So, how plump should these little cluckers be?

[Squeaky]

Quote:
The starter, I thought, was for the wee hatchlings. I'm aware of the existence of grower feed but haven't been using it. It's been far too much fun to watch them play with their food.

That being said, I had this nagging suspicion that maybe they needed the grower feed anyway, and that commercial feed might be more nutritionally appropriate than natural food.

It's not quite the same state of affairs as a mother deciding whether to feed her child formula or mother's milk. For centuries chickens have been heavily bred and selected to *not* be natural animals, and to have different capabilities and needs than their ancestors. The egg productivity of a modern laying hen is about double what it was 100 years ago, and that's bound to change the bird's nutritional needs. So what might have been a suitable diet 100 years ago (table scraps and garden leavings) might not be best now.

Because my goal is sustainable self-sufficiency, I've been reading up on the locovore strategy for feeding chickens. There are some farms here in New Mexico where pastured RIR and Barred Plymouth Rock hens are laying eggs at production levels on a locovore diet. The jury is still out as to whether that is healthy over 5+ years as those egg production birds aren't kept past the two-year mark. Then again... layer feed was developed for battery hens who aren't known for their longevity either.

Do you know offhand if anyone on the board has a locovore/self-sufficient feeding system for laying hens, and how well it works in the long term? I don't have many data points and would like to hear different people's experiences.

Thanks!

 

[Akane]

You can feed chick starter until layer. Non medicated would be better if you do that. They need some type of chicken feed. Greens don't have much fat or protein and it's hard to know if your giving enough bugs when they aren't running around hunting them all day by themselves. Even free ranging chickens with a wide variety of foods at their disposal are fed a chicken feed and eat some of it. Plus the natural wild diet isn't actually always the best. Many of our animals live longer lives when fed a good diet nutritionally balanced for them (I'm talking good food not cheap junk which you can find for any pet you can keep) compared to eating what they would find or catch outdoors.

There are some sites that list crops you can grow to feed chickens and try to make your own well rounded diet but I rarely see anyone attempting it without giving some type of other feed along with it.

 

[silkiechicken]

Not plump like store birds at all.

If they were, I'd worry you got some meat birds.

Give free choice feed all day every day and they will be fine. Keep treats to about 10% so they can get the nutrition they need and don't get fat on goodies. Fat birds often develop fat around their reproductive organs which can be hard on them during egg laying and lead to prolapse and such.

The meat birds at the store are a whole nother animal. They get to the cornish game size at 4 weeks and the roaster size at 6-8 weeks. Selectively bred parent lines and crossing for 50-60 years in industry and you have your chicken on every table. Your layers should always have a breast bone in the shape of a V. You should only worry if the breast bone is in the shape of a Y.