white bread for chicken

[Tilhana]

The feed is made of ingredients that the birds would naturally ear. When grandma fed chickens bread, grandma really didn't care how healthy they were or how long they lived. You can feed table scrapsand they can free range to supplement but if you can't afford or be bothered with feed...why bother with chickens at all?

We're not arguing that chickens shoudln't be fed any commercial feed or grains; only that the nutritional content of the grains is less important if chickens have a variety of foods to choose from. Their instincts about what to eat are much better than ours, and when offered a variety of natural food options (excluding overly processed human-made foods that they can't instinctively recognize), they will tend to compensate for any nutritional deficiencies in their regular or commercial feed, provided those nurtients are available in the environment (or in the kitchen scraps grandma is feeding them).

Also, historically (as in pre-1950s or so), people who kept chickens didn't usually have access to commercial feed mixes. Chickens were kept in backyards for eggs and people fed them what they could. Perhaps in some regions chickens were undernourished because there was less healthy food available, but let's face it, a lot of humans were malnourished before the industrial food revolution, too. These are the circumstances under which gallus gallus was domesticated; same with cats and dogs and most other farm animals. Fortunately we can do better today because we have more options available, but that doesn't mean that we need to avoid giving chickens any feed other than formulated commercial grain mixes.

 

[Tilhana]

The reason the birds didn't "choose wisely" is because the birds were filling there caloric needs.

I'm skeptical; maybe other have had different experiences, but I've never seen a bird turn down grains or meat unless it was after dark, no matter how much food it had eaten. That's why we don't offer adult chickens unlimited grain feed all day long, unless you're trying to fatten up Cornish Cross broilers and don't care whether their legs can hold their own weight. They will just keep eating until all the feed is gone. It's much harder to overdo caloric intake when foraging, perhaps because it takes some work to find bugs and greens are very low in calories. But give them a bowl of grains and they'll go to town, every time.

 

[chicknmania]

We're not arguing that chickens shoudln't be fed any commercial feed or grains; only that the nutritional content of the grains is less important if chickens have a variety of foods to choose from. Their instincts about what to eat are much better than ours, and when offered a variety of natural food options (excluding overly processed human-made foods that they can't instinctively recognize), they will tend to compensate for any nutritional deficiencies in their regular or commercial feed, provided those nurtients are available in the environment (or in the kitchen scraps grandma is feeding them).

Also, historically (as in pre-1950s or so), people who kept chickens didn't usually have access to commercial feed mixes. Chickens were kept in backyards for eggs and people fed them what they could. Perhaps in some regions chickens were undernourished because there was less healthy food available, but let's face it, a lot of humans were malnourished before the industrial food revolution, too. These are the circumstances under which gallus gallus was domesticated; same with cats and dogs and most other farm animals. Fortunately we can do better today because we have more options available, but that doesn't mean that we need to avoid giving chickens any feed other than formulated commercial grain mixes.

Of course and I don't dispute any of that. But it still goes back to the fact that grandma really didn't care if chickens lived or died...they were a food source. But the op as I understand it was talking about feeding them JUST bread and worms...and sorry rhats still too much bread imo. Our flock eats flock raiser, layer, cracked corn, scratch, table scraps, commercial treats, and sometimes small bread crumbs as treats. And whatever else they can find. And they do fine. I dont feel commercial feed is all that expensive.

 

[alwaystj9]

I'm skeptical; maybe other have had different experiences, but I've never seen a bird turn down grains or meat unless it was after dark, no matter how much food it had eaten.

Hee hee, if I go in the pen after dark, my chickens immediately run out to see what I bring.

 

[alwaystj9]

"That's why we don't offer adult chickens unlimited grain feed all day long, unless you're trying to fatten up Cornish Cross broilers and don't care whether their legs can hold their own weight. They will just keep eating until all the feed is gone."

This is my experience, also. If there is any food in the pen, 90% of my chickens will not leave until the food is completely gone. I know some people leave food in front of their chickens 100% of the time and I am terrified of how much mine would eat if given the opportunity. (I need an emoji of balloon chicken bursting here). My chickens' job is to forage: eating bugs, loosening dirt and eating bugs/grubs/worms. (I wish they would eat ants). If they have unlimited, easy access feed, except for a few birds, they would never leave their pen.

 

[slip n slide]

for the same reason you don't let your kid eat only PB n' J sammiches...

 

[slip n slide]

maybe it's the breeds ya'll keep? My birds have free access but prefer to free-range,they'll eat their food in the early AM and before they go to bed but all day long is out running around.

 

[Artichoke Lover]

"That's why we don't offer adult chickens unlimited grain feed all day long, unless you're trying to fatten up Cornish Cross broilers and don't care whether their legs can hold their own weight. They will just keep eating until all the feed is gone."

This is my experience, also. If there is any food in the pen, 90% of my chickens will not leave until the food is completely gone. I know some people leave food in front of their chickens 100% of the time and I am terrified of how much mine would eat if given the opportunity. (I need an emoji of balloon chicken bursting here). My chickens' job is to forage: eating bugs, loosening dirt and eating bugs/grubs/worms. (I wish they would eat ants). If they have unlimited, easy access feed, except for a few birds, they would never leave their pen.

Huh. Maybe it depends on the breed. Mine prefer to free range the majority of the time. It’s actually a bit of a problem since they can’t always be lured back to the pen with treats. The only thing that consistently works is Catawaba worms. But unfortunately those are only around for a few months in the summer. Not even dried mealworms temp them back some days.

 

[alwaystj9]

I have a mix of breeds. The golden comets are the most food-centric. They all are anxious to go out in the morning but return to the pen from the farthest reaches of the pasture if they see me anywhere near the pen.

 

[Chickenslol]

we feed sourdough bread to our chickens. my family owns a bread business so it’s not a stretch, we cut up the ends that we can’t eat and sprinkle it into our run once a week. the girls love it and i’ve never had any issues, but we still have layer feed in the coop so i can’t say. it’s good for us because the bread comes at no charge and we make it in the house, but i can’t say how it would be for others. just my 2 cents, you do you.