Informal Survey - What do you feed and why?

[texsuze]

Purina Layena crumbles free choice (my girls won't eat pellet form feeds); in the winter I add warm water to make a "mash" and serve it on plastic plates (also make a cool-water mash in the summer)
BOSS in the a.m and p.m.
Dried mealworms in the a.m. and p.m.
Free choice oyster shell + crunched up egg shells (combined, and put out in a dish separate from the feed)
Chopped grapes EVERY morning, 365

Plain yogurt, probably once a week, in a.m.
Seasonal fruits, chopped up, throughout the week, in a.m.
Unsweetened applesauce, for variety, probably once a week in a.m.

 

[pdirt]

We feed Scratch n Peck Grower (largely whole grain, organic), mostly dry, fermented feed once a day when I am in the rhythm of making it, oyster shell on the side. Usually plain water, sometimes some ACV or home-made probiotics.

The below comments are not an invitation to debate or hear feedback from someone who wants to question our choices. The comments are simply to give a short answer to the OP's question about the "why" do I feed what I feed.

We feed organic because we trust it more than non-organic. Trust it to have fewer toxic chemicals in the feed and to have been produced in a way that is gentler on the planet. And possibly more nutritious. Not here to debate it, but while I am not against GMO on a broad scale, I am against GMO corn and soy, because of the massive sprays they put on those. There is some just-fine non-organic food/feed out there, I'm sure, but we can't tell by looking at them. We also like Scratch n Peck feed because it isn't as milled and there are fewer ingredients with names I cannot pronounce. Also, it has high quality fish meal, not preserved with known carcinogens, but rather with an extract of rosemary oil. When there are ingredients with names I cannot pronounce, it's usually some isolated thing, produced in a lab by several steps of refinement. I'm not a fan of that sort of refinement...give me real food, not a lab project! I also like it is not pellets, which get denatured when put under high heat and pressure.

We don't own any fancy cars, big screen TV's...we could if we wanted to, but we'd rather put our money towards the better bet of quality food by buying organic food, including our chicken feed.

 

[keesmom]

I use Blue Seal gamebird crumbles (now known as Multiflock starter/grower). Sometimes they will also get sunflower seeds, kitchen scraps and weeds from the garden.

I use it because my Faverolles seem to do better on a higher protein feed. I wish there were a feed available locally with animal protein, but there is none.

 

[TalkALittle]

What: Poulin Grain Egg Production Plus 18% protein "crumblets", Poulin Grain Scratch to which I add BOSS and dried mealworms, veggie scraps

Why: I think that Poulin offers a good quality product and prefer to support a local mill. My birds benefit from a higher protein layer feed. The smaller than a pellet but bigger than a crumble size ensures that the bantams can comfortably eat it while still minimizing waste. The scratch is for mental and physical enrichment. The added BOSS and mealworms are for variety and to offset the low protein scratch grains.

They also have free access to grit and oyster shell plus ground eggshells. They also have opportunity to forage on 1/4 acre of "eco-lawn" for at least a couple hours each day.