Hi all, We have a small (two chickens, one pullet, and a two month silkie of questionable gender) flock of backyard chickens. Throughout the day, they roam our acre of land (and the neighbors) and eat all sorts of bug treats. My question is about feed. We used to always keep a bowl of free choice pellets out for them, which they more or less scorned in favor of fruits/veggies/bugs. About a month ago, we were visited by grain mites -SUCH a joy, in retrospect, storing their feed in the house probably wasn't the wisest- and ever since then I haven't kept pellets around. The chickens seem perfectly healthy and sustained by their backyard adventures, and a bowl of mixed whole seeds and nuts I keep out for them. Obviously, though, moving into colder, New England temperatures here, I'll need to supplement their feed again. My problem is with feed bags: they're huge. One bag can last us for almost a year with their grazing habits. Clearly, between freshness concerns and fear of visiting mites, I'd rather not have vast amounts of feed for so small a flock. What do others with small flocks do? I've wondered about simply mixing up my one whole grain/seed/nut blend, since those are easier to purchase in smaller amounts, but I worry about not meeting all their nutrient requirements. But are smaller bags of feed sold anywhere?
I only have 3 silkies and they will only eat crumbles and not much of that either. They like the organic crumbles sold at a nursery that is pretty far away and I don't go there very often but they sell the crumbles by by the pound. Otherwise it only comes in a 50 lb bag at the feed store. My chickens will not eat pellets at all. I have tried crumbling them up, soaking them in a little water, mixing it in canned cat food. They just won't eat it. I got bugs in their feed when I kept it in a metal can outside by the coop. Now I keep it in the freezer in the garage (I know it's stupid, but I have a freezer for cat, dog and chicken food). I also feed my chickens canned cat food, they really like that. I think it's funny that I have a feral cat that won't eat canned cat food, just cheap dry purina cat chow and chickens that love canned cat food. I think it has enough protein in it. They have finally filled out a little. I used to think they were too skinny. They get broody very frequently and I'm always shooing a bird out of the nest to "go eat". So, I feed them what they will eat.
