What, exactly, do you feed your chickens?

[the1much]

all my birds get the following,,,,, 3 grain scratch, game maintenence, game conditioner,, all these mixed together, along with a supplement pellet for ALL their calcium and protein, called "super spur", once a week i throw in some chickstart, just cause they like it so much lol,, and every night they get a bunch of table scraps, mixed with a handfull of cat food.
mine dont get layer pellets,, they lay great without it with good hardy shells.

 

[spook]

Our girls get Layena crumbles due to the fact that we have bantams and standards. When the feeder gets down to powder, it gets dumped in with a higher protein and fat food called Fat and Finish, in the winter they get 1 1/2 cup of this in hot water.
Then they get left overs and when it comes to a cooking day, the veggie ends and potato peels, cabbage leaves, meat scraps and all that junk gets cooked up and they get a dish full of it each day. I will also heat the liquid up and add the grain to it.
Also, in the afternoon as the sun goes down, cooler they get a snack of scratch.
Also they have handfuls of wheat or oats as a treat at bed time.
(shows they are spoiled)

 

[gritsar]

As far as "scratch" goes, our farmer's co-op offers three different things that fall under the category of scratch:
1. Scratch grains is a mixture of oats, cracked corn and a seed that I've seen in wild bird seed, but not been able to identify.
2. Plain ol' scratch which is finely milled corn, looks like cornmeal. I mix it with warm water to make a mash.
3. Chops, which is just cracked corn without the other grains.
It took me awhile of trial and error to know which they call what so I know exactly what to ask for.

Catalina, I asked the manager at the co-op for pellets and they had to order it, but keep it on hand for me now.

 

[FrontPorchIndiana]

I feed Layena crumbles because that's all I have available. I've never seen a feed store around here carry the pellets. Now that it's cold I give a small amount of scratch both in the morning and the evening. About one measuring cup full for 25 birds. Then I try to give fruits and veggies to peck at a couple times a week. Their favorites are apples and cabbage.

 

[rughooker]

I was wondering if I can give my chickens suet (like what you put out for the birds) for a treat sometimes? They have so many different "flavors" and grains in those litttle blocks. We have stores in Ohio called Marcs. Don't know if they are located in every state. But the suet blocks are 2/$1.00!!!! Anybody out there use suet blocks for treats?

 

[Opa]

Tractor Supply carries Dumor Brand poultry feed. My local store only carried crumble. I ask and they now carry pellets. As your local feed store to check their catalog to see what's available. All most every brand of feed offers layer pellets.

 

[Guinea Goonie]

We feed Poultry grain from Hirsch feed store. We feed starter every once in a while to the big birds and constantly to the little ones. We throw table scapes and lots of bread for a treat. We throw suet very occasionally, they love it. We also have the calcium crumbles available. Mostly though, they free range ALL day. Lots of bugs, dirt, small rocks, sand and greens. We have alfalfa hay out for the horses and I very occasionally see them munching on a few pieces of this. I do have 7 percent horse feed that I throw to the lucky ones that come to the horse barn during feeding time. I am going to start feeding a flock maitainance for the winter months. I have noticed a few birds that are on the thin side.

 

[Beau coop]

I am feeding them Blue seal pellets. Sometimes just as is, other times mixed with warm water- they LOVE it with the water.

i give them the occasional handful of corn. I hang bird bells or suet if I know I have a long day at work. Some times I only see them in the morning as they are roosting by the time I get home. So I try to make sure I always have something in there for them to eat.

 

[LynneP]

I use Atlantic Co-Op layer pellets that contain grit and oystershell. The distric feedmaster operates the mill near us and is a wonderful mentor. He raises chickens too.

This time of year I also give them any of the following
small bits of ground suet
chopped cabbage
apple cores
currants
raisins
flax seed
sunflower seed
yogurt

I have little or no kitchen scraps because the barn cats get all the meat/fat leftovers.

I keep sugar content down for the hens.

Getting about 11 eggs a day just now. Hens seem healthy, happy. Very energetic.

 

[onthespot]

I feed them Purina Start 'n Grow (medicated, because that is what they carry) and when the are looking like hens, and their combs start to change, I gradually switch them over to Purina Layena Pellets, because it cuts WAY down on waste. (and the roosters can pick up a pellet and lay it down in front of the hen and fuss and cluck over it and make a big deal of himself and all the hens come running to see what he has to offer. They never seem to be disappointed that it is always a pellet.

) I also give them leafy green weeds pulled from anywhere I don't want them growing, and fresh produce, what grass they can pluck through the fence, a few small mice, and someties leftover seeds from my lovebirds. I have a tin of oystershell available freely to all the pens that have egg laying age birds in them. When I am blending ages, I free feed the start 'n grow along with the laying pellets, and let the chickens figure out what they want to eat. The adults go nuts for the baby food for a few days, then go back to the pellets, while the babies stick with the baby food for a while, gradually nibbling the pellets as they mature.