Is it ok....

[oneacrefarmer]

I have six laying hens that are a little over a year old as well as twenty two meat chicks that are a little over a week old.

I recently found out that you can buy old bread from a local bakery outlet very cheap. I paid a couple of dollars for twenty five pounds of old bread. It is good bread, no mold or anything like that, it is just outdated. So, my question is...can I use some of the bread to supplement my chickens feed. Not to feed them just bread, but to go along with what they already get. I was hoping that I could feed this to my cornish cross meat chickens to help with the cost of feed, but I do not want to do anything that would harm them in any way.

What do you all think?

 

[flowergirl60]

Well I don't raise mine for meat but I do give them a little bread (whole grain only) very sparingly. I don't think it is a good idea to try to supplement bread with feed.

 

[oneacrefarmer]

Is there something in bread that they should not have? I have given my laying hens bread before. Usually just the ends of the loaf - the stuff my kids won't eat

.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

A LITTLE won't hurt. Like a treat, they love it. All treats combined shouldn't make up more than 10 % of the diet.
Bread can be high in sodium not to mention the preservatives. If it's white bread there's not much nutrition there.
When we get away from a nutritionally balanced diet, we lose on the other end (growth rate, feathering, egg laying) it's not worth the compromise in the long run.
Meat birds should be getting 18-24% protein asa percentage of total feed intake until they go on a finisher. Bread and treats (other than BOSS, mealworms, etc.) knock that total down. Hens should be getting at least 16%.

 

[WestKnollAmy]

During the winter I feed a good bit to mine.
The free range flock as well as my penned breeding birds. They love it as a treat and I usually give it in the afternoons when they are getting their crops filled for the night. They know what they are supposed to eat to stay healthy but I offer a lot to my free range birds and limit my penned birds.
The free rangers have the chance to find anything on the farm and are likely to limit themselves without me and I notice they do leave it so the wild birds, dogs and cats pick up the left overs.

In the summer I do not offer it much because they get so hot from eating too much. Maybe a few times a week in the summer whereas in the winter it is every day.

I donate extra eggs to the local food pantries so they in return give me all the left over bread.

 

[tclegg]

I'm sorry wha does BOSS stand for again???

 

[lynxs1981]

Bread makes a good treat for adults, but it is best not to give young chicks bread, period. The little chicks eat bread then drink water, bad things happen. If you're curious, put a little piece of bread in a bowl of water.

 

[EncinoMan]

I'm sorry wha does BOSS stand for again???

Black Oil Sunflower Seeds.​

 

[oneacrefarmer]

Thanks everyone! So I will feed it every once in a while as a treat early in the day....got it. Hhhmmm now I have 25lbs of bread to figure out what to do with. I guess my dogs and possibly the goats will get it. I wonder if the goats could eat it with no harm done?? Is there a backyard goat forum around....