I've landed on a realization that makes me feel like this
Follow me for a second...
Chickens let to range eat LOTS of grass and greens like clover or dandelions. Chickens not roaming are recommended to be fed table scraps and have their greens supplemented. A mother chicken or goose will take her babies to the lawn before she will ever take them to the corn based food that is made for them and set out in our nice feeders. When raising other poultry, say, Geese, which eat primarily grass anyway grass cuttings and oats, dandelions etc are given to new hatchlings. Now, picture me mincing up grass and the little bits of dandelions I can find right now. Picture me milling oats in my pestle and offering these things to new chicks, geese, and older chicks alike. Every single time I do this, despite the full feeder of mash or crumbles, these birds run for the grass! Run! I watched this the last few days and now have also realized that they will eat out of the feeder if I don't keep offering them 'refills' of this 'fresh food' but so long as I offer this 'green' diet three or four times a day or in quantities that last more than two seconds, they will not touch the commercial food. Now, this is all based on my watching what broodies have done here, raising these chicks and gosling, and common sense. I will now be offering a diet as outlined above to my house raised chicks as a rule instead of just mash/crumbles. I found that Skillins sells 4x6 trays of nice grass for 1.50 which is totally worth the trouble when there isn't grass. I could sprout my own down the road but convenience isn't all bad (just when its primarily corn based lol) "Food for thought."
Chickens let to range eat LOTS of grass and greens like clover or dandelions. Chickens not roaming are recommended to be fed table scraps and have their greens supplemented. A mother chicken or goose will take her babies to the lawn before she will ever take them to the corn based food that is made for them and set out in our nice feeders. When raising other poultry, say, Geese, which eat primarily grass anyway grass cuttings and oats, dandelions etc are given to new hatchlings. Now, picture me mincing up grass and the little bits of dandelions I can find right now. Picture me milling oats in my pestle and offering these things to new chicks, geese, and older chicks alike. Every single time I do this, despite the full feeder of mash or crumbles, these birds run for the grass! Run! I watched this the last few days and now have also realized that they will eat out of the feeder if I don't keep offering them 'refills' of this 'fresh food' but so long as I offer this 'green' diet three or four times a day or in quantities that last more than two seconds, they will not touch the commercial food. Now, this is all based on my watching what broodies have done here, raising these chicks and gosling, and common sense. I will now be offering a diet as outlined above to my house raised chicks as a rule instead of just mash/crumbles. I found that Skillins sells 4x6 trays of nice grass for 1.50 which is totally worth the trouble when there isn't grass. I could sprout my own down the road but convenience isn't all bad (just when its primarily corn based lol) "Food for thought."
