Is “Chicken feed” necessary?

[3riverschick]

Black soldier fly larva is much better than dried mealworms. DEFRA has banned dried mealworms as poultry feed. Because coming from some sources, the mealworms may have been fed feed containing animal protein. if the animal protein was contaminated with disease, the worms could pick that up and pass it on to the birds when the birds eat the worms.
Black soldier fly larvae do not have this problem. they do not pass any diseases on to the birds.
If one is feeding dried mealworms, one should be very careful they know the source of the mealworms.
Best,
Karen

 

[3riverschick]

Hi it's me again.
if you want to try something Ultra natural,
supplement your birds with Farmer's Helpers supplements.
Https://foragecakes.com
I know the man who founded this company. very interesting person . he did his college studies on feeding native jungle fowl and how he could transition this primitive feed to a proper feed for modern poultry. he succeeded and his products are now promoted under the title "Farmer's helper". it's excellent nutrition. I raised my last season's chicks on Ultra kibble. great stuff . I was very impressed.
Best,
Karen

 

[chickengr]

The breakfast of champions for all chickens is good old fashion cow and hose dung with hog dung coming in a close second. Besides these farm animal manures are loaded with pro and macrobiotics as well as being pre-fermented. Further more animal dung is relished by all chickens, even the most picky eaters. Many is the time that I have watched a brooding hen leading her clutch of chicks around in the footsteps of a cow while the hen eagerly and greedily waited for a fresh cow patty to hit the ground so that she could wade drumstick deep into the soft green oozing patty and begin calling her chicks to dinner. A word of caution, the best manures are produced by domestic animals that are fed a grain supplement to augment their diets of forbs and fresh grasses. This is what true FREE RANGE originally was.

a silly question from me: as we don't have cows would goats and sheep help as well?

 

[sevenfatcows]

The breakfast of champions for all chickens is good old fashion cow and hose dung with hog dung coming in a close second. Besides these farm animal manures are loaded with pro and macrobiotics as well as being pre-fermented. Further more animal dung is relished by all chickens, even the most picky eaters. Many is the time that I have watched a brooding hen leading her clutch of chicks around in the footsteps of a cow while the hen eagerly and greedily waited for a fresh cow patty to hit the ground so that she could wade drumstick deep into the soft green oozing patty and begin calling her chicks to dinner. A word of caution, the best manures are produced by domestic animals that are fed a grain supplement to augment their diets of forbs and fresh grasses. This is what true FREE RANGE originally was.

This made laugh! My neighbors think I am nuts to haul manure from my steers into the chicken runs but it is heaven to the hens. What I don't manage to snag for them is eaten by large flocks of doves who come twice a day; it is great stuff!

 

[JenLiz]

Thank you so very much everyone!! I’m learning so much from all you wonderful peeps

 

[Folly's place]

What breeds of chickens are you planning to raise? And how rich an environment will they be living in? How many birds will you be willing to loose to predators while they are ranging widely to find food?
Wild jungle fowl in SE Asia produced maybe thirty to fifty eggs per year, lived in the jungle, and mostly died young due to predation.
Modern laying hens produce 150 to over 300 eggs per year; this is very heavy work! They also tend to be larger in size.
Providing a rich and diverse environment in plants, bugs, and stuff, to support such birds all year will be very difficult, even in Florida. I could never manage in Michigan!
You can 'study up' and produce a decent balanced ration for them at home, but it will be very expensive compared to those bags of feed at the store.
Having them free range and bringing them extras is great, but I don't think it's realistic to think that doing without a base ration makes sense.
Mary

 

[Minnimoo]

What I mean is, do I have to feed them commercial feed? I know that it’s very important that the chickens get enough protein and obviously commercial feed would be the easiest way to ensure that they are getting what they need. But is there a more natural approach? Obviously I will use chick starter, but when they transition to layer feed, are there other options? We are planning on giving the chickens veggies and fruits and herbs and flowers, etc., they will be in a large run most of the time and can forage for bugs and worms, but I can also supplement with mealworms and eggs for protein, right?I’d like for their feed to be as free from commercial grain as possible, is that even an option for backyard flocks? Please forgive my ignorance LOL We are new to this (we will be getting chicks the second weeks of March) and I’ve been doing a massive amount of research lol , but haven’t found a lot of information on this. Alternatives to commercial feed that will still ensure they get all the protein and vitamins they need?

I intend to do the same and grow corn for them too. Following.

 

[21hens-incharge]

This article was posted on another thread but it is a really good article worth having here too.

http://articles.extension.org/pages/69065/feeding-chickens-for-egg-production

 

[chickengeorgeto]

... Wild jungle fowl in SE Asia produced maybe [30] thirty to [50] fifty eggs per year... died young due to predation.
Modern laying hens produce 150 to over 300 eggs per year; this is very heavy work! They also tend to be larger in size.... a rich and diverse environment in plants, bugs, and stuff, to support such birds all year will be very difficult, even in Florida. I could never manage in Michigan!
You can 'study up' and produce a decent balanced ration for them at home, but it will be very expensive compared to those bags of feed at the store.
Having them free range and bringing them extras is great, but I don't think it's realistic to think that doing without a base ration makes sense.
Mary

That is the major reason that in the past a flock of real rooting tooting free range chickens ranged over a territory of about 25 acres or more. Now 25 acres of ground looks like a continent when you are chopping & picking cotton, hoeing, or mowing it by hand, but in reality if you put a chicken down in the middle of a 25 acre field it is a lot smaller than it looks or sounds.

As I previously posted in this thread the free range poultry of our ancestors day enjoyed eating from the cows' and mules' feed trough, and foraging beneath the corn crib or silo, as well as picking bits and pieces of undigested corn or other things from the dung of domesticated farm animals. I have even seen chickens foraging under outhouses.

So unless you are homesteading on 160 acres of new ground that you just shot a native American in order to claim and you have the full compliment of milk cows, mules, work or carriage horses, hogs, goats, sheep, dogs, etc. you will definitely need chicken feed if you are going to keep chickens. Chickens are not stuck up when it comes to what or who they feed on. So never take a nap in side your hen house because you may wake up looking out from the inside of an egg.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

a silly question from me: as we don't have cows would goats and sheep help as well?

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