What do you feed your chickens?

[Bigbluefrog]

Good information here with lots of different experiences.

I love the idea of making my own but I am not ready yet.
The brand I chose said no by products, no gmo,
And was the freshest available.
It can be quite overwhelming... so many options!
I wish I could buy a smaller bag but that was even older.

I thought about talking to the manager but it was late and I had just dealt with a stressful situation.

 

[ValerieJ]

Good information here with lots of different experiences.

I love the idea of making my own but I am not ready yet.
The brand I chose said no by products, no gmo,
And was the freshest available.
It can be quite overwhelming... so many options!
I wish I could buy a smaller bag but that was even older.

I thought about talking to the manager but it was late and I had just dealt with a stressful situation.

I think making your own chicken feed would be pretty complicated. You'd have to figure out how to get all the right vitamins and nutrients in it. You're doing a great job looking for the freshest food available. It sure can be confusing with all the options! I fed layer feed to all my chickens, including roosters, for 3 years before I learned that wasn't the right thing to do. And of course, you can't get good advice in most of the feed stores. That's a frustration to me. We have one store, Wilco, who employs someone with chicken experience, and she does know her chickens, but she wont recommend food. It must be a retail rule. If I had a local small farm store who knew their stuff, I'd pay more and shop with them all the time.

 

[Bigbluefrog]

I think making your own chicken feed would be pretty complicated. You'd have to figure out how to get all the right vitamins and nutrients in it. You're doing a great job looking for the freshest food available. It sure can be confusing with all the options! I fed layer feed to all my chickens, including roosters, for 3 years before I learned that wasn't the right thing to do. And of course, you can't get good advice in most of the feed stores. That's a frustration to me. We have one store, Wilco, who employs someone with chicken experience, and she does know her chickens, but she wont recommend food. It must be a retail rule. If I had a local small farm store who knew their stuff, I'd pay more and shop with them all the time.

Learning everyday more stuff about Chickens!
I got a layer feed for the calcium. I have one laying soft eggs.
And I do have oyster shells.

I do think if you want to make your own - a good recipe and lots of chickens. Think about it-
50pounds of oats. 50 # of wheat, 50 # millet. 50 # black sunflower, 50#peas
Add vitamins to the mix
And measure everything out.
I would need a small garage for all that food.
Maybe if I can find 6 people we could split it!
unless you know where I can buy a few pounds here or there.
I am gonna try this premade feed.

 

[ValerieJ]

Learning everyday more stuff about Chickens!
I got a layer feed for the calcium. I have one laying soft eggs.
And I do have oyster shells.

I do think if you want to make your own - a good recipe and lots of chickens. Think about it-
50pounds of oats. 50 # of wheat, 50 # millet. 50 # black sunflower, 50#peas
Add vitamins to the mix
And measure everything out.
I would need a small garage for all that food.
Maybe if I can find 6 people we could split it!
unless you know where I can buy a few pounds here or there.
I am gonna try this premade feed.

Yep. My problem would be that is too much food to keep fresh for my 12 chickens. But if you can do it in a co-op situation, it could work. I don't have such a thing here.

 

[CindyinSD]

The whole fresh thing bothers me. I once fed half a bag before realizing the bottom half was all moldy. After that I poured my feed immediately into garbage cans just to make sure it was safe to feed. If I saw mold, I stuffed it all back in and taped up the bag to return. Did it occur to me to check the date? Noooo... they wouldn’t leave expired feed on the shelves, would they?

So I buy just about every grain and legume available at the local independent ag supply, do math (which I do not love) and mix them up into a 19% feed. I grind/crack everything but the meal worms and the BOSS and stir it up as I go along (the trickiest part). I make about a week’s worth so it’s fresh. If temps are around freezing or higher I soak/ferment it. If colder, I serve it up dry, but they do waste more when I don’t soak it.

 

[bradymars]

I feed a mix of nutrena nature wise lay pellets mixed with Chavez gamecock feed for the adults. This comes to 15.5 % protien. The Chavez is very clean feed and is a mix of grains and pellets and has cottonseed, linseed, and fish meal in it. I feed this in the mornings in the evenings I feed scratch or crack corn in the winter to put on weight for those cold nights. In summer I switch from scratch to fermented whole oats in the afternoon. Chicks get nutrena chick starter with a little scratch mixed in for strong gizzards. I also feed them the fermented oats from day 1 my chickens are healthy and my chicks never get cocci. The soaked oats has probiotics in it as well as the nutrena I never feed medicated.

 

[bradymars]

I feed Purina Flock Raiser crumbles, with separate oyster shell. The local feed stores have it fresh, within one month of milling, and it is fed within two months of the mill date. Fresh!
See what's available where you shop, by mill date. I think that the 18% to 20% protein lower calcium diets work best, as I have actively laying hens, roosters, cockerels, molting birds, and often chicks. Everyone can do well on the same feed, so it's easy.
Some brands have the mill dates clearly marked, and some make it more difficult, by having the date in code. FIND OUT before buying anything! If there's no mill date on the bag, buy something else, or shop elsewhere.
The whole grain diets are more difficult, because individuals will eat the best tasting stuff and leave the rest, causing malnutrition and health issues. I avoid that type of feed.
Mary

Currently feeding Durham pellets.

I have added water to them! Apple sauce!
Just the pellets and locked them up.

They just don’t like them.
So I want to buy a new layer feed.
Just not sure what to get at Tractor Supply.
Can you help a fellow chicken mamma out.
What do your chickens love to eat?
FYI I am getting 3-5 eggs a day from the 7 pullets.
I do feed them oyster shells on the side.( they eat that!)

I going to the store and looking for something they will eat.

Thanks for sharing your Hen’s diet

Pellets? Crumble? Or Mash?[/QUOTE. Tractor Supply hs nutrena nature wise lay pellets very good feed. It has probiotics in it keeps there gut healthy

 

[Bigbluefrog]

The whole fresh thing bothers me. I once fed half a bag before realizing the bottom half was all moldy. After that I poured my feed immediately into garbage cans just to make sure it was safe to feed. If I saw mold, I stuffed it all back in and taped up the bag to return. Did it occur to me to check the date? Noooo... they wouldn’t leave expired feed on the shelves, would they?

So I buy just about every grain and legume available at the local independent ag supply, do math (which I do not love) and mix them up into a 19% feed. I grind/crack everything but the meal worms and the BOSS and stir it up as I go along (the trickiest part). I make about a week’s worth so it’s fresh. If temps are around freezing or higher I soak/ferment it. If colder, I serve it up dry, but they do waste more when I don’t soak it.

How many chickens do you have?
What is a BOSS?

 

[Folly's place]

BOSS is black oiler sunflower seeds. My birds don't care for them, but many do.
Mary

 

[ChickenCanoe]

And contrary to popular opinion, BOSS isn't the best thing to feed chickens. It may be a fairly good source of protein but only if it is dehulled.
The whole seed contains way too much fiber. Chickens should be kept at about 5% fiber and about 5-7% total fat. BOSS is 20-23% fiber and 30% fat.
The fiber negates the protein and fat used to process the fiber.