 mg / Kg
Iodine (potassium iodide) (E-2) 0.50mg / kg
Manganese (manganese sulfate monohydrate) (E-5) 20mg / kg
Selenium (sodium selenite) (E-8) 0.05mg / Kg
Cobalt (cobaltous sulfate heptahydrate) (E-3) 0.05 mg / Kg

TECHNOLOGICAL:
Sepiolite (E-562) 8 mg / kg

COMPOSITION:
Alfalfa
Oats
Barley Flakes
Cornflakes
Wheat middlings
Carob
Calcium carbonate
Soybean oil
Sodium chloride


They've been eating this since November.

Help! I don't really want to go back to that supplier as I don't really trust him to sell me the right stuff, and I don't know where to find better feed in Spain. Looking at the ingredient list above is there any glaring deficiency, and is there anything I can do to get their diet a little more balanced while I try to find a feed designed for my girls? I'm so upset and embarrassed...

 

[sharynzucker]

I'm no official, but I don't see anything glaring that will be really harmful. If your weather is anything like the mid-Atlantic states in the US, there should be green grass and bugs on the way! Chickens love this type of food, and will do very well on not much more. If you have access to mealworms, they like those as a high-protein treat. They love cracked corn, and many people feed their food scraps (or even a doggie bag from your last takeout) as supplements. Like the horse feed, they aren't the best nutrition on the planet, but will keep your chickens going for a while so that you can locate an appropriate food source.

 

[sharynzucker]

I'll go out to the barn and see if I can take a pic of our feed label from the layer crumble we buy.

 

[kurui]

Thanks for your help! My girls are all underweight according to the breed average - I'm comparing to ISA's product leaflet about their breed: http://www.integrazabcice.cz/en/products/isa-brown/
which says they should be 1,460g by 17wks and 2,015g by 90wks. My girls are about 35wks old and weigh 1,880g, 1,770g and 1,510g respectively (the fourth of my original quartet died back in February). I suspect their diet is to blame for this...

It's very hot already here in Spain (32C/90F) and the clay soil is basically baked solid so there aren't a lot of ground bugs for them to find easily, though they really enjoy them when they find them! There is grass, but when they eat a lot of it they end up with impacted crops. I can try supplementing their protein with stuff from the larder- they already get boiled egg and probiotic yoghurt as treats. I just need to train them to catch mosquitoes...

 

[chickengeorgeto]

In my experience horse feed is under 14% protein. There is nothing wrong with this ration except for a lack of sufficient protein. You can add enough good dry dog food or fish by-products to your current ration to bring the protein up to snuff. I also despise cracked corn when used as chicken food. Whole corn is a much better source of fresh vitamins and minerals. My week old chicks eat whole corn kernels without ill effects. Yours will as well.

 

[kurui]

Well it's definitely a relief to know I haven't been inadvertently poisoning them!
So a can of tuna or some crushed up dry dog food? How much do you think they would need to bring that protein ratio back up? I'm not sure what I should be aiming for.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

..... I just need to train them to catch mosquitoes...

In that case perhaps a little Genetic Modification would be in order. You could splice a dab of Purple Martin DNA onto your poultry and come up with birds that will do it all.

 

[kurui]

Haha, my girls are pretty good at jumping for treats, I just wish they'd catch some of the nasty flying critters the same way! Eggs AND mosquito control, that would be perfection

 

[chippysmom327]

I'd recommend looking up a homemade feed mix recipe. There are plenty around the web that will get your girls feeling better in no time.

 

[RonP]

Up the protein and don't forget the calcium if they are laying, free choice oyster shells if available.