overfeeding

[pardenx3]

I keep feed in my chickens feeders all the time, and never had a problem. But, I also don't give them hardly anything extra in the way of scraps, scratch etc.

 

[write2caroline]

I feed mine crumbles and they free range around my yard. Sometimes I offer treats. They will fill themselves silly with greens from around the yard and I think that is okay.
Caroline

 

[Armageddon]

But I've also got the leftover fish and that little bit of cheese. And then there's that granola that tasted like cardboard. And the bagged spinach I forgot about that's gone a bit soggy.

Heathercp I know what you mean.....It also goes along with being able to recycle left over food that would otherwise go to waste to produce new fresh and consumable foods (eggs and meat) I'de like to know the answer myself.​

 

[Chieftain]

Quote:
Welcome aboard gert, and let me suggest that you go up on Amazon, and order a copy of "Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens" by Gail Damerow. They discuss a great deal about the nutritional needs of chickens, and how they change depending on what cycle of their lives they are in. A molting chook has different nutritional requirements than a laying hen does, who has different needs than a young meat bird. Complex subject, and Storey's is the best primer that I have found.

 

[Akane]

No a commercial food made of uniform bits is not the best thing to feed any animal. I don't care if it's your dog, cat, guinea pig, horse, or chicken. However not feeding them a commercial food means you have to balance their diet yourself. Being omnivorous chickens need a wide range of foods. Feeding too much of one food, not enough variety overall, or lacking in certain things chickens need to make eggs is going to cause more problems than commercial poultry feed. Most people's leftovers don't include enough protein or calcium to make a healthy chicken diet. It's also unlikely to have the full range of vitamins and minerals the chickens need. You'll probably be heavy in one food group or one specific food your family has a lot of. Even our diets technically aren't balanced for us. We add vitamins and minerals to things like bread, cereal, or drinks in order to keep us from killing ourselves through vitamin deficiencies. Unless you've done the research in to nutrition to include everything an animal needs in the right ratios you should not feed them without a prepared food. You'll especially have problems if you are feeding penned chickens versus free range. Some months out of the summer my free range chickens don't actually eat their poultry feed and they still lay plenty of eggs. Every animal should have supplements of fresh food in their diet. Even just cooking food has been shown to impact the diet a lot. Diets that could keep an animal alive on fresh uncooked food can cause early death and birth defects when those same ingredients are cooked. Another factor to consider with your leftovers. Again nutrients are added back in to foods like kibbles, poultry feed, or our fortified foods to make up for things like that. I don't think even dogs and cats should be fed without at least table scraps occasionally because variation in the diet provides both physical and mental health benefits. It's preferable you actually supplement your pet and livestocks' diets. You just want to do it in moderation unless you know you are giving them a balance of everything they need. Animals fed on balanced diets that include various foods without a commercial pellet/kibble may live longer but animals fed on only random table scraps these days are likely to die sooner. Leftovers here always get fed to something but what critter that is depends on what the leftovers are and what they've had recently.

 

[gertsgal]

Thanks All,
I posed that question because I know my husband will also be the one out late at night giving them "treats". I am going to print your answers and let him read He has just built me the most amazing chicken coop and sometime this spring we will be raising our first batch. Can't wait!!!

 

[Heathercp]

We've been letting the chickens free range and it seems like they don't eat any of their feed. We put out a chicken carcass for them the other day and they tore it apart. So funny watching them run off with a leg bone or other bit they could grab and escape with. I've got free choice oyster shell and hope that that will help ensure they have enough calcium in their diet. Right now the egg shells are nice and hard and well formed, but we've only had the chickens for a few days. Today I gave them a little bit of old bread and some steel cut oats mixed with hot water, an ancient banana, some leftover anchovies, and some wilted spinach. Put some cayenne pepper in it (though I really can't imagine how it could possibly work) just to see if we can start getting more than one to two eggs/day from our 5 laying hens. The other hen still has her babies and they're only 6 weeks old. I don't plan to feed them "special breakfasts" every day - and I'll try to make sure they always get some protein with the mush. Even if it's just an egg thrown in with the rest of the stuff.

I have to say it's been quite fun watching them all pull worms and all sorts of bugs from the dirt. They can free range the back yard which is about 1/3 acre. It's a wooded area with no grass but a really thick layer of decaying leaves and pine needles. Now it looks like a moonscape from all their scratching. They seem to really love it though. I think the size is just about right for 10 hens. I'm hoping that they'll never run out of bugs to eat with that much space. Oh, and they've also been eating the few weeds that have popped up. Thank you, chickens!!

 

[Lacap]

I agree with you and I am new at this too. I look at it this way. I have traveled extensively and even In some of the poorest countries in the world , somehow chickens seem to survive and manage and from what I've seen extremely healthy ones.. Here in the states, I live in the Florida keys where they roam free in parking lots... Beautifully healthy looking birds. . Animal food is a huge business in the states.. Pilgrims didn't have pet marts... I figure.. they what I eat left over.. And the bugs and natures goods will provide the rest. Yes, they have the option of bag feed...But down here...they forage.