Help rounding out my chickens food

[tricia123]

I have access to tons of fruit and vegetable scraps. I also have gotten in to growing lentil and barley fodder as well.

My question is can the vegetables and fruits be given free choice along with the fodder and that would be okay?

I am worried about whether they will be getting enough protein but I am trying to move away from buying feed. Suggestions on what to add?

Oyster shells and grit are provided all the time.

 

[chickens really]

Not sure why you don't want to buy Chicken feed?....It is a balanced nutrition made specifically for Chickens.......Once their diet gets out of balance lots can go wrong...Picking, crop issues, aggression, egg production issues...etc.....Health and behaviour need a proper balance .....


Cheers!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Your plan may work if you free range on pristine pasture/forage in warmer weather.
Or if not free ranging on good forage it will work if you just want a few birds for a while with no regard to optimal production or health.
However, a vegetarian based diet will quickly cause nutritional deficiencies in omnivores.
You will likely see retarded growth, reduced egg production and smaller egg sizes - if they lay at all.
At least 10 essential amino acids that must be provided in poultry diets are: lysine, threonine, tryptophan, methionine, cystine, isoleucine, histidine, valine, arginine, tyrosine and phenylalanine. A fruit, vegetable and fodder diet will have some limiting amino acids and most likely lysine, methionine, tryptophan and threonine.
This is especially true in growing animals.
There are likely some vitamins and minerals that will be missing as well.
There has been well over 100 years of exhaustive research into the nutrients chickens are known to need and exactly how much of each. Those are in the bag of feed. Feed manufacturers do analysis of their feeds to ascertain that the feed in fact contains all those nutrients, fats and energy in the proper ratios.
It isn't just as simple as that. The digestibility of the amino acids and the true metabolizable energy in the feed need to be considered.
You can read up on vitamin and protein deficiencies in poultry here.
http://www.merckvetmanual.com/poult...ltry/vitamin-deficiencies-in-poultry#v3347975
http://www.merckvetmanual.com/poult...mino-acid,-and-energy-deficiencies-in-poultry
If one wants healthy poultry that are optimally productive, it just isn't cost effective to avoid manufactured feed.

If you simply must make up your own food for your birds, this feed calculator may help.
http://modernsettlers.com/poultryfeed/#

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

If the concern is protein and/or amino acid deficiencies, couldn't this be remedied by adding a ration of animal protein to the mix?

I'm not sure where you're getting the fruit and veggie scraps, but if you can also get your hands on some cheap/free protein source, that would likely help even things out.

Layer feed runs 15-20% protein, depending on the type and target age of the birds, so depending on the number of birds, you could be talking a decent amount of meat.

If the birds free range or live on a big compost pile, they'll get some protein from bugs/worms they find, but certainly not enough to make up the required percent of their diet.