Due to the requirements of superior plumage development and stress from being moved about and potential exposure to communicable disease and or toxins, show birds require Optimal nutrition at all times of the year. I would feed them as if they were rare, endangered junglefowl, not chickens. Canary seed and or an inexpensive finch or budgerigar food would be my first choice as a bulking agent- that is the element in the diet that takes up the most room in the crop on any given day.
I would feed a high quality extruded kibble to provide the best possible amino acid profile. Remember, all proteins are not alike. What % is digestible protein?
For example, chick starter is generally 20-22% protein-that's what it says on the label but the primary source of protein in these feedstuffs is a defatted soybean meal or some other form of steamed soybean meal. Soybean meal is less than forty percent digestible to chicks unless it has been baked to a certain temperature, which then renders nutrients locked up in the vegetable portion of the feed more readily digestible. Chicks, in nature of course, are highly insectivorous. Their digestive system is hard-wired for the consumption of invertebrates not legumes. What this amounts to is energy. The birds' systems are taxed attempting to break down all the nutrients in the steamed soybean meal and consequently, their hormones are thrown off and reproductive health/development can be greatly compromised.
In nature, the Red Junglefowl lives largely on bamboo seeds which are high in fat and protein as well as non-soluble fibres.
They gorge on any invertebrates they come into contact with. The Red Junglefowl requires an ~ 20% protein diet and this can be comprised of both animal and vegetable protein. It's chicks will ideally be raised on a 35% protein starter and that starter should include generous proportions of fish meal.
People complain about the prices of feed all the time and will often use the cheapest feed they can purchase. This makes a certain amount of logical sense until you realize that upwards of 40% of that commercial lay pellet or crumble is being pooped out undigested. Consequently, the birds are obliged to eat non-stop in order to feel satiated much less reach their daily nutritional requirements. Its true that these domestic birds have been select-bred for countless generations to subsist on inferior feedstuffs but soybean meal was never a part of that equation until very recently in the history of domesticated chickens. These feeds do not optimize health they actually can comprimise long-term health. Ulcers and subsequent chronic bacterial infections of the hind gut and respiratory systems are typical of domestic poultry flocks fed on these feedstuffs (according to the
Avian Pathologist Union ).
What has worked for our farm with over four hundred laying hens and anywhere from two to five hundred broilers, muscovies, turkeys etc . ( and many other sustainable farms here in New England) is giving up the "inexpensive" lay pellets and crumbles and switching over to whole scratch grain with no soy with the appropriate % of Ultrakibble or Mazuri extruded kibble mixed in. We are saving upwards of twenty % in feedcosts using this method and this is largely because the amount of food the birds consume is greatly reduced. Cleaning up after the birds is much easier as well as the manure is of a very different texture and has much less moisture content than that of chickens fed on status quo lay pellet.
If your feedstop does not carry the feed demand that they do.If they refuse, you may have to improvise.
A decent quality cat kibble is preferable over dog kibble because it is higher in animal protein and certain lipids than dog food.
That cat kibble should make up % 5-10 % of the total diet- and the rest of that diet will consist of Budgie seed. You may need to add an avian vitamin supplement to the water of birds fed on a kibble formulated for mammals because obviously their nutritional requirements are quite a bit different. Irregardless of their respective nutritional requirements for specific vitamins and minerals- both carnivorous mammals and bug hunting birds absolutely require high quality animal protein and fat in their diets.
An alternative route would be to- miix the aforementioned finch or budgie seed in a 25% seed to 50% whole scratch grain with no soy blend. So far you are spending ~ six dollars a bag for 50 lb bag. Next, make certain oystershell is always available to breeding stock and lay hens naturally but not to chicks or growers-
and here is the kicker- find a nice gallon glass jar and fill it with tepid water. Send your kids or the neighbors kids down to a local stream or pond and ask them to dig up a few handfuls of mud and net up as many interesting bugs and moss/aquatic weeds as they can fit in a cereal bowl. Add them to the jar- creating a habitat that the pond creatures can easily survive in.
Go to the pet store and buy ten or twenty guppies. Place the jar someplace it can't tip over- without its top of course- and let nature take its course. Guppies are live birth fish- they give birth to literally hundreds of baby fish every few weeks. They can live on mosquito larvae alone- but you can feed them an inexpensive fish flake.
Now you have a superior source of animal protein, non-soluble fiber, and fish oil all in the same material.
If you are worried about parasites freeze the fish and or freshwater snail over night. Parasites living in a warm weather pond that use intermediary hosts cannot survive being frozen solid.
Lastly, foragecakes are a huge improvement for birds- ending feather pecking while increasing the nutrient balance of the overall diet.
