When i started to raise chickens i went to see my neighbor who has a small flock of rir's. He said that he does not feed them anything, they feed themselves free ranging.He gives them a little cracked corn sometimes as a treat. Is that what ya'll call scratch? I figured that I wouldn't have to feed them much because I free range mine also. I figured i would always keep some feed in their feeder just to make sure they are eating well. They eat a good amount of feed even though they free range all day. What are your thoughts?
Continue feeding as you do. This time of year available forage becomes somewhat limited as compared to spring, summer, and autumn.
With the ice/snow on the fields right now my chickens are finding it hard to free range and are eating 2 x as much feed. I use dry mash. I have been given different dry cereals from the local food pantry( Kelloggs Corn Flakes, Cherrioos) that are a little stale which I grind in a blender and mix in with their dry mash. Also this past week our local grocery store had a sale on med wh eggs. $1 per doz. so I picked up 5 doz and have boiled them and have put the eggs w/shells through the grinder as well. No way will I feed them my own fresh layed eggs!!! During the warmer months my flock eats less commercial feed and left overs from our human food sources as free ranging provides them quite well. However, we still have layer available for free choice.. Please continue feeding your flock as you have been and maybe you can convince your neighbor to add some extra seed to his scratch. Even a few cps of dry cat food with the scratch he throws down would benefit his chickens and dry cat food is fairly cheap.
I have honey bees and do removals of bees from peoples houses. When i get the old bee comb, it has baby bees in it, bees in various stages of life, and empty cocoons. i then slowly bring it up to temperature to liquify the wax, i strain this "bee soup" and put the trash on foil. I then take it to the chickens and let them eat it. They love it. I keep the wax seperately. The old cereal idea is a great idea. But my chickens are free ranging and eating grasshoppers right now. (I HATE grasshoppers)
