Lets talk about layer feed...

[Ms.tiamaria]

I feed scratch and peck a few times a week in the feeder. They do choose their favorites and leave the rest. I take what they reject and cook it up into a mash with some of their other feed. I serve that to them in the mornings so that they get a balanced diet.

There are several threads where people who used minimally processed grain mix feeds like Scratch and Peck actually lost birds to Fatty Liver Haemorrhagic Syndrome. They literally dropped dead without warning. It can also lead to reproductive disorders like egg binding and prolapse and salpingitis or internal laying, due to birds becoming obese. The manner in which you feed Scratch and Peck is very important to prevent these problems and I'm not sure that it is made clear on the product. If the birds have access to such feeds 24/7 from a feeder where they can see the feed and bill the feed out, they will often selectively eat the higher carbohydrate components of the feed and leave the pulses which contain more protein. This can lead to a dietary imbalance with the birds converting the surplus carbohydrates to fat which deposits around the vent and narrows the opening leading to laying issues. The fat also starts to build up in and around other organs and the liver is particularly vulnerable. Larger birds like Orpingtons and Sussex are more at risk because they are less active than lighter breeds like Leghorns and therefore burn less of the surplus carbs. The best way to feed the likes of scratch and Peck is to make a wet mash or ferment it and ration it, so that they clean up their daily allowance or go hungry or scatter it on the ground for them to forage for so that they burn off the extra calories, rather than standing at the feeder filling themselves up.
The issues I mentioned above may only affect one or two birds in a flock and will take months to become a problem but it is worth knowing the risk and changing your feeding regime to negate it.

 

[Ms.tiamaria]

I would use an "all flock feed" and have a separate feeder with oyster shell. Roosters and non laying hens don't need all that calcium. Better safe than sorry.

 

[rebrascora]

I feed scratch and peck a few times a week in the feeder. They do choose their favorites and leave the rest. I take what they reject and cook it up into a mash with some of their other feed. I serve that to them in the mornings so that they get a balanced diet.

You may still have individual birds that are not getting a completely balanced diet. Some birds will be more selective than others and will eat more of their favourite component or their favourite may be different to another bird. Cooking up and feeding back what is left will ensure they don't waste any and they are getting all the trace nutrients in the powdery fines but you may still have some birds that are getting more wheat or corn and others that are getting more pulses.... higher ranking birds may be more at risk as they will have first dibs at picking out their favourite bits and it is almost always the high carbohydrate grains that they do for first.
If you think of it like a table spread out with plates of meat, vegetables, fries and puddings and children being allowed to eat whichever they like. The fries and puddings may be hogged by the first few children to the table and the remaining children eat the meat and veg or go hungry. Whatever is left may be mostly veg and feeding that back to all of them will not negate the fact that some children filled up on fries and pudding the first time round or that others get a double helping of veg because the fries were all gone when they got to the table the first time.

 

[Ms.tiamaria]

This is good to know. Thank you for your insight

You may still have individual birds that are not getting a completely balanced diet. Some birds will be more selective than others and will eat more of their favourite component or their favourite may be different to another bird. Cooking up and feeding back what is left will ensure they don't waste any and they are getting all the trace nutrients in the powdery fines but you may still have some birds that are getting more wheat or corn and others that are getting more pulses.... higher ranking birds may be more at risk as they will have first dibs at picking out their favourite bits and it is almost always the high carbohydrate grains that they do for first.
If you think of it like a table spread out with plates of meat, vegetables, fries and puddings and children being allowed to eat whichever they like. The fries and puddings may be hogged by the first few children to the table and the remaining children eat the meat and veg or go hungry. Whatever is left may be mostly veg and feeding that back to all of them will not negate the fact that some children filled up on fries and pudding the first time round or that others get a double helping of veg because the fries were all gone when they got to the table the first time.

 

[shelbylewis]

Wow I am overwhelmed by the response on this thread! Thank you all soooo much for your help. I am going to really take my time to go through all of the links you have supplied to educate myself to the best of my ability so i can give the best life to my flock!

 

[Blessedthistle]

Hello Blessedthistle!

We are a different company than Poulin Grain. However, we know the Poulin family well, and they are a major distributor of our products. They inventory our products at their mills, and distribute them with their products for their dealers.

Our products are available at any Poulin dealer.

Thank you for explaining! And for the info in the previous post about layer feed.

 

[meetthebubus]

What works for me is grower feed with oyster shells on the side. I used to use layer feed and I found even my girls had too much calcium at times.

My theory is if a hen is hungry they eat more feed thus getting more calcium, my new way is they regulate themselves. So far I have strong shelled eggs, but not as hard as before and they don't have extra deposits now either

 

[GrannyHeeney]

I love your profile pic! Who is that handsome fella? (The one you're holding)

 

[GrannyHeeney]

Oh wait, I remember now, that's your neighbor's roo, Buff! I am a sucker for a pretty roo. <3

 

[Kayla's Lunch]

Not just more soy but it also must contain synthetic forms of essential amino acids like lysine and methionine to fill the holes in vegetative protein.
I keep a bag of fishmeal for supplementing some chick feed.

Where do you get fishmeal?