What do you feed?

[smk2010]

Wow - your chickens eat better then I do! Lucky birds!! LOL

 

[snooptwomey]

If I was to mix my own feed, where do you typically go to get all this stuff??. . . I know where to get cracked corn, rolled oats,split peas, peanuts, and shell/grit
and roughly how much does it cost per 50lbs or 100lbs to mix your own? cheaper than buying the 50lb bag at southern states for $13? I know its healthier for them to mix my own, but is it cheaper is what I am getting at.

This is very similar to what I feed (see my BYC page if interested):
millet
rolled oats
split peas
flaxseed
unsalted peanuts
cracked corn
wheat
BOSS
rolled barley
kelp meal for salt
oyster shell and grit mixed in

Nice to see others feeding the whole grains/seeds too!

 

[SassyKat6181]

I feed Blue Seal Gamebird crumbles, a little scratch in the evenings (winter only) since there's nothing on the ground, oyster shell free choice and whatever kitchen scraps need to go. I'm am starting to think that at $17.95 for 50# I need to mix my own.......7 bags a month for 53 birds is getting really expensive.

 

[smk2010]

Is it really cost effective to mix your own chicken feed or does it end up costing about the same a buying crumble/pellets?

 

[jerryf]

I have had chickens/bantams for 50 years......laying crumbles in the bedding at coop cleaning---not a good thing!!
My Silkies and laying hens get
16% mash from the Elevator
I had pigeons for a while, so have pigeon grains to feed up
cracked corn and safflower seed
Pigeon feed 16% mix of whole grain millet, popcorn, peas, wheat - they love it
They eat the mash well and don't waste any So when the pigeon grains are gone it will be the mash

Oh they get corn bread - apples, scraps, 3rd cutting leafy green alfalfa hay - fresh pulled grass in season, Spolied? sure

A not for profit Silkie keeping, just the pure pleasure and joy of holding them and watching them
A hen hatched batch of chicks is a bonus! The smiles of my 8 yr old granddaughter, priceless.
Yes I am a 57 yr old guy and should know better, but if not now when?

Jerry

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

If I was to mix my own feed, where do you typically go to get all this stuff??. . . I know where to get cracked corn, rolled oats,split peas, peanuts, and shell/grit
and roughly how much does it cost per 50lbs or 100lbs to mix your own? cheaper than buying the 50lb bag at southern states for $13? I know its healthier for them to mix my own, but is it cheaper is what I am getting at.


Quote:
It isn't cheaper unless you can grow some yourself or know a farmer. I buy most of the ingredients at the feed store. Thanks for the inquiry.

 

[haemony]

In the winter they eat whole grain soy free feeds, either Countryside Organics, H&H, Scratch and Peck, or something I have mixed myself that is similar to those. I supplement oyster shell, grit, yogurt, mealworms which I have raised in plastic totes, a small amount of BOSS, greens from the hoop house. Some of my birds are molting now so they get mashed up boiled eggs and meatballs. When we have a very cold night approaching, I give them hot pepper suet cakes.

In the other three seasons, they mostly feed themselves from the landscape. They have daily access to a half acre that is heavily planted with food for them, fruit trees and bushes, greens, climbing peas all over their extended run and the fence, grass, clover, weeds, unfortunate hidden toads, compost piles full of insects, etc. They also clean my firewood for me.

 

[ClareScifi]

I have been feeding my Barred Rock hen who turns 2 years old this month, and my 4 pullets, who turn 23 weeks old tomorrow, 18% layer mash. One of the pullets is a Silver-Laced Sebright Bantam, who lays perfect eggs, as does the Barred Rock adult. The other two pullets are half white leghorn and have laid some soft-shelled eggs. I also have a 23-week old rooster.

So I wrote to a Ph.D. expert in poultry who told me layer mash is bad for roosters, that it can cause roosters and kidney disease, and that he should be fed chick grower food, which has no calcium. (It is the excess calcium in the layer mash that is bad for roosters).

So I asked him if I could feed the grower to the hens as well, along with supplemental oystershell for their calcium needs for laying eggs. This was his interesting reply:

In most instances, your bantams and Barred Plymouth rock hen will get along fine on grower feed plus supplemental calcium, such as oystershell, limestone, or calcite grit. Leghorns tend to require the layer feed for optimal production but oftn do relatively well if you find it is difficult to feed them a separate lay diet.

So I guess I will buy the Chick Grower for them all from now on and supplement with calcium for the girls?​

 

[Quizcat]

I finalized on feeding either corn mash, which is almost like powder, or feeding crumbles, usually both combined with a little bit of scratch grain. My chickens waste pellets like crazy, digging through the pellets for something else, apparently, and leaving them on the bottom of the coop floor by the ton.

Actually, my having tons of waste from pellets is a significant exaggeration, since I only have (5) chickens: (2) barred rock, (2) buff orphington, (1) silver wyondotte. But, they leave 50% in waste, more or less, when I feed pellets.

I also provide crushed oyster shells, and gravel for digestion. I am only able to free range them occasionally, due to predators in the area, dogs, hawks, etc...So, most of the time, they're spending days in the coop, aviary, and scratching around in an attached 20' x 20' square shaped run that attaches to the aviary.

You know, I can remember as a kid picking up chicken manure for the garden for my mother and grandmother from a local farmer. I notice these days that the chicken manure I'm getting doesn't look anything like what I used to see at the farmer's chicken manure pile. Just wondering why the difference.

Did the farmers 50 years ago, or more, feed something other than what's commercially available at the feed store these days? Is it because the farmer's chickens free ranged almost constantly before going to roost at night, thereby getting a more natural selection of varied food sources? Is it because the chicken manure was older, and had started to break down more than what I'm seeing from my own relatively sparse accumulation in comparison to the farmer's big operation. I'm not referring to the commercial kind of chicken farmer of today, but the "REAL" old time farmers, with large flocks of chickens, cattle, goats, large fields, corn, beans, vegetables, etc...But, not the assembly line, modern day operation, but the "old-time farmer."

I recall the "old-time" farmer's chicken manure looked nothing like my chicken's manure, but being almost black or very dark brown in color, but dry, almost like clumped crumbly coffee grounds. There is a texture difference between what I used to obtain from the "old-time farmer," and what I see from my chicken's, which when dried out is rock hard, and dark gray to medium brown in color.

I've been dumping it on the garden when I clean out the coop, for the last year or so, but I'm not sure I'm getting the same benefits. My grandmother used to say that the secret to a good garden was chicken manure, not cow manure. But, she was from the "old-times," and I suspect things have changed dramatically compared to the norm in her day. Unfortunately, I can't ask her any questions now about the past. She's been gone for 10 years, gone at 102 years old.

 

[Mtn Laurel]

I ferment my feed, seems like there's less waste and they seem to eat less but are completely satisfied. I mix mine with layer pellets or crumbles as the primary ingredient. I then add a lesser amount of scratch, and small amounts of BOSS, rolled oats, and alfalfa or timothy grass pellets. I used to add split peas or other dried beans but the girls don't like them and were experts at leaving them on their plates. They were better at picking them out than my kids!

Leftover veggies from our dinners are treats during the day and they get oyster shells/crushed egg shells occasionally.