The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[armorfirelady]

Stunning I like them feathered just the way they are now. So pretty

 

[nicole63021]

As the girls here get bigger, and are getting more food from the yard ranging and eating a little less of the grower feed (organic, non-GMO, soy and corn free), I have started thinking about mixing their food myself, since the feed is fairly expensive. DH and I want to keep them GMO free and soy and corn free, especially since our dogs both have some allergies, and of course try to get into the chicken food as much as they can

. We grew quinoa this year in our garden, for us, but it grew well and is easy to tend to and harvest, and the chickens seem to like it (they peck at it in the garden when they can). Has anyone here used it in their feed or do you know if it would affect them adversely? Also, I know some of you do fermented feed, but does anyone do sprouted grain feed? Not sure if it would be practical for chickens or not, but it does make the nutrients more bio-available for us, so it seems like it may help them as well.

On a side note, they did not find anything in the stools of the Faverolle we lost after a predator got her EE buddy. They did say it looked like her urates had an elevated crystal level and slightly higher protein levels, but since she wouldn't eat or drink on her own, dehydration may have been a factor in that. I was making sure she drank something every couple of hours, and was hand feeding her, but it wasn't enough. They said a necro would be the only way to know for sure, but DH was quite attached to this girl, and didn't want her cut open.

 

[Paganrose]

Instead of mineral blocks, there are also loose minerals. We get them for the sheep since they are easier on the teeth than the blocks. They have a sand like texture that could easily be mixed with feed.... I should see if the chickens like it....

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

As the girls here get bigger, and are getting more food from the yard ranging and eating a little less of the grower feed (organic, non-GMO, soy and corn free), I have started thinking about mixing their food myself, since the feed is fairly expensive. DH and I want to keep them GMO free and soy and corn free, especially since our dogs both have some allergies, and of course try to get into the chicken food as much as they can

. We grew quinoa this year in our garden, for us, but it grew well and is easy to tend to and harvest, and the chickens seem to like it (they peck at it in the garden when they can). Has anyone here used it in their feed or do you know if it would affect them adversely? Also, I know some of you do fermented feed, but does anyone do sprouted grain feed? Not sure if it would be practical for chickens or not, but it does make the nutrients more bio-available for us, so it seems like it may help them as well.

There are some pretty good threads about sprouting for chickens here. I've also seen some videos on it at YouTube. And you'll get some great tips on successful sprouting in the fodder thread ... It is supposed to make the grains a lot more nutritious, and I'd think, like fermented whole grains, it would make any powdered supplements a little easier to incorporate as they'd "stick" to the wet sprouts.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

New pictures

I love it when the barring starts to get that organized. I haven't seen too many birds like this in person (I don't go to poultry shows), but did get to see a pair of bantam Barred Rocks once that were so organized they were strobing like this. And yours will probably get even tidier as they finish feathering, right?

 

[aoxa]

Instead of mineral blocks, there are also loose minerals. We get them for the sheep since they are easier on the teeth than the blocks. They have a sand like texture that could easily be mixed with feed.... I should see if the chickens like it....

Does it have the minerals the chickens need?

 

[aoxa]

I love it when the barring starts to get that organized. I haven't seen too many birds like this in person (I don't go to poultry shows), but did get to see a pair of bantam Barred Rocks once that were so organized they were strobing like this. And yours will probably get even tidier as they finish feathering, right?

Here's hoping!! He gave me eggs from his free range flock. His best breeders were in there. I bet I'll get birds that are nicer than my adult breeders right now. I have a lot to choose from.

 

[delisha]

Justine,

You have some really nice rocks in that group...pretty

I like the blocks because it keeps the chicken busy..


http://www.uniblokcanada.com/products/mineral-blocks.html

here is a place to start

They have links to go find a better kind of block...I do not like this kind and can't find the kind I use in Canada

http://hilandnaturals.myshopify.com/

They ship to some stores in Canada

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

What about flock block? They have that? Is that something worth looking into?

The birds sure like the flock block, but it is full of sugar and stuff. It may encourage them to eat more of some stuff than they strictly need ... like calcium birds who don't lay.

 

[delisha]

You can make homemade mineral blocks too..

I have an old recipe laying around somewhere and if someone wants it..let me know..I never tried to make it sense it uses pee..lol..my grandpa recipe..Not sure you have to use it or not.