Homemade Feed

[robinwhiskers]

Does anyone here feed homemade feeds to their chooks? I watch a lady on YouTube and they have a visibly very healthy free range flock. However she says she no longer feeds them pellets or crumbles but mixes together whole corn, black oil sunflower seeds, oats, and some high quality cat food and they thrive on it, plus they get vegetables scraps. What are your guys' thoughts on this? I've never heard of feeding like this.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I wouldn't feed mine that mix, but I've heard worse. Bagged rations are formulated with everything a chicken needs. I always provide one, and the birds supplement their own diet by ranging in summer and in winter I add in some extra scratch.

Chickens can survive on nearly anything. It just depends on whether you want eggs and possibly meat out of them.

 

[robinwhiskers]

The person that feeds their birds like that apparently has chickens over 6 years od age still healthy and laying. That is a downside to not free ranging (I do not free range) I feel like they can't balance their diets as much so it's the chicken keepers job to worry about making sure they have what they need.

 

[MissChick@dee]

I would not do it. I would not make my own dog food either. I just don’t believe everything on the internet.

 

[Perris]

That is a downside to not free ranging (I do not free range) I feel like they can't balance their diets as much so it's the chicken keepers job to worry about making sure they have what they need.

exactly. If they can forage in a varied environment there's less pressure on the keeper. If they are confined, the keeper must provide all they need.

 

[MissChick@dee]

Corn & BOSS (blackoilsunflower seeds) & oatmeal are all treats where I come from.
Corn=sugar Boss=fat. They do have some good nutritional values. To me it’s like feeding a bowl of Lucky Charms cereal. They pick out the marshmallows and leave the nutritional cereal behind.
I personally am looking to keep my hens at a healthy weight. The health problems that comes with being overweight only worsenes as we age (people too). But especially for laying hens. Mine are pets. I don’t cull after egg production drops. The more I learn the more I find I could do things a better way.
Mine free range in my 1/3 acre back yard. So they get exercise. In containment I would imagine yours would be much less active.
There are people who purchase bags of grains and seeds and the like to supplement their feed. Usually feeding a large number of birds. I could not use that much feed before it would go stale and loose its nutritional value.
What you’ve described sounds like a nice treat not a diet staple. If your birds are contained and only have a run to stay in I might suggest healthier less calorie fat free treats. Chickens love vegetables. Good source to balance a pellet or crumble diet. But again they are treats. If your looking to not feed them Any...packaged feed that is wayyy above my pay grade. I don’t have a degree in biology & nutrition I leave all the years of development and research to the experts. I choose feed that has been developed to meet all nutritional needs and then I try not to ruin that with too many or crap treats. BTW I’m cutting back on my dogs treats too!
Best wishes

 

[robinwhiskers]

Thanks for all the responses! I'm careful aout feeding my chooks treats and never really considered a homemade diet but just wanted to hear everyone's opinions about it.

 

[Molpet]

a bycer, rjohn39 posted this

 

[annagoodspeed]

I have been mixing my own feed since I got chickens, only four years, but that is long enough to see problems. They are free range, but during the winter all free range is under snow.
They are mellow and seem quite healthy. My pullets have been laying all winter.

I feel that there is a lot more lee way than one thinks, PROVIDED a person takes their essential enzyme needs into account by a careful researching of what chickens need at a minimum. There are threads here that can give you all the info you need, with charts that can give you the protein content of ingredients by weight, so you can easily calculate what you need to get the protein level you want.
Bottom line is you should have some animal protein in there some place, and that is easily supplied by fish meal.
I have a local wheat peas bulk mix I use for a base, and add fish meal, alfalfa, and kelp to it.
I have added a link to research about the normal diet of game fowl in the wild.
Ask serious breeders if they use 16% layer feed, yet this is sold as a complete ration.

The Welsummer and Partridge Wyandotte here are some of my first chickens, been eating home mix for four years...

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I have been mixing my own feed since I got chickens, only four years, but that is long enough to see problems. They are free range, but during the winter all free range is under snow.
They are mellow and seem quite healthy. My pullets have been laying all winter.

I feel that there is a lot more lee way than one thinks, PROVIDED a person takes their essential enzyme needs into account by a careful researching of what chickens need at a minimum. There are threads here that can give you all the info you need, with charts that can give you the protein content of ingredients by weight, so you can easily calculate what you need to get the protein level you want.
Bottom line is you should have some animal protein in there some place, and that is easily supplied by fish meal.
I have a local wheat peas bulk mix I use for a base, and add fish meal, alfalfa, and kelp to it.
I have added a link to research about the normal diet of game fowl in the wild.
Ask serious breeders if they use 16% layer feed, yet this is sold as a complete ration. View attachment 1657059

The Welsummer and Partridge Wyandotte here are some of my first chickens, been eating home mix for four years...

Your rooster is very handsome.