Scratch

[Gin51]

Best scratch for adult cickens...reasonably priced and not all corn..?

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Best scratch for adult cickens...reasonably priced and not all corn..?

Scratch tends to be highly local. Mostly corn, the other ingredients based on best local prices. and terrible nutrition. Completely NOT needed for your bird's diet. Recommend not using it.

 

[NatJ]

Best scratch for adult cickens...reasonably priced and not all corn..?

Why not corn? If you just want something cheap that chickens like to scratch for, and it will be a small percent of their diet, corn is fine. A bag of plain corn will be noticeably cheaper than any multi-grain scratch you are likely to find. (Chickens can eat whole corn just fine, so it does not need to be cracked.)

If you want something the chickens can eat in large quantities, and have a balanced diet, buy a complete food and stick with that. It's often as cheap as a multi-grain scratch, while being much better nutritionally. And yes, you can toss a few pellets of feed on the ground and let the chickens scratch for them.

 

[K0k0shka]

If you feed it at the recommended amounts - no more than 1 tbsp per chicken per day, and not every day - scratch grain can last you a VERY long time and is thus very cost effective no matter which kind you buy. You're not feeding your birds on it after all, it's just a treat. I have 7 chickens and when I buy a 25 lbs bag of scratch, it lasts them more than a year (and that's provided that I also fill the wild bird feeder with it occasionally, too). I use Purina's scratch grains. Purina is easy to find and not as expensive as some of the fancy brands. Their scratch mix has a bunch of different grains in it, not just corn. And it doesn't look like majority corn either. This is what it looks like:

And this is what the bag looks like:

 

[kerbotx]

I like Royal Wing birdseed from Tractor Supply: Value Mix It does have corn in it, but it's really well-mixed with the other ingredients (Milo, White Millet, Cracked Corn, Wheat, Black Oil Sunflower) and it's very clean & consistent from bag to bag. And sometimes, they even put it on sale! I add a little oatmeal, just cuz they like it.
(*It was $9.99 in December, ouch)

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Best scratch for adult cickens...reasonably priced and not all corn..?

Open pasture!

The hawks agree.

Sorry, I'm just playing with you. Welcome to BYC!

Lot's of fantastic feed back already.

It's not cost effective but experimenting with home mixes can be fun.. and sprouted. Happy adventures!

 

[Battlepants]

IMO, layer feed if you are wanting eggs, flock raiser if you are wanting meat. Beyond that, tossing back egg shells for your layers and/or offering oyster shells as a side dish for calcium. Other things to add are table scraps that the humans aren't going to eat.

Buying scratch just doesn't seem worth it. You will get much better nutrition in layer/flock raiser for about the same price.

 

[Gin51]

Why not corn? If you just want something cheap that chickens like to scratch for, and it will be a small percent of their diet, corn is fine. A bag of plain corn will be noticeably cheaper than any multi-grain scratch you are likely to find. (Chickens can eat whole corn just fine, so it does not need to be cracked.)

If you want something the chickens can eat in large quantities, and have a balanced diet, buy a complete food and stick with that. It's often as cheap as a multi-grain scratch, while being much better nutritionally. And yes, you can toss a few pellets of feed on the ground and let the chickens scratch for them.

I'm still fairly new at this...so I'm trying to learn what is best and what I can change or add

 

[WIchickMama]

I get s 5 lb bag of scratch made by the local feed store, lasts about 9 months as they get a small bit when my DD goes out to hold them each day. (Training them to not be scared and run from the loud 4 ft human that wants a snuggle)

 

[Brooks_]

Open pasture!

The hawks agree.

That was fantastic.