Please recommend safe and nutritious chicken feed for my 5 month old hen

[santas_little_helper]

Hi! my hen is 5 months old and just started laying egg yesterday.
I want her to be healthy and live a long life, not just to get eggs.
So Is there nutritious and safe feeds for hen? I would like a brand that I can order online.


And some people mix pigeon or parrot food with chicken food, is that okay?

 

[azygous]

What is your location? Brands available in the US may not be available in other parts of the world.

 

[Al Gerhart]

If available, use any commercially made layer or all flock feed. Anything else is simply foolish in my opinion versus a scientifically designed and carefully mixed ration.

As for the eggs, that is her purpose in life. They enjoy laying the eggs and are born with every egg they will ever lay. Let the poor thing be a chicken, get her a boyfriend if you can have one where you live. She will live a better life.

 

[LaceyJune]

Personally, I'd recommend an organic feed or even if it comes down to slimmer options Non-GMO.
And for our birds to have the fullest yet healthy accountable lives organic products play an extremely crucial role ensuring that our chickens are consuming natural and unaltered ingredients for the best quality of life.

 

[SmiYa0126]

Also give her greens, access to grit and oyster shell

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Hi! my hen is 5 months old and just started laying egg yesterday.
I want her to be healthy and live a long life, not just to get eggs.
So Is there nutritious and safe feeds for hen? I would like a brand that I can order online.


And some people mix pigeon or parrot food with chicken food, is that okay?

As @azygous said, where are you in the world??? Best options will vary with where you are.

"Some People" do lots of things. As Pigeon food and Parrot food are more specialized (and more expensive) than Chicken food, why would you???

Below is the guaranteed nutrition label for a common and popular parrot food locally.

In terms of what a chicken needs, it has far too little protein (and of unknown amino acid profile), too much fat, too much fiber, not nearly enough calcium, and not enough phosphorus. Whether or not it provides adequate amount of more than a dozen vitamins and minerals whose inclusion rates I can check on a bag of thicken feed is an open question. Its also more than 3x more expensive than the feed I buy from my supplier, and more than twice the cost of a bag of Nutrena or Purina chicken feed of the shelf at my local TSC.

So yes, "Some People" may do it. Its ignorant, inefficient, and wasteful, unhealthy. But I'm sure "Some People" will defend the practice.

If you can suggest a pigeon food, I can do the same witrh that label. Pigeon feed isn't an "off the shelf" option around me, I'm not sure what may be popular and readily available in your corner of the world.

 

[FrostRanger]

I'd just go with a quality all flock feed with oyster shell on the side. I personally like kalmbach flock maker pellets but there are plenty of other good brands. The nutrition in the feed is far more important than the brand itself

 

[FrostRanger]

Also, if you only have one bird, I'd get her some friends. Chickens are social creatures that don't do well alone. I'd get at least 2-3 more pullets