what kinda Feed do you feed Bantam Hens?

[Mogli]

im wanting to buy a Bantam Hen for my Bantam Rooster so he,s not lonely but what kinda feed do i give her? do i give her Layer pellets like i feed my Biger laying Hens or what?

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

You can feed pellets (I don't know about Seramas though- you didn't mention the breed).

They prefer smaller feed, however.

Layer pellets are not good for roosters but a lot of people feed it anyway.

Personally I would feed either Flock Raiser pellets with oyster shell on the side for the layers, or unmedicated chick starter with oyster shell on the side for layers, and some scratch grains daily.

The Flock Raiser has no extra calcium for layers, so would be good for your rooster. Same with unmedicated chick starter. Both are about 20% protein, so you could give some scratch grains too and they would love that.

Back when I had roosters I sometimes fed layer pellets but this is very bad on the kidneys when not producing that egg daily.

What I feed my flock now is grains/seeds and unmedicated chick starter, with oyster shell on the side.

 

[Den in Penn]

You can feed the same feed for both. You'll need to make a calcium supplement, like oyster shell, available for her.

 

[Mogli]

i have a Mille Fleur Bearded d'Uccle Bantam Rooster, & i wanna get a Hen the exact same breed, ive been feeding my Rooster cracked corn with grit mixed in & ocasionally i give him whole Oats & Winter Wheat & ocassionally a small handful of Layer pellets not alot, he likes them he gobbles them pellets up

 

[TalkALittle]

even though they are layer pellets they're probably better for him than the other stuff you're giving him. A corn, oats and wheat blend is only going to offer about 10% protein where as the layer feed probably has at least 16% protein. It sounds like he's missing out on essential protein.

 

[Mogli]

so should i give him cracked corn & layer pellets mixed together everyday to him? not just cracked corn & grit?

 

[TalkALittle]

If all you have access to is layer pellets then yes. It would be better if you could feed him an "all flock" or "flockraiser" feed though because those don't have extra calcium in them that he doesn't need. Even a chick grower would be okay. When you get your hen make sure you have oyster shell to offer her on the side. It will give her the calcium she needs to make good strong egg shells. If you can't get a flockraiser feed and oyster shell then feed them both layer feed. It won't be great for the rooster but the hen can't go without calcium so it will have to do.

 

[TalkALittle]

Oh, cracked corn is only 8% protein so if you offer too much your dragging down his total protein intake, not to mention he's missing out on the other vitamins and nutrients because he's eating corn instead of feed. I'd only toss a small handful on the ground each day for them to scratch around.

 

[crews28]

I use Game chicken feed our brand has a lot of natural seeds and grain included in it.
All chickens are fine and I dont use layer feed because of all the nutrition of the game feed.

 

[Mogli]

i buy my Chicken Feed at Tractor Supply Co, for my Biger egg laying Hens i buy Dumor layer pellets & ocasionaly i give a small handful to my Bantam Rooster i mix it in with his cracked corn & grit, Flock Raiser Feed is $$$$ 18 $19 per bag im paying $13.50 or $14 for Dumor layer pellets. should i Feed my Bantam Rooster cracked corn, a small amount of layer pellets & BOSS mixed all together with grit in it? would that be better for him