what to feed my broilers?!

[Triple Willow]

Do egg layers need to eat more layer food than scratch grains on a daily basis?

I wouldn't feed much scratch during hot weather. Corn is a high energy feed and that will make them have more body heat, not good in the summer but better in the winter for warmth. Layers need around 16% protein. You can feed that all in a layer mash or make up your own mix with protein around that level. If you don't feed a layer feed you need to supplement calcium somehow. I do put some scratch in my fermented layer feed just because they like it, but not a whole lot. Fermented feed makes some really nice eggs - big firm yolks and hard shells. I dropped one in the floor the other day and could still pick it up and use it, yolk didn't even break. The shell was a little shattered on one side but still intact so I could pick it up.

 

[redsoxs]

Good luck to you and your meat birds. I've yet to try FF - I may do so in the spring. I've always just used an all flock feed rather than game bird mix - too much protein makes them grow too fast, resulting in leg problems. Good luck to you!

 

[chickenfarmer94]

You people are fantastic!!!

 

[Organic Acres]

I am growing three broilers, about what to feed them: I don't use commercial feed at all. I grow wheat, corn, barley and oats on my field. I mix barley, oats and wheat together and give them that "on demand" whole, and I take that same mix and add 15% corn and then run it thru my neighbour's grinder and put out a second feeder giving them the ground mix - this is more for the younger birds but they all eat it. I buy bulk ground oyster shells, which even the rooster and the young birds eat, and for protein I let them range on pasture and on the field where they dig up worms and eat insects. In the winter I will probably give them a protein supplement though (soybean meal).

The above diet is based on a ton of research I did prior to starting with organic chicken farming. I've been using this diet all year and all of my chickens are thriving.

The eggs that I get from my layers giving them this diet are the most fantastic thing I have ever seen. They are deeply coloured, very flavorful and frankly they are totally awesome. Everybody I know lines up around the block wanting some of them. My eggs also have very solid shells, due to the ground oyster shell.
I saw earlier in this thread that the feed should be 17% protein for layers. I don't agree with this. If they have access to outside and can catch bugs and stuff, 10% protein in summer is plenty. it needs to be upped to max 18% in the dark days of deep winter though.

Note that grains such as wheat and oats are already 10% protein, so they get enough protein from grain before considering the worms and bugs and stuff that they catch.

 

[Triple Willow]

I am growing three broilers, about what to feed them: I don't use commercial feed at all. I grow wheat, corn, barley and oats on my field. I mix barley, oats and wheat together and give them that "on demand" whole, and I take that same mix and add 15% corn and then run it thru my neighbour's grinder and put out a second feeder giving them the ground mix - this is more for the younger birds but they all eat it. I buy bulk ground oyster shells, which even the rooster and the young birds eat, and for protein I let them range on pasture and on the field where they dig up worms and eat insects. In the winter I will probably give them a protein supplement though (soybean meal).

The above diet is based on a ton of research I did prior to starting with organic chicken farming. I've been using this diet all year and all of my chickens are thriving.

 
The eggs that I get from my layers giving them this diet are the most fantastic thing I have ever seen. They are deeply coloured, very flavorful and frankly they are totally awesome. Everybody I know lines up around the block wanting some of them. My eggs also have very solid shells, due to the ground oyster shell.
I saw earlier in this thread that the feed should be 17% protein for layers. I don't agree with this. If they have access to outside and can catch bugs and stuff, 10% protein in summer is plenty. it needs to be upped to max 18% in the dark days of deep winter though.

Note that grains such as wheat and oats are already 10% protein, so they get enough protein from grain before considering the worms and bugs and stuff that they catch.

Sounds like you have done your research. If you are wanting something to help your birds keep warm in the winter check into energy instead of protein. Corn is a great sourse of energy. If your rations are all balanced the only thing I think you could do better is ferment it.

 

[BantamFan4Life]

Welcome to BYC!!!

 

[Organic Acres]

Thanks for the welcome, bantamfan!

about corn as a source of energy, yes I agree that this is a good idea, I can see why that would help keep them warm. In the winter I'll increase the corn to more like 30% of their feed - thanks for the idea!

I will still give them more protein as well, since they won't be eating worms and bugs from mid october thru early march - too cold for bugs. I'm going to try sprouted grain too, I've read that it is really good for them in the winter. I'll chuck a few cups of wheat and oats and barley into a bucket, throw some water in there, soak for a while and then drain, and then after they start to sprout and are about 1 inch long I'll feed it to the hens. It's supposed to be a really good source of winter vitamins.

Oh, about fermenting: The first I heard of this was today in this forum. Sounds interesting, how do you do that, and what do you ferment?

 

[Triple Willow]

Thanks for the welcome, bantamfan!

about corn as a source of energy, yes I agree that this is a good idea, I can see why that would help keep them warm. In the winter I'll increase the corn to more like 30% of their feed - thanks for the idea!

I  will still give them more protein as well, since they won't be eating worms and bugs from mid october thru early march - too cold for bugs. I'm going to try sprouted grain too, I've read that it is really good for them in the winter. I'll chuck a few cups of wheat and oats and barley into a bucket, throw some water in there, soak for a while and then drain, and then after they start to sprout and are about 1 inch long I'll feed it to the hens. It's supposed to be a really good source of winter vitamins.

Oh, about fermenting: The first I heard of this was today in this forum. Sounds interesting, how do you do that, and what do you ferment?

That is true about the protein and bugs. I'm going to start doing sprouts too. Another thing I think I'm going to do and you may want to consider is raising meal worms. Those that do it say it is easy and really pretty cheap to do. Another option is to have a worm composting bin and feed them those worms.some people are also raising black soldier flies (BSF) for a protein supplement. I really don't know much about that. I have just got back into chickens this year after being without them for years and years. You'll find a lot of information on this website.

Everything you need to know about fermenting is found over on the "fermenting feed for meat birds" thread. It is a long thread full of all kinds of information and there are several old timer chicken folks there to answer your questions.

Fermenting is really easy. All you do is take whatever feed you are feeding and put it in a five gallon bucket or other container (not metal), pour water over it soaking the feed, stir with a big spoon and wait. You might have to add more water and stir some more as it soaks the water up. I like mine about the consistency of cookie dough. Some keep and inch or so of water over the feed, I don't. I also add some buttermilk to give mine a faster start, but it's not necessary. Once you get it going you just add more feed before the bucket gets too empty, add more water, stir real good mixing the old feed and new feed and in about 12 hours it's ready to go again. The health benefits of fermented feed are amazing, chickens love it and it saves on the feed bill because they eat less. You were talking about feeding oyster shell... My pullets are just now on their first bag of layer pellets so they haven't had a lot of extra calcuim. This morning one of them layed an egg while sitting over 2' off the ground on the roost. The egg hit hard dirt and all it did was put a pushed in slightly cracked dent where it landed. I just picked it up and brought it in the house. Their eggs were like this before I started this bag of layer pellets. After it's gone I plan on going back to grower feed and mixing in some other feeds to bring the protein level down. For calcium I'll just feed their egg shells back to them and watch their condition. Another good protein supplement is whole flax seed (added to their diet gradually and never over 10% of their daily ration). You can feed the whole flax seed fermented, otherwise you would need to grind it so it doesn't just pass through them. But whole flax seeds keep much better than ground.

Good luck to you!

 

[liz9910]

Welcome to BYC!