sticking to free range & avoiding laying feed

[witchwriter]

X2 on Ridgerunner.

Not sure when feather luster was brought up, but do people actually look at their birds, thinking... hmmm the chickens are not shiny enough?

LOL it must be the parrot mom in me - if the feathers are shiny, the bird is not sickly. yeah, if my black australorps don't have shimmering feathers i will adjust their diet to include more seeds or other sources of oils.

 

[ECBW]

My BA is the shiniest. Other breeds seem to be matte finish in comparison. Observing their combs and wattles also works well.

 

[ameliastuetzel]

My hens are 4 and a half months old. They just began laying! I have let them free range since they were a couple weeks old. They get corn and wheat berries in the morning and evening. They eat a lot of bugs and greens every day. I don't give them any other supplemental feed. I think the grass and bugs are superior to layer feed.

 

[witchwriter]

My BA is the shiniest. Other breeds seem to be matte finish in comparison. Observing their combs and wattles also works well.

what do you look for on their combs and wattles? shine? mine haven't fully come in and they look rather dull and faded :/

 

[Southern Dad]

My hens are allowed to free range when I'm home. On weekdays that means from about 5 PM until they put themselves away. I got out at about 9 PM, do a quick head count and close the end of the coup/run. They can freely move between the coop and run at any time. On weekends, I open the run door to allow them to free range from morning until they put themselves away.

I use DuMOR Poultry Layer 16% Crumble from Tractor Supply Co. It runs about $14 for 50 lbs bag. I keep the feeder full. The feeder is in the run area of the coop. I let the hens choose if they wish to eat it or grass. For a treat, I spread a can of Quaker Oats across the yard area near their coop. They were butts in the air for hours.

While I do live in a subdivision. I'm in the cul-de-sac. I have about an acre and a half. The hens all stay pretty close to the coop. When they see me approaching, they generally gather up. When they see the five-year-old approach the yard, they are pecking and fighting to get close to her. They know that she has a treat for them.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

My hens are 4 and a half months old. They just began laying! I have let them free rand since they were a couple weeks old. They get corn and wheat berries in the morning and evening. They eat a lot of bugs and greens every day. I don't give them any other supplemental feed. I think the grass and bugs are superior to layer feed.

That won't work in winter. Corn is about 10% protein, wheat about 14% and doesn't have the array of vitamins and minerals chickens need. They also don't have a complete array of amino acids. That's why chicken feed has both grain and legumes as the primary ingredients so they complement each others amino acids. Superior feeds contain an animal protein source.

what do you look for on their combs and wattles? shine? mine haven't fully come in and they look rather dull and faded :/

They'll be large and red at sexual maturity and while actively laying. They'll shrink and dull during molt or when ill.

 

[ameliastuetzel]

Chicken canoe, thanks for the advice. Do you think if I gave them grains and legumes mixed with some chopped dried clover or grass that they would be OK during the couple months of cold here? I am trying to avoid buying the expensive layer feed and would like to make a homemade version of it for them. Also, what high quality layer feed (supplemented with animal protien) do you like? Thanks!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

If you're trying to avoid buying expensive feed, you'll have to shop local sources. Anything someone would recommend may not be available where you live and would have to be shipped which would make it even more expensive.
IMHO, any chicken feed is superior and cheaper than what one could mix at home.
You're buying ingredients in 50# bags at best. A feed mill is buying grains and legumes by the trainload and micro nutrients by the ton. Economy of scale. They also have the formulas set and mix so every cropful of feed has all the vitamins, minerals, amino acids, fats, and carbs that chickens are known to need in the ratio that 100 years of research has shown chickens benefit from. Mixing at home can't do that inexpensively.

 

[witchwriter]

They'll be large and red at sexual maturity and while actively laying. They'll shrink and dull during molt or when ill.

mine are molting right now, same as my parrots - it's just that time of year. my chickens have yet to reach maturity.

 

[ameliastuetzel]

Well it seems my chickens are getting everything they need with the free range at the moment. They are big and show signs of health. The huge grasshoppers, roaches, crickets and worms they are eating must be giving them a lot of good protein and nutrients. Also, I forgot to mention tht I give them crushed eggshells for calcium. They started laying at 18 weeks and the eggs yolks are dark and the shells hard! I suppose I will do more research on what to do during winter. It is only one or two months that things really die back here in the winter so I don't think it will be that much work or money to supplement in the winter.
My friend nearby has a small flock of feral chickens in her neighborhood. All they get is a some cracked corn thrown to them by people in the neighborhood. They have hatched 4 rounds of chicks this year (7 to 10 chicks each time) so they must be getting what they need.