The Sussex thread!

[Johnn]

 

[dmacaruso]

. I believe my boy is a Sussex. We got him in a bin f white birds marked " meat or eggs". My family hates him, he's aggressive, he fought off the hawks 3 times already. My too and I get along very well, he seems to appreciate my attention but no one else.

 

[phoenixrotts]

I know they aren't Sussex, but I wanted to share my new additions. I added a bared rock and two Ameraucanas today. They are five weeks old.

 

[phoenixrotts]

Have a few questions I'm hoping someone can answer. My chickens are let out of their coop between 6:30 and 7:00am, and have free access to a 150 foot by 50 foot fenced, grassy, weed filled area where they run around all day eating weeds and grass and bugs. They put themselves to bed between 8:30 and 9:00pm and then I lock up the coop till morning. How much grain should they be getting (1-five month old SS roo, 8-3 month old SS hens, 2-five week old Ameraucana hens, and 1-five week old barred rock hen)? How do I know if they are getting enough to eat between free-ranging and the grain I feed them? Any input would be great!

Thanks!

 

[Folly's place]

I feed free choice Flock Raiser until they are laying eggs, then switch to Layena. A good balanced diet is way safer than hoping for the best, and regrets later. Mary

 

[Folly's place]

I feed free choice Flock Raiser until they are laying eggs, then switch to Layena. A good balanced diet is way safer than hoping for the best, and regrets later. Mary

 

[karlamaria]

Have a few questions I'm hoping someone can answer.  My chickens are let out of their coop between 6:30 and 7:00am, and have free access to a 150 foot by 50 foot fenced, grassy, weed filled area where they run around all day eating weeds and grass and bugs.  They put themselves to bed between 8:30 and 9:00pm and then I lock up the coop till morning.  How much grain should they be getting (1-five month old SS roo, 8-3 month old SS hens, 2-five week old Ameraucana hens, and 1-five week old barred rock hen)?  How do I know if they are getting enough to eat between free-ranging and the grain I feed them?  Any input would be great!

Thanks!

free ranging is fine, but you should also put out a feeder full of real food, crumbles, or what ever I feed my girl flock raiser grower until there 20 weeks then on to laying feed. My girls free range, but also get real food also. The bugs and grass is an added bonus. Unfortunately I do not have many bugs here, lol.

 

[phoenixrotts]

Thanks!

 

[CatMom]

I agree with what has already been said in regards to feeding on-range plus ffree-feeding. However when my flock of assorted breeds & various ages were growing up, I fed them "All Flock" by Nutrena. Since some would be laying earlier than others. Once they were all laying (and the All Flock ran out ;-) I switched them over to a Layer ration. I only feed scratch grain as a treat/during cooler weather, since it is basically a candy bar for chickens - more sugars than nutrition.

 

[Arielle]

Nutrition is an intersting thing. YOu can feed out of a bag or learn a bit about nutrition and make a custom mix to go with the foraging.

THe easiest is the commercial mixes. ANd a great place for the novice to start.

I have one group of hens that are laying and free forage all day long on grasses, bugs, etc and have layer pellets as a back up. A second pen is far away from the grasses but they find a way to eat enough greens to make orange yolks; layer pellet in their coop.

Getting enough calcium for the layers is key. On average the diet needs to be 3-4 % calcium and 15% protein. Remember, they eat a lot of food when laying. THey use volume of food to meet their needs.

I also have turkeys-- they need the 22% protein and they go off to forage as well. GRowth id determined by two factors: genes and available nutrition.

I wish I had my lt sussex girl-- she grew very fast, which meant she also was eating more than the other chickens.