How much Scratch is too much ?

[flymamma]

Okay , I have a 7 year old daughter who wanted to hand feed our chicks like Hannah Montana does in the movie . She had been throwing out Lay crumbles , but frankly scratch is cheaper and I have a 13 lb feeder full of crumbles for them to eat . So my question is this - Is it okay to feed a hand full or two of scratch every morning .. or is it more of a once a week treat kinda thing ? BTW I have 12 chickens in all , ranging in age from 19 weeks to 25 , 4 sex links , 4 RIR , 1 Delaware , 1 BO [bantam perhaps , jury is still out in her ],2 red leg hybrid ... I just bought the first bag of scratch yesterday , I let her throw a few hand fulls out ... they are too funny . They look like addicts digging for their fix .

 

[digitS']

scratch? The poultry science people usually recommend no more than 15% of their diets or what the birds can clean-up in 20 minutes. You can get higher percentage recommendations but the experts are talking about using whole grains along with something other than regular layer feed.

It doesn't sound like you are trending in this direction, at all. Certainly, a couple handfuls of scratch once a day to 12 chickens won't make much difference. I imagine that it is gone in a matter of seconds . . .

Steve

 

[Chooksaurus]

12 birds here as well, and a 5 year old that loves to feed them. We give out about 2 cups worth of 5-grain scratch a day (1 cup in the morning, 1 at night), and it is always gone in under 5 minutes.

Do your birds free-range or are they penned? My daughter also loves grabbing handfuls of grass and letting them pick blades of grass out of the "bouquet" and gobble them down.

 

[flymamma]

Quote:
They are penned , but I always say that ther livingroon is bigger than mine. The run is 12 foot by 9 foot and the coop is about 1/3 rd that size . And I actually only have 11 in the big pen , my 1 eyed pyrate chickent was getting picked on so she has her own palace

... I do let them out whenever I am out in the garden I let them out to roam ..... generally only an hour or two a day . They do love grass , but they hate my mint .

I have been waiting to give them scratch till after they lay ... they seem to distracted by the scratch ... silly brids .