So who feeds whole grains as opposed to processed feed?

[Lacy Blues]

I need to bring this thread back up to the upper portion of my desired conversations.

 

[Lacy Blues]

I suspect it is the millet.. How can they resist those tasty morsels... IMO the fish meal is a necessary evil, and not what make them want more.. Know replace that fish meal with those fried wax worms people eat as snacks in Thailand... I bet the chickens would be all over that...

Me, I will skip the fish meal AND the wax worms in my bowl thank you..

Know you got me motivated to source organic millet....... My "dream" mix would include quinoa with the saponin removed... Yep a mix of seeds instead of cereal grains...

I wonder if it would be feasible to order pasture seed in bulk? In nature, chickens probably eat more grass/grass seeds and weeds/weed seeds than cereal grains, right? hmmm

 

[pastryman]

I just got barley and oat from two organic farmers not far from me this week.

One of them gave me some free barley with a lot of weed seeds. They remove that while harvesting, on the farm or on the mill.

A friend of mine got 2-300 kg for nothing on the mill (but gave them a bottle of snaps). He said the yolks turned dark orange in a few days.

 

[GreenLove]

Hi all you whole grain folks. An update on my "experimental" whole grain flock.............I had an EE pullet lay her first egg the other day at 21 weeks. The other 11 should be laying any day know. Yep these birds are fed whole grains. Very healthy looking birds, out free ranging daily on the frozen ground. (At least the snow is gone.)

(I sprout my Red wheat, BOSS, Oats) Also get Alfalfa meal, and a little fish meal, apple, and pumpkin. Free choice oyster shell. Free choice of the same grains not sprouted.

I am redoing my mix and getting 10 to 20 percent of flax and field peas into their diet. Also looking for alternatives to the fish meal. The hen that laid the first egg, just happened to be the one that "helped" me clean out the worm bin.. Next day she laid an egg!
Oh yes they get lots of organic soil year round to eat the roots from spent lettuce plants. So I am not worried about probiotics or minerals.
ON

Very curious to know how you are feeding organic soil year around with roots of spent lettuce plants in Wisconsin? Are you growing lettuce indoors and them giving it to them?

 

[RockelleP]

I decided to feed organic whole grain chick starter and then layer formulas because of my wheat, rye, and barley allergy but also because mother nature doesn't use grain mill byproducts or crumble it for them.  It may be ineffiecent money wise but it's worth it to me... I hope it works out well but I haven't tried it out yet because I don't have my chicks for another week I use a modified version of:
www.greenerpasturesfarm.com

The recipe you linked isn't there anymore?
I'd love to know more about how your peeps do with whole grains

 

[TalkALittle]

The recipe you linked isn't there anymore?
I'd love to know more about how your peeps do with whole grains

You have quoted a 7 year old post from a member who hasn't been active for 6 years on a thread that hasn't been active for two years. You might get better response if you post a new thread asking about whole grains.