NON GMO Food and the consistency of it

[Sophie442]

We are new to chickens so please, be patient with my ignorance!

We bought an existing flock of 8 Red Sexlink Hens that are about a year old. They came eating conventional food pellets of crumble. I changed them over to a NON GMO feed that a co-op makes. They are NOT able to make the food into a pellet and therefore it's a little dusty and I feel they waste a lot. I called the previous owner and he said their feeder never went empty and it took 2-3 days to do so and if they had some food on the ground he waited until they cleaned it up before he gave them more. WELLLL, that being said, I went through an entire bag, I assumed it was 50 lbs, in a week. (dumb, I know) I knew something was wrong. My feeder rarely has food in it and it just seems to lay on the coop floor and I don't feel they clean it up. I was originally feeding them over 4 Qt. of food a day, now I'm doing approximately 2 Qt., any veggie/fruit scraps I get here,I just added oyster shells, and we let them out as much as possible. We are getting 7 eggs a day and occasionally 8. (There's a weird light brown egg that's really wrinkly)

When I feed them, they do eat it, or appear to.

I want to stay with this food but I am a little nervous they aren't getting enough and I need to put my mind at ease that they're ok.

Thanks in advance!

 

[dreamtone]

I read on here not to long ago forgot who posted it BUT they said hang the feeder at a distance from the floor the same as the top backs of the hens. I suppose it also needs to be a type/design where its hard to hop up on also so maybe one that hangs from a chain. I am also sure they are rubbing their beaks in it looking for the other feed that they are used too. So maybe two approaches are needed. The one you mentioned on letting them go hungry and eat it off the pen floor, and maybe raising the feeder height. Also, maybe slowly mix in the new feed so they slowly adjust to it kind of like you might do with a dog.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

If your feed is a mash (powder) you can wet it for them - but only enough for a day so it doesn't get moldy and they will eat it with relish.

Your 8 chickens should need about a bag and a half or thereabouts per month as 6 hens for me need about 50 lb a month of feed. But of course that is with eating a good deal of grass too. If they don't have grass to eat they will eat more. Make sure you aren't feeding squirrels, rodents, and wild birds.

What you can do is set your feeder inside one of those rubber feed pans or an oil pan. The pan will catch the feed spilled out - I don't hang the feeder when I do this. Then pour the feed back into the feeder the next day. This is of course if you aren't making a wet mash.

 

[subhanalah]

What I would do is ferment the feed. Add your food and some water, stir it up and let it go for a 3-4 days, stirring occasionally. It had incredible benefits for the chooks, and that way you aren't wasting all the vitamins and minerals included in the feed by utilizing the fines.

Here's a blog with almost everything you needed to know about how and why to ferment chicken food. (Written by BYC's own @Tikkijane)
http://tikktok.wordpress.com/2014/04/13/fermented-feed-faq/

If you have any questions or anything post in this https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/645057/fermented-feeds-anyone-using-them/4260 thread. That's where the fermented feed conversation is taking place (one of them anyway!).