New to Chicken raising--advice on what to feed them

[cnotche]

Hello all! I am new to owning chickens, and have never really been exposed to any sort of farm-animal raising. I live in an urban area with a mid-sized backyard. I am getting two full-grown laying (hatched July '13) RIRs from a breeder tomorrow. I have a 50lb of Layer Feed (Albers brand), plus when I was at the feed store I picked up a bag of oyster shell and a bag of grit. I am not sure if I need either of those, but I thought it might be better to have and not need than the other way around. Plus they were only a couple of bucks. I plan to keep my girls in their coop run while I am at work and then let them out to browse the yard when I get home, til about dusk. Our yard is INFESTED with large black spiders, which is actually part of the reason I wanted to get chickens, hoping that they will eat the suckers. It's pretty bad, too, all you have to do is part the blades of grass a bit and you'll catch at least 2-3 spiders scurrying for cover. I am not arachnophobic....but yuck. I have a 3 lb hanging feeder that I'll put the feed in, but I'm not sure how much. I'm also not sure how/when to feed the oyster shell and grit. I do plan on giving them my veggie table scraps. I know I can barely call my two chickens a 'flock', but I have done a lot of research, read several chickening-for-dummies books (haha), and poured over many posts on this forum (THANK YOU FOR THIS FORUM BTW!!), and want to do right by them. I firmly believe in learning from other's mistakes if you can, so any advice or stories are well appreciated! I have also read on several threads about a 'NO NO' scrap food list, and was wondering if someone could provide a link to this list?

Thank you!

 

[Judy]

I prefer to offer the oyseter shell and grit in separate containers so they can take what they want, rather than mix it in the feed and maybe give too much. You can serve it in ost anything, and it can be small. They probably won't eat much. I found an old metal individual pie plate and screwed it to a 2x4, about a foot long, so they can't step in it and turn it over. You can cut the bottom off a soda bottle and screw it to the coop wall. Anything that makes it simple and fastens it down, or prevents spillage.

50# may be a lot for two chickens. Keep an eye on it for smelling musty or any sign of mold. Storage needs to be very dry -- I use a large metal garbage can. You can also feed flock raiser, grower or game bird feed -- the latter is a higher protein, good for molting. Since they have the oyster shell available, layer is fine but not a necessity.

Here's our treats page:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/chicken-treat-chart-the-best-treats-for-backyard-chickens

 

[realsis]

Hi and welcome! I always try to include a balanced diet for my girls. I really like feeding non GMO organic feed. I can really see a huge difference in the feed and it has more vitamins and minerals. I order my feed and have it shipped to me. Where I order from they ship any where in the country. Please compare labels with feed. I order from countryside organics online. Their feed has all organic ingredients like field peas, wheat,oats, barley, corn, fish meal, rice bran, alfalfa, flaxseed, dried kelp,wheat middlings and vitamins A, D3, E, D, B12, riboflavin, niacin, iron, folic acid, and lots of natural probotics. It's USDA certified all organic. No GMO (genetic modified organism) you can find their Web site at www.countrysideorganics.com
Take a look at their feed and compare ingredients. Even the look of their feed is night and day from the regular feed. As for treats I love getting my treats from Treats for Chickens .com. They have wonderful mixes of all organic healthy treats. Take a look at what they offer as well. Then I grow my own pasture as well for them to graze on. The pasture is high in omega 3. I planted white clover, red clover, flaxseed, buckwheat, strawberry clover, alfalfa, and rye for them to graze on. I will also offer fruits and vegetables .I use a good poultry vitamin in their water along with a probotic. I offer grit and oyster shell for my layers separately in a dish. These are just some ideas and websites for you to take a look at. I don't feed scratch or too many table scraps to my girls. Lately I've really been trying to pay close attention to nutrition because some years ago my flock got a bad vitamin defiency and I was feeding the regular store bought layer food. This prompted me to change and try to offer a better feed and wider variety. Hope these ideas help you out.do take a look at www.countrysideorganics.com, and www.treatsforchickens.com. see what you think about the food and treats. These are both all organic. I really hope this helps and welcome! Best of luck to you and your flock!

 

[cnotche]

I prefer to offer the oyseter shell and grit in separate containers so they can take what they want, rather than mix it in the feed and maybe give too much. You can serve it in ost anything, and it can be small. They probably won't eat much. I found an old metal individual pie plate and screwed it to a 2x4, about a foot long, so they can't step in it and turn it over. You can cut the bottom off a soda bottle and screw it to the coop wall. Anything that makes it simple and fastens it down, or prevents spillage.

50# may be a lot for two chickens. Keep an eye on it for smelling musty or any sign of mold. Storage needs to be very dry -- I use a large metal garbage can. You can also feed flock raiser, grower or game bird feed -- the latter is a higher protein, good for molting. Since they have the oyster shell available, layer is fine but not a necessity.

Here's our treats page:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/chicken-treat-chart-the-best-treats-for-backyard-chickens

It DOES seem like a lot of feed, but it was the only size bag they carried. I have it in a snap-close rubbermaid container that seem to shut pretty tight, in the garage. I was worried about rodents getting into it, and I'll keep a nose out for any smells that indicate it's gone mouldy. Thanks for the treats link!