Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[thistlewick]

We have corn stalks growing from where we have thrown scratch treat for the girls in our side lawn by the barn LOL

If the deer don't nibble it down, we're happy to grow some feed corn LOLOL

 

[Molpet]

Where does wheat grow in the States? My child-like mental image of the great plains is endless wheat fields and grain silos.

Canadian wheat is a thing here, attracting premium prices for bread-making for example. Has it got too hot on the US side of the border for wheat?

I'm in Illinois and there's some wheat grown by me. Across the road my cousin alternates between corn and soybeans. But 20 minutes away, where they live, the hog farmer across their road had wheat last year.

 

[fuzzi]

Or is it "Look what you did!"

 

[fuzzi]

Rahab (right) is integrating the chicks into her flock.

Rahab "don't play", she let all the others know not to mess with HER chicks!

 

[MrsNorthie]

However, our local hawk has himself a wife now, so hopefully my birds will be clever enough to keep safe from them.

I bet your roosters will get them under cover fast. Roosters are amazing.

Our boys do a great job of immediately getting everyone under cover as soon as an aerial predator is spotted, and the girls all take the call seriously and react right away. I watched Spud, in the past, brusquely, but not violently herd a hen that seemed oblivious to the call, so they have learned to pay attention and just take cover. They boys are so good that now, by the time I spot a hawk, and run out there, there isn't a chicken to be seen, anywhere.

I have absolutely loved watching the cockerels grow into maturing roosters and seeing how much the hens trust them implicitly.

 

[MrsNorthie]

the term 'scratch' seems to be as broad and long as the word 'treat' - it seems to mean a huge range of different things and leads to lots of confusion.

Why do you think 10% is appropriate? why not, say, 5%, or 15%, or any other percent? Does it matter what the mixed grains are? Does it matter if the 10% treats are whole grains of wheat or ultra-processed Twinkies/ jam-filled deep-fried donuts, for example?

LOL I think our little angels would love 10% of their diet to be jammie donuts. Luckily, the Egg Thief keeps those to himself..

 

[MrsNorthie]

We have corn stalks growing from where we have thrown scratch treat for the girls in our side lawn by the barn LOL

If the deer don't nibble it down, we're happy to grow some feed corn LOLOL

Same. We have little corn stocks growing up all over the place.

 

[SimpleJenn]

Yes, our roosters even herd them to the coops inside their covered run when the hawk wheels overhead.
One of the swap meet guys said he had a cochin mix roo that tackled a hawk and ended up killing it.

 

[Shadrach]

But it’s very important to give complete feed too from late fall till early spring when there’s not much food to be found in the garden/ fields/ woods.

In fact the mixed grains should always be supplemental.

There are many ways to make a complete feed and even more ways to ensure a chicken gets to eat a complete feed.
To be clear, what makes a feed complete, in the eyes of the commercial manufacturers is a particular set of amino acids. The ratio of these amino acids varies from feed to feed. The feed for a large commercial concern is often designed for them by the manufacturers.
The one amino acid that the commercial manufacturers have problems with is Methionine; the chicken can't make its own and it is difficult/too expensive or prohibited by law to source from a natural product.
I believe the vast majority of commercially produced feeds have synthetic Methionine added.
This wasn't a problem when animal products, usually fish-meal, could be a feed constituent,

So, the idea that mixed grains, without defining which grains and how much of each are only fir for a supplementary feed is misleading to say the least. After all, most of the commercial feeds are mixed grains that have been processed. Naturally, the feed manufacturers choose the cheapest grain that will get the job done.
For example one can by wheat with 17% to 18% protein content, but it is really expensive. One could do as I have done and give chopped Brazil nuts to boost Methionine when one believes the amino acid content of the whole grains given might not provide enough. Thing is Brazil nuts are fiendishly expensive to use as a feed additive.

I just want to caution against the idea that a) only commercial feed can supply the correct balance of amino acids, b) the 10% rule is so misleading, but as you wrote, it may be the best option for fully contained high production hens in lay.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

I have been experimenting with fermented feed. I make a mash by adding that to dry high protein crumble. The only thing I’ve noticed is that my birds seem to prefer that to foraging for their own food so I have started feeding them later in the day. I am cutting them some slack because they aren’t flighty breeds that are inclined to forage. That and they’re growing. But they should be able to forage all day without going hungry and have a top-off for dinner. I never thought I would have to train chickens to range.