What and how do you feed your chickens?

[farm-gal91]

I am just getting opinions and ideas and want to know what and how you feed them.
Do you feed just straight cracked corn solely? Do you add some layer pellets?
Do you mix your feed all together (scratch and laying) then throw it to the chickens or do you feed it in separate spaces.
Anything at all would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Bidoville]

We do an organic crumble (16%) with a mix of organic scratch grains. They also like to peck around the yard, and enjoy hearty greens as a hand fed snack. We give tomatoes and meal worms as treats occasionally.

 

[chickers]

My hens have layer pellets available 24/7. They get a scoop of scratch once a day as a treat. Cracked corn alone isn't an adequate diet.

 

[Bidoville]

Absolutely, corn alone isn't enough. We live in Colorado, and wanted to make sure the girls got a few more calories this winter, which is why we are mixing in scratch grains regularly.

 

[Mehjr10]

16% layer feed, Scratch grains, Whole corn that I was able to pickup on the roadside from a Harvester spill. Whatever kitchen scraps that they will eat. Got a truckload of pumpkins after Halloween they will eat about 3 a week. Today they got a treat of deer carcase, sounds weird but they love it for the protein and it shows in the eggs. They also like alfalfa cubes. During the warmer month they get black fly larvae.
They also are in the yard when we can get home in the daylight hours.

Not much they will not eat. They even ate all the foam insulation off the water system, probably not good for them.

Hope it helps.

 

[redsoxs]

I feed 16% layer in pellet form about 10 months out of the year and bump it up to 18% during the molt. Plus scratch grains, veggie scraps, bread, leftover rice, etc. As Mehjr10 said, they eat mot anything. Happy holidays!

 

[horsiefly53]

I feed the grownups Flock Raiser crumbles and rolled oat groats to chicks and adults as my main feed, about half and half. They absolutely love the oats and high in protein. I also throw a scratch called 3 grain which I mix with a variety of dried grains, dry rice, dry bulgar wheat, black oil sunflower seeds, etc. They love fresh kale, chard, and cabbage. For my chicks I am beginning to question the use of medicated feed and I think I am going to go to non medicated. I am thinking it is killing the good bacteria along with the bad and not helping them develope immunities. I am thinking we overuse antibiotics. I am having an upper respiratory infection going thru the flock now and I don't see that the medicated chick feed did anything to stop it.

 

[Mehjr10]

The medicated feed is only good for the Cocci, it does not do anything for the respiratory side. LA-200 or Dylan50 injections for respiratory if it gets serious.

 

[farm-gal91]

Thanks everyone. Sounds like I do the same feeding regiment as everyone else. I guess my biggest question is do any of you separate your feed into different "bowls" or do you mix it?
Right now, where I live, cracked corn is the only feed to come by so everything else is by order. It's not even the brand I would like to buy. I suppose no one else is having troubles finding feed.

 

[Mehjr10]

I feed mine seperately I have a 5 gallon bucket with a metal 3 gallon hog pan bolted to the bottom and 4 hole bored around the bottom edge of the bucket, makes a good feeder for the layer crumbles or pellets. My scratch grain I feed from a deer feeder you can see it from my avatar photo. Are you in east, middle or west TN. Im in west.