What do i feed SHOW BIRDS!!

[muddyhorse]

can chickens be fed wild bird forage cakes ie suet cakes, I found some that have lots of sunflowers and other yummies in them. these don't have any corn. I don't need red comb silkies. they are on layena now but I have the mazuri on order.

 

[bantam_n00b]

So the local feed store cant get the mazuri feed and have to special order it and it wont get here for another 4 weeks. What a bummer, so i was looking at the purina sunrise recipe feed and it has no animal protein in it. It would just be a hassle to buy fish meal and add it to their feed. Any other suggestions for the feed? Or any good feed that contains animal protein in it?

 

[aveca]

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I have a question for you guys , but first

I have a cousin who raised certified beef cattle and dairey , they feed grass hay and very large summer grass pastures because cattle eveolved eating grasses and it is just healthier for thier being to be grazing ,they were not designed to eat lots of grains but long time ago they found that befor market they could fatten them quickley and gain size by using that and milk replacers...the certified farmer lets the growth come more slowley..naturally.. same school of thought as chickens and these groovy feed blocks youve all got me interested in but so far have to wait to get as no one has them which is frustrating .

My question is, why do you raise the babies on wire bottoms?? I see a lot of people doing this and I am curious....One thing I have noticed here is babies born under surrogate moms on clean dry hay have very straight toes, the chicks from the incubator had a slight crooked outside toe , those were thrown in a brooder newspaper under sawdust...all of the chicks have the same parents, why would that be and does it have something to do with the wire? and are the toes on the babies under the mom more active in pushing her around from day one and develope more strength?
Just a head scratcher for me.

 

[aveca]

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Mine got a half a tuna hoagie yeasterday... We throw out the unused bits when making salmon patties to the chickens, doesnt take long for it to dissappear

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

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The only reasons that I can see are:

1. People do not like to use medicated feed. So, they raise the birds on wire to prevent the chicks from sitting in the bedding and being exposed to high levels of cocci which could affect growth, gut development, etc.

2. The dust levels go down. Without chicks kicking dust up and around, there is very little litter to clean up.

I'm sure there are other reasons, but these are the only ones that I can see as reasons for myself. I prefer to feed medicated starter, so I generally prefer to raise in litter or on the ground. The only reason these birds are on wire are because I cannot have them kicking up large amounts of dust and dander in their area.

 

[bantam_n00b]

So what do you guys think of the purina sunrise recipe? Any good? I was thinking about getting it tomorrow because im running low on feed. The only thing that concerns me about it that i heard it was expensive? How much if anyone knows from experience? Also that it was recalled a couple months back but i think that problem is fixed now and didnt concern california anyways( where im from) and that it doesnt contain any animal nutrients/protein? Can i just get fish meal at the grocery market?

 

[Lotsapaints]

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Where are you in CA? King makes a good feed additive for show birds and another to help you make your own mix. Has fish meal in it and they will help you too. Go to their website kingfeeds I think or google it.

 

[bantam_n00b]

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Where are you in CA? King makes a good feed additive for show birds and another to help you make your own mix. Has fish meal in it and they will help you too. Go to their website kingfeeds I think or google it.

I just checked and they have no king feed around here. Which sucks because i dont know a lot of feed that does has fish meal or animal nutrients/proteins in it.

 

[Crunchie]

You can probably get Manna Pro products--I think they are a Purina company??--they make a poultry conditioner product that I think Chris mentioned a page or so back, comes in a little 5 # bag. It has fish meal as well as a bunch of other good stuff in it. You use it as a supplement/feed additive. All of my birds, from hatch on up, get Blue Seal Game Bird starter/grower (you probably can't get this brand out west, but maybe you can find something comparable--it is 22% protein and it does have animal protein/fat). At about 4 weeks of age I've been starting to add in this Manna Pro poultry conditioner. I just started using it a month or two ago, so I can't report any results, but the birds love it & I like the ingredients. Hens get free choice oyster shell once they start to lay. Other than that, the ones old enough get a little scratch grain mixed with black oil sunflower seeds a few times a week and I toss everyone (who doesn't free range) fresh greens and other goodies (they LOVE "crunchy" sprouts--sprouted lentils, peas, beans, etc.) whenever I have them available. I work at a health food store, so I occasionally have access to free, just-past-its-prime organic produce. About once a month, for a few days in a row, I spray their crumbles with a bit of flax or fish or other oil (I also get out of date oils occasionally from the store--right now my chickens are working on some Udo's oil, which has sunflower, flax, safflower, etc. oils in it) and top it off with a good dusting of probiotic powder. Sometimes I'll soak some alfalfa pellets to mush & mix this in, too, if I haven't had any fresh green stuff to throw them in awhile.

 

[bantam_n00b]

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I heard that manno pro makes your chickens poop orange? It must do something to their digestive tracts if theyre pooping orange.