Scratch Grain- Why it's useful in flock management and nutrition

[Resolution]

I think that's about right. Try to remember that all scratch grain is not equal. What's the composition of the scratch? Milo is more digestible than most other ingredients. It also depends on what the soft feed is.

 

[Chris09]

Quote:
A lot depends on what breeds you are feeding,
Most hatchery and soft feather breeds do very poorly on a hard whole grain diet and should be feed a be feed a "soft" or ground food diet.
Hard feather breeds like large fowl Gamefowl, and Oriental fowl do very well with a more "hard"/ whole diet.

My birds (not including the gamefowl) are feed a set amount of mash feed and are not full fed and do very well on that diet, when they were on a "hard"/ whole diet there feathers and over all condition was poor. I have found that a max of 30% "hard"/ whole diet to 70% "soft" or ground diet work about best on most breeds (not including the gamefowl).

Chris

Is the 30% = scratch?
70% = crumble- pellets for the lay person here?

The 30% is any grain or mixture of grain and the 70% would be either Mash, Crumble or Pellet.

Chris

 

[Chris09]

Quote:
The grain mix/scratch that I use is

Crude Protein, not less than 17.00%
Crude Fat, not less than 2.00%
Crude Fiber, not more than 6.00%
Moisture, not more than 12.00%

Canadian Peas, Popcorn, Maple Peas, Milo, Wheat, Oat Groats, Red Proso Millet.

The base for the mash I use is Chick-En-Egg Concentrate and to that I add ground corn, ground oats, ground wheat, animal protein, alfalfa meal and some molasses and cod liver oil.

I also will feed some fermented oats/ or mixed grain from time to time.


Chris

 

[cottagechick]

Quote:
The grain mix/scratch that I use is

Crude Protein, not less than 17.00%
Crude Fat, not less than 2.00%
Crude Fiber, not more than 6.00%
Moisture, not more than 12.00%

Canadian Peas, Popcorn, Maple Peas, Milo, Wheat, Oat Groats, Red Proso Millet.

The base for the mash I use is Chick-En-Egg Concentrate and to that I add ground corn, ground oats, ground wheat, animal protein, alfalfa meal and some molasses and cod liver oil.

I also will feed some fermented oats/ or mixed grain from time to time.


Chris

How does the size of the bird effect it? Can my 2lb bantams eat whole popcorn ect? Also, I need to re-read the thread, but what did we decide about lentils, peas, and beans? Would they need to be soaked or cooked or coud they be raw?

 

[Chris09]

Quote:

How does the size of the bird effect it?

It isn't size as much as it is the ability to possess all nutrition from a whole grain compared to a ground grain. Feeding too much "hard grains" to soft feather fowl tends to "harden" the feathers and making them more brittle and fray easily. Where the feather structure of a hard feather breed are stronger and the feathers tend not to get brittle or fray as easily, also the hard feather breeds tend to have a better ability to possess whole grains.

Can my 2lb bantams eat whole popcorn ect

Yes, they would be able to eat a whole popcorn grain and any of the other grains I listed.

Chris​

 

[cottagechick]

Quote:
Fermented oats/ grain is a great way to feed whole grains.

When I ferment grain I just add a few cans of oats (or grain) in a bucket and add *apple juice* to cover the oats about a inch or so and topping off with apple juice as needed.
After 3 or 4 days it should be "ripe" then I drain and top there feed with it... (You will know when it is ready by it's smell. When it ready it will have a sour smell)

Note:
* Apple Juice* Raw or Organic is best.
I like apple juice better than plain water. Apple juice will add vitamin C and help with the fermenting process.

I like to also add a Vitamin mix like Rooster Booster Poultry Cell to the fermenting mix at the rate of 1 to 3 cc per bird per day.

Rooster Booster adds:
Copper
Cobalt
Magnesium
Manganese
Zinc
Selenium
Vitamin A
Vitamin D-3
Vitamin E
Vitamin B-12
Menadione (Vitamin K-3)
Riboflavin (Vitamin B-2)
Pyridoxine (Vitamin B-6)
Folic Acid
d-Panthothenic Acid
Niacinamide
Thiamine (Vitamin B-1)
Alanine
Arginine
Aspartic Acid
Cystine
Glutamic Acid
Glycine
Histidine
Isoleucine
Lysine
Methionine
Phenyla Lanine
Proline
Serine
Threonine
Tryptophan
Tyrosine
Valine

Chris

Can other unsweetened juices be added instead of apple juice? What about acv?

 

[welasharon]

Which category would you consider the seramas to fall into? Ground or not?
sharon
ETA: Also, on the soured oats. Is there a reason not to feed them in the winter?

 

[Resolution]

Peanut Hearts added to a hard grain mixture ~ 10% ratio to milo/proso/raw rice (equal proportions) can condition plumes against abrasion. The birds would need to be fed this prior to moulting -while the cellular regeneration is going on within the integument layer- before the quills have appeared- providing oystershell- not other calcium supplements- just oystershell- enables breeds of every feather type to better utilise -to break down that hard grain in such a matter that more nutrients are absorbed by the bird - soft feathered breeds tend to be able to fit more food into their crops-than might be a more natural- closer to wild type form. - I would avoid the oats and corn -even the whear- for a soft feathered breed and add uncooked rice in their place with a bit of peanut hearts once or twice a week -at a 10% ratio-

 

[Carolyn252]

Quote:
You mention "volatile oils" and spices. Can you elaborate with specific instructions on how much and how often to add the spices to the chicken's feed and please explain about volatile oils? Are the oils to be fed to the chickens or applied to their skin and feathers? What are volatile oils? Which ones are you recommending that we use? How often to use? How and why are they good for the chickens?

Also, in one of the photos that you posted, it shows the feeding stations that you use. There are whole oyster shells there; is that just for show or do the chickens actually peck at and nip off bits from the whole shells in order to get their calcium?

Also, what is a "hard feather" bird and what is a "soft feather" bird? I've got Marans, Araucana, and Delaware chickens; are they soft or hard feather birds. I ask because you've made a distinction on providing hard feed and soft feed to the different bird breeds.

Also, I know what crumbles are, and what pellets are, but when you say you feed a "mash," what do you mean by "mash?" Does it mean you are moistening the feed to a wet, mushy consistency?

Thanks.
-Carolyn252

 

[Fred's Hens]

Mash is a generic term for feed milled locally, rather than being pelletized or made into a "crumble". The local feed mill grinds the grains. One difficulty in describing characteristics is that custom milling makes for a wide variety in coarseness. The feed (mash) I get at one local mill is reasonably fine, while at another mill, the grind is quite coarse. This grinding produces a flour type dust or fines that coats product in the sack. By using a bit of moisture, the mash can be constituted into a kind of stiff porridge.

In this state, one can visually better judge how fine or how coarse the milling is grinding the product. Some people are surprised, sometimes, to discover just how coarse their "mash" really is. Likewise, adding a bit of moisture to a commercial "crumble" feed often shows just how soft and mushy that product really is.