What to feed, how much to treat?

[yodelinginca]

Our first flock is now 9 months old. We have 5 hens, all different breeds. We currently have a big PVC gravity-fed tube of layer crumble feed in the run, and another feeder of it in the coop. We also give them about 3/4 cup of scratch & 1/2 cup of meal worms (total for the flock, not per bird) per day, in addition to whatever extra fruit/ veggie table scraps we have. They loved our fresh grape leaves, grapes, pomegranates, persimmons, and apples, but fruiting season will end soon. Are we on the right track? Are we giving them too many treats?

 

[cavemanrich]

You are doing fine. Give them whatever kitchen scraps you are about to toss. Nothing with mold, spoiled, or rotted. Also nothing with sweets like cake, and candy. I know some peeps get a little overboard about NOT giving Dinner leftovers to chickens because it contains salt. I do, and have had no negative results. (my chickens all live looooong lives as pets) It contains amount of salt that is just to the human taste.
WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

[BDutch]

With balanced food (like layer crumble for laying chickens) as a basic food. Its fine to give some extra’s like you do now.

IMO:
Too much of something is never good. If you put much salt on you’re food do be careful.

Too much calcium in layer feed (3-4%) can be a problem if the hens stop laying.

For fresh vitamins you can give gras clippings too if the run has only sand.

 

[SueT]

Foods other than their chicken feed can dilute the nutrition needed for growth and egg production. I think the rule of thumb is that other foods should equal no more than 10% of their diet.

 

[Acre4Me]

Our first flock is now 9 months old. We have 5 hens, all different breeds. We currently have a big PVC gravity-fed tube of layer crumble feed in the run, and another feeder of it in the coop. We also give them about 3/4 cup of scratch & 1/2 cup of meal worms (total for the flock, not per bird) per day, in addition to whatever extra fruit/ veggie table scraps we have. They loved our fresh grape leaves, grapes, pomegranates, persimmons, and apples, but fruiting season will end soon. Are we on the right track? Are we giving them too many treats?

Usually the charts indicate approx 1/4 lb feed per bird per day. Of course some birds eat a bit less, others more. If you stick with the 10% rule, then per bird treats should be around a tablespoon treats per bird. So, you are over-feeding the scratch and mealworms. In addition, the mealworms are fine as a treat, but apparently are also quite high in fat. This high fat content can cause some problems in birds when a constant part of their diet, so I’d recommend not giving so many mealworms, and perhaps not every day.

You could be over feeding the fruits/veg too, but in my experience, the birds eat their favorite bits and not always every scrap of fruit veg. You’ll need to make a personal judgement there.


Chickens will eat a certain amount then come back for more to fill their crop. So, any treats are diluting their feed which contains the nutrients chickens need. One of these is protein. You are likely using a 16% protein feed, which is ok, but you generally don’t want to go lower. The scratch does not contain that much protein, so dilutes their protein intake, but a small amount of scratch is ok.

We feed a 20% all flock, partly bc we have some really large breeds and it seems to work better for them, and we have some males. We supply OS on the side. We will use alfalfa pellets (16% protein) that we rehydrate and mix with their feed to make a wet mash on occasion. Other treats we use are scratch, scrambled eggs (with the shell), extra produce/kitchen scraps. We’ve fed them meat (beef and chicken) and canned fish before too -usually mixed in with the wet mash, but not always.

good luck! Chickens are fun!