if you dont have access to laying pellets whats the best alternative

[montana girl]

How many hens do you have?

For me (I was diagnosed with lupus this past year and times got VERY tough) I fed my girls oats, scrambled eggs with the shells on, lettuce, apples.. etc, and they did just fine for a couple of days.

Not sure how long you need to feed alternative food to them for?

Do you have the option of letting them free range?

Let us know how you do ok?

 

[wynedot55]

1st off saying hens can not survive without feed is pure bull.my hens an turkeys made it through winter on less than 25lbs of feed.an it didnt kill them.an they are making it now without feed.they are out eating all the buggs worms an ticks they want.an they are nice an fat.if you can find some 14% pellet feed not cubes.they can eat that or corn or oats.

 

[Ahnkara0]

If you live in an area you can free-range them, that would help greatly. When we are on a tight budget, our's free-range, get whole corn and whole oats in the evening, and have access to oyster shell. Our's do not get get corn or oats free-choice, only a few handfulls thrown upon the ground before bed(helps remind them where to roost). The oyster shell they have access to all the time. They are allowed to freerange from early in the day to late in the evening, and are locked up safely at night.

They get mealworms and kitchen scraps. Production is as good as ever! We get an egg everyday from each hen and the hens are in their second(!) year of production.

Another good place for cheap protein is using buckets of roadkill to grow maggots. You hang the buckets in the coop and the chickens will gobble up falling larvae before they become flies. This isn't suggested if your coop is near anyone's house! You can also compost worms or farm mealworms. All are great ways for "free" protein and the chickens love it.

If you are near any farms ask them how much they sale their corn and oats for. Our local farmer sells whole corn for $10 a 100lb bag and $7 for 75-85 lb oats.

Free-ranging is the best way to save money on feed, but it's not an available option for everyone. With free-ranging, expect losses to predation, it happens.

Have any other questions, feel free to ask! I'm all about saving money..LOL
-Kim

Very helpful. I dont want to give my hens layers pellets because they contain Soya and wheat ( I only feed organic feed). They have fermented groats( oats) everyday. Very healthy and lay well, 12 months old. Thhey love oats, but try to avoid pellets.
I think i read somewhere that layers pellets were developed to increase their growth and laying- but i dont want to do that, just let them be as natural as possible. We have lots of natural forage for them. What advise would you share in replacing pellets with mealworms, roadkill larvea etc etc. Thank you

 

[ChaosMom]

Very helpful. I dont want to give my hens layers pellets because they contain Soya and wheat ( I only feed organic feed). They have fermented groats( oats) everyday. Very healthy and lay well, 12 months old. Thhey love oats, but try to avoid pellets.
I think i read somewhere that layers pellets were developed to increase their growth and laying- but i dont want to do that, just let them be as natural as possible. We have lots of natural forage for them. What advise would you share in replacing pellets with mealworms, roadkill larvea etc etc. Thank you

Hi, and welcome to BYC!

You replied to a very old thread, which is easy to do when searching, etc. The member you quoted hasn’t been around for 10 years.

Since you asked a question at the end, can you start a brand new thread, asking the same question?

Also, look for posts by such members as Perris, Ridgerunner, DobieLover, BlindLemonChicken, and other experienced members who post often on feeds.