Scratch and Peck Feeds

[Lawrence Lovestock]

Like Chad I've been using Scratch & Peck starter and grower as it's local to me and thus easy to find, plus I like that it's organic and minimally processed. I do recommended fermenting it as chickens will pick through it for their favorite bits and otherwise not eat the fines, which is both wasteful and nutritionally off balance, as some of the vitamins and minerals are in the fines.

I don't have any experience with Hilands brand so hope someone else can weigh in on that.

Aloha!
How did you do the fermenting and once ready to feed how much did you give?
I’m new to owning hens and been using SP since day one. From starter to grower to layer. I have 6 on starter, 7 on grower & 5 on layer. All because of their ages. I can’t stop buying the baby chicks

 

[leighks]

Hello, I’m super new here and I guess I’m hijacking this slightly older convo to ask rosemary: can you share with me some instructions on how you ferment the scratch and peck? I have a flock (my very first) of six barred rock hens that has just begun laying in the last few weeks. I’ve transitioned my flock from S&P starter feed to the layer feed and I’m now finding that they are burning through it FAST!! I feed it through a gravity feeder and there’s always a thick supply of fine powdery substance at the bottom of the feeder. I will say their eggs are beautiful with thick shells and gorgeous yolks and all hens are happy friendly lovely birds. They also free range minimum five hours daily. I thank you kindly for any and all shared knowledge : )

By the way, if you keep feeding some dry you can take that powder from the bottom of the feeder and mix it with a little water to make a mash, my chickens think it’s a treat!

 

[rosemarythyme]

Aloha!
How did you do the fermenting and once ready to feed how much did you give?
I’m new to owning hens and been using SP since day one. From starter to grower to layer. I have 6 on starter, 7 on grower & 5 on layer. All because of their ages. I can’t stop buying the baby chicks

As far as how, here's my reply from earlier in the thread:
I do it slightly different for my flock of 7. I use a glass jar (half gallon I think?) and fill it about 1/2 way with feed. I add water until there's about 1" of water over the feed, then stir - the exact amount of water you will need will vary on temperature, humidity, etc., and it's something you may have to experiment with a bit. My birds prefer it dry as possible, like stiff oatmeal, however it's still wet enough that everything sticks together.

One jar makes about 3 days of fermented feed for me (I only feed fermented in mornings, pellets or crumbles are available all day). Once the jar runs low I just add more feed and water, stir again.

As I only feed fermented in the morning it's hard for me to say what's enough for the entire day, if that's the sole feed ration. You'd have to experiment a little with your flock to see exactly how much they consume (ideally at the end of the day you'd have a tiny little bit of waste, so you'd know they all got enough). For simplicity's sake I choose to free feed pellets the remainder of the day.

 

[Lawrence Lovestock]

As far as how, here's my reply from earlier in the thread:
I do it slightly different for my flock of 7. I use a glass jar (half gallon I think?) and fill it about 1/2 way with feed. I add water until there's about 1" of water over the feed, then stir - the exact amount of water you will need will vary on temperature, humidity, etc., and it's something you may have to experiment with a bit. My birds prefer it dry as possible, like stiff oatmeal, however it's still wet enough that everything sticks together.

One jar makes about 3 days of fermented feed for me (I only feed fermented in mornings, pellets or crumbles are available all day). Once the jar runs low I just add more feed and water, stir again.

As I only feed fermented in the morning it's hard for me to say what's enough for the entire day, if that's the sole feed ration. You'd have to experiment a little with your flock to see exactly how much they consume (ideally at the end of the day you'd have a tiny little bit of waste, so you'd know they all got enough). For simplicity's sake I choose to free feed pellets the remainder of the day.

What pellets do you feed all day? I have 7 too, just moved to layer. They’re 6 months old. I will try the fermented. Do you just scoop it out of the jar each morning? How much do you scoop out for your 7?

 

[rosemarythyme]

What pellets do you feed all day? I have 7 too, just moved to layer. They’re 6 months old. I will try the fermented. Do you just scoop it out of the jar each morning? How much do you scoop out for your 7?

I free feed Payback layer pellets. If you're concerned about calcium level for non laying/young birds, you could also do a crumble grower feed (I was feeding Payback hatch-to-hen when I had chicks). My birds love crumble but pellets are less mess.

In the morning I put out 3 cat food dishes of fermented feed, spread out to discourage bullying, approximately a total of 2 cups in the morning (I have a 1/4 cup ladle for easy measuring).

 

[ChickenWaterer]

Feel free to use my Googlesheet to compare nutritional guaranteed analysis of poultry feeds...a link to it can be found below in my signature.
I have hundreds of feeds on the sheet.
I too View attachment 1456502 View attachment 1456503 believe a pelleted or crumble feed is better than a whole/cracked grain feed.

Texs KiKi, thanks very much. It must have been a lot of work to put this together. Great resource.

 

[Kiki]

I

Texs KiKi, thanks very much. It must have been a lot of work to put this together. Great resource.

If you ever run across a new feed not listed on it please let me know.
I need to sit down again soon to search for new ones.

 

[ChickenWaterer]

I

If you ever run across a new feed not listed on it please let me know.
I need to sit down again soon to search for new ones.

Will do. Also, I write a newsletter for my customers and think they would appreciate the information you've so meticulously pulled together. Please let me know if it would be OK to link to your spreadsheet, or if you would be interested in writing a post for the newsletter. If you just want to do a link, let me know if you want your name or any other mention listed in the article. If you want to reach me outside of the forum to discuss this, my email is [email protected].

 

[Lawrence Lovestock]

I free feed Payback layer pellets. If you're concerned about calcium level for non laying/young birds, you could also do a crumble grower feed (I was feeding Payback hatch-to-hen when I had chicks). My birds love crumble but pellets are less mess.

In the morning I put out 3 cat food dishes of fermented feed, spread out to discourage bullying, approximately a total of 2 cups in the morning (I have a 1/4 cup ladle for easy measuring).

Thank you so much!

 

[Sleigh]

The problem with minimally processed feeds like Scratch and Peck is as @rosemarythyme mentions, that chickens (some more than others) will bill it out and pick through it for their favourite bits, usually the high carbohydrate grains and sometimes leave the less attractive pulses which are higher in protein for rodents or lower ranking birds to clean up and often the fines which contain minerals, vitamins and essential amino acids are lost/wasted in the process. I'm not totally convinced that even fermenting it will ensure a balanced diet because the components swell in size when they are fermented and should therefore make it easier to pick out their favourite bits but assuming that @rosemarythyme has been using the product in such a way for many years without encountering health issues or sudden deaths in their flock, then I can only defer to his/her experience.

There are a number of posts here on BYC about birds that have died suddenly from Fatty Liver Haemorrhagic Syndrome at 1+years old and it is strongly believed that such feeds, along with a genetic disposition, are responsible. Birds that are penned and therefore get limited exercise will also be more at risk with such a feed. Heavier birds like Orpingtons, Sussex, Brahmas etc will be more prone to Fatty liver Disease. The disease is common with pet birds too I am told like parrots that are kept caged and fed a mixed seed diet. The build up of fat in the abdomen can also lead to laying problems like prolapse and salpingitis and internal laying, all of which can be fatal. It can almost equate to feeding your chickens scratch each day.

There is also much more waste with these type of feeds because the birds naturally want to rifle through it to find their favourite bits and they bill it out of the feeder to do so and scratch it around on the ground, as compared to a processed feed where it is homogenous and therefore no point in billing it out so they just eat it.

I appreciate why you might want to feed one of these feeds but be aware that they are expensive, there can be a quite a bit of waste because of the instinct to bill it out to find their favourite bits, they may attract rodents due to the spillage and they may actually be less healthy for your chickens than a more processed feed. You have to remember that a natural diet is fine for a wild bird, but chickens usually roam over a limited area and their bodies have been selectively bred to produce an unnatural number of eggs. These factors make dietary requirements really important. Like a top level athlete their bodies are working at optimum production but like children, if you give them a free choice they will often eat the goodies and not get a balanced diet and feeds like this allow that. I would certainly urge you to at least soak or ferment if you are using these feeds.

I encourage people to test my argument by placing some Scratch and Peck on a hard surface and watching which components they eat first and what is left when they are finished and then remember that this food billed out onto the ground under the feeder is not so easily visible or cleaned up. Spillage under the feeder can also grow mould in damp climates and that poses other health risks.

I'm not saying don't use these feeds (although I personally would not) but be aware of the risks/issues and balance that against your goals and ideals and monitor your chickens closely for any indication they are carrying too much fat. Feathers can hide a lot and many people are used to seeing supermarket chickens which are plump and do not realise that laying birds should not be like that.

I wish you luck with your flock whatever you decide.

Your post is well-written and provides some important information that I could have benefitted from if I had seen it 18 months ago. I raised my first (and only so far) flock that I got as chicks in March 2019 on S&P starter, then grower, then layer feed.

I saw exactly what you wrote, they picked out the large bits and left the fines. My one Ameracauna struggled to lay an egg with a solid shell. At least 60% of her eggs were thin-shelled and laid outside the nestbox. Since the other girls were producing fine eggs, I figured it was just her problem.

Then in December 2020, one of the barred rocks began dropping soft-shelled eggs or eggs with no shell at all. We took her to the vet and were urged to get the girls on a pellet feed. We switched immediately. S&P actually recently began producing a pellet feed.

This change has made a significant difference. The Ameracauna produced four consecutive good eggs after the switch. Our barred rock refuses to eat the pellets so we have been fermenting the loose feed for her. She still picks out the "favorite" bits in the morning, but throughout the day she does eat everything.

Thank you for your sound, reasonable post.