scatch

[leighschickens]

Help! My girls are not eating the corn in their scratch, I sweep it up and toss it. I recently changed their food, I noticed that the new food is corn heavy, it looks like corn meal. I am thinking that is why they are not eating the scratch, is they have enough of corn. I have been thinking of just adding regular winter bird feed to the scratch or instead of the scratch. I have that with out the corn. I have now added regular bird feed to their diet.

 

[junebuggena]

Scratch should never be a primary source of nutrition, ever. They should be getting the majority of their nutrition from a complete and balanced chicken feed.

 

[leighschickens]

They receive a good and balanced feed, but it looks like corn meal. I've been looking in to building my own feed using the feed calculator I got from Garden Betty's website. Right now I have 100 lbs of organic chicken feed, that looks like corn meal. I just was wondering if any one else had the issue of their girls not eating corn... I started yesterday adding the scratch I have to the feed as I hate just tossing the corn.
I have been giving them bugs from the garden and cabbage as well as other greens. I have read just about every book my library has on chickens and seems I have been feeding them well. Just recently I changed the food to an organic feed, and I noticed that besides they like the feed, they are picking out the corn in the scratch and not eating it.

 

[aart]

They receive a good and balanced feed, but it looks like corn meal. I've been looking in to building my own feed using the feed calculator I got from Garden Betty's website. Right now I have 100 lbs of organic chicken feed, that looks like corn meal. I just was wondering if any one else had the issue of their girls not eating corn... I started yesterday adding the scratch I have to the feed as I hate just tossing the corn.
I have been giving them bugs from the garden and cabbage as well as other greens. I have read just about every book my library has on chickens and seems I have been feeding them well. Just recently I changed the food to an organic feed, and I noticed that besides they like the feed, they are picking out the corn in the scratch and not eating it.

It's probably ground finely.....so looks like cornmeal.
Is the corn that are not eating whole kernels?

Most chicken feeds are primarily corn....or 'grain products'...
.....it's the premix additives that round out the nutrition with the grains.

 

[leighschickens]

It is the large corn kernels they aren't eating. They like the bird seed I got for them. They are eating the feed. I'm adding the scratch to it. They still picking out the kernels out. At least they are getting the rest of the scratch. The bird seed I got has millet, sunflower seeds and corn. It seems that mostly every feed has corn. I give them berries, greens and lots of fresh too. They also love cabbage, spaghetti.

 

[junebuggena]

If the feed is layer feed, you need to be careful about the amount of extras you are giving. More than 10% daily can cause them to be deficient in protein amounts. Scratch is a treat, as are fruits and veggies and other things. Treats should be no more than 10% of their total diet.

 

[MadamPoofyBrow]

What breed of chicken are they? Whenever my birds get scratch, the smaller breeds (Seramas, Silkies, etc.) won't eat the whole kernels while the larger birds (Polish, standard Cochin, etc.) will.

 

[leighschickens]

Barred Rocks..

 

[leighschickens]

I do keep treats to under 10% of their diet. They look for the treats if it is raining or snowing. They know when it's Monday too. I get nice eggs about 3 a day for 4 hens.

 

[leighschickens]

Got my girls new feed. Pellets from a local source, While they still don't eat corn, they seem happy for the most part. Just one is now giving me trouble.