How much bread?

[Swamp Roo]

I can get access to a large quantities of bread. It's mostly wheat and multigrain bread. I plan on drying most of it and then making crumbs with it. How much can I "cut" my normal feed with it? I know that there are some variables, but what is a ball park figure? 10%? 20%? With the price of feed these days, every bit helps.

Swamp

 

[gpamela3499]

I would like to know the answer as well.

(bump)

 

[cmom]

I would like to know too. I've never fed my birds bread as feed. They do get some as a treat as it is one of their favorite.

 

[Kim_NC]

I try to keep total treats to not more than 10-15% of the flock's total diet. If we assume each chicken is eating 1/4 lb per day (4 oz) , then the amount of treats (or bread in this case) would be 0.4-0.6 oz per chicken.

So, multiply 0.5 oz X #chickens = weight of treats (bread) to feed in a day.

I also feed a higher protein layer pellet - 20%, free choice - so that the low protein treats do not drag their protein down below the 16% recommended for layers.

 

[jhm47]

Bread should be reasonably high in protein (12 - 15%). Since you will be using mostly wheat bread, it shouldn't be just too far below the recommended % of protein for chickens. Another thing to remember is that bread contains many dead yeast cells, and they are an excellent source of a fairly well balanced protein. I would guess that if you are feeding a fairly high protein mash or pellets (18 - 20%), you should be able to substitute up to 50% of the total feed with bread. One thing you might want to watch is the sodium content. That might be the limiting factor. You will also need to make sure that they get adequate calcium, since the bread will be low in it compared to the mash.

 

[Swamp Roo]

I had not considered going to a high % protein feed. It might cost more per bag, but if I can stretch it more then it might be cheaper in the long run. So what is the limit on sodium?

Swamp