My girls won't touch the layer pellets... but they're laying just fine

[phoenixmama]

Quote:
Sure! I'm not sure if Higley carries the individual grains or not.

 

[mypicklebird]

Corn is the first ingredient in most commercial feeds because it is CHEAP, not because it is the best choice. Same reason corn in some form or other is a top ingredient in most processed foods in general. Corn is a cheap carbohydrate source. Straight corn fed to chickens should be viewed IMO as a treat/candy ect. Blended into a balanced ration, is different. Scratch mix is not meant to be a primary ration, it is a treat- so yes, everything in moderation. They don't need it, but boy to they like it. I tend to say corn = junk food, as I often come across people in person that think scratch grain = chicken food (and that is all they give). Most of you guys know better than that, sorry.

Yes, the original farmstead dual purpose chickens ate grass, weed seeds, left over buggy grain, various bugs, scraps ect- and likely lived a few years and went into the pot or got eaten by predators. They laid eggs for a portion of the year, broody was good, they did not usually lay year round. The original wild fowl lived(s) off of greens, seeds and bugs. These guys also did not lay a daily egg (high nutritional need). Also the needs of a chicken on pasture is very different than a chicken raised in a pen- the chickens who roam on acreage with actual grass and bugs to eat, probably do not need commercial food on a daily basis, or at least not as much of it! And last but not least- breed makes a difference IMO. CA whites or leghorns should probably have layer ration all the time if they want it- they may lay an egg a day year round. A big lumbering cochin who is broody half the time and when laying only lays a small egg- she can probably do fine on less 'ideal' rations. My gals have layer food out all the time, but usually only eat it right when they get up and right when they go to bed- the rest of the time they are out in the field.

 

[macmama]

that makes sense, do you think wheat is any better, or are wheat and corn the same? (along with greens, bugs, and kitchen scraps of course) I know from a human standpoint whole wheat is more nutritious... but I don't know if it translates.

 

[ArizonaNessa]

Let me clarify my "candy" statement. I didn't mean that it was not okay to give them but I meet quite a few people that think that scratch grains or cracked corn is the "chicken feed" and that is all you should give them. If you do that it really is like you setting down to a bowl full of candy at each and every meal. Yes you will live and put on weight but it's not nutritious or healthy.

I do agree about commercial feeds. My grandmother and her mother before her were both dirt poor migrate farm workers and they raised chickens to supplement their incomes via eggs and meat. I can say without hesitation that my grandmother would have never been caught dead "buying that fancy hogwash" Her birds were raised on whatever they were growing and they did mighty fine.

I see nothing in the world wrong with wanting to give your chickens non-commercial stuff as long as they are getting enough protein and vitamins from the world around them. Everyday I go out of my way to save little things for my girls. Today I had leftover malt-o-meal that the month old orpington chicks got. It was their very first treat. OH MY GOODNESS was they excited!

The only things I don't give mine are raw potato peels, citrus, avocado, anything with chocolate, and raw onion. None of these things will kill them in small amounts but some of it will cause a change in laying and/or health if given in huge amounts so I just avoid them altogether.

If you have not found this it is quite helpful https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=2593-Treats_Chart

 

[Akane]

My standards have eaten maybe 3 50lb bags between more than a dozen chickens since the end of last summer so around august. They don't get scratch. They got two 50lb bags of sunflower seeds over the winter. All the rest has been free range and what they steal after it spills out of the neighbors bird feeder. They didn't lay over winter but have been laying perfect eggs for the past month or 2. I quit keeping feed in that coop because the feeder empties so infrequently that the bag goes bad from age or rodents. Instead I just buy feed for the other coop and take 1/3rd of a bag out to that feeder as needed. I bought them a flock block to try to keep them away from the neighbors bird feeders but they seem to have decided it's too much work and boring versus digging things up off the ground because it's still there weeks later.

So long as you aren't over feeding them on corn then I wouldn't worry. Corn is definitely not something they'd find in the wild and as others said it's a poor source for most nutrients. They would get the seed heads and grains from some plants but this would only be what is scavenged during certain seasons while eating mostly greens and what small critters they can catch. Our chicken feeds and treats of mostly grains are not ideal. They are just easy and cheap. Ideal is actually what they find free ranging so if yours are accomplishing that without much need for layer feed they should be even healthier than your average chicken.

 

[Kiwibird]

If you choose to feed your chickens mainly whole grains, they are low in protein compared to a good commercial layer ration. Some breeds are more sensitive to this than others, and free-ranging does a lot to rectify the balance. Soaking or sprouting your whole grains is another thing you can do - this increases the bio-available protein in the grain.

Corn is higher in fat than wheat, so ideally, feed wheat in summer and corn in winter. Both of these can be soaked or sprouted. These are the two whole grains most consistently favoured as chicken feed in material I have read. If you can buy lucerne (alfalfa) chaff where you are, you can also soak this along with corn and/or wheat, and feed it to your chickens. I do this, and soak up the excess water with a little commercial chicken mash so that none of the nutrients are lost.

Barley is poorly digested by chickens, and commercial chicken feeds using barley often contain enzymes to help the chickens digest it.

A lot of material you can read about what to feed chickens is connected in some way with makers of commercial chicken rations, so may not be totally unbiased. Some people suggest that commercial rations have interesting things like clay as binders which don't provide a lot of nutrients, and should therefore be avoided. Are these people biased? Who knows?

I think observing your chickens to see that they are healthy is the best way to judge your own feed regime, and personally I find a combination of commercial rations and soaked grains to work best for me.

 

[ArizonaNessa]

I don't know how to only quote part of a statement but I agree wholeheartedly with the statement made by the previous poster. Observing your birds and paying close attention to them is a great way to judge their health. If they are happy, full of meat, shiny feathers, and not lethargic then you are probably doing something right.

 

[Luvducks]

A guy at the feed store loaded a bag of Pelleted feed instead of my usual and my chickens do not like it. I have been putting it in the Magic Bullet to grind it down until I get back to the feed store. Pretty dusty. They are al Bantams so the pellets look pretty big for them to eat.

 

[macmama]

Quote:
Thanks for the great idea! I'll get some wheat at the feed store and give sprouting a try. We also have 2 big raised planter boxes in the chicken run full of good soil and we were going to try worm-farming in them... although I've read things about roundworm so maybe that's not a good idea. They must be getting enough bugs in our backyard right now (though they won't in the summer) because all 3 of them have been laying like crazy. They have a nice big run (15'X 20' for 5 of them) and it's very bug-friendly because we added old boards and yard clipping piles... maybe that's why they won't eat the pellets. They're spoiled.

 

[Kiwibird]

If you are going to sprout wheat, people have mixed results with how long they can sprout it for without some of it going mouldy or smelling fermented. Some people sprout it until a green shoot shows, some just until you can see the white rootlets which come first.

I spout it for about four days when I am on holiday and have time for draining and rinsing, thereby getting lots of white roots and just a few green shoots. The rest of the year I just soak it for 24 hours - no draining and rinsing needed to keep it fresh. The wheat doesn't start to sprout visibly, but I am told that even soaking for that short time increases the protein.

If you do plant it pots as you have suggested and feed the wheatgrass, that is great to supply greens, and the chickens love it. However, this is lower in protein that the fresh sprouts or soaked seeds. If you have time, do both! Have fun