Why not spoil them?

[Seaecho]

I agree that my chickens definitely have their favorites. The only thing I've found they don't like is oatmeal, and cantaloupe that isn't sweet enough for their liking, lol. They ALL especially love watermelon, scrambled eggs and all fruits I've offered. I have actually ordered Chicken Chew hemp formula. Many haven't heard of it, since it's new. But from the free samples I got, they really seemed to like it. And it isn't a pellet or crumble. You can see the grains in it, and the ingredient list looks pretty healthy to me. Ridiculously expensive, yes. But if it lasts me a few months, I'll keep getting it. Since I only have a few bantam chickens, I ordered the 14 lb. bag. It looks a lot more interesting to me than a pellet or crumble (boring). And I agree that it makes sense that animal food would be made as cheaply as possible, as that means just that much more profit for the manufacturer.

 

[Perris]

I do supplement with alfalfa, as I have two horses.

then you have another source of treats: the horse dung!

 

[Mosey2003]

But, if bagged food was perfect, the supermarket eggs would look as good, or better, than the eggs from a free-ranging chicken eating a varied diet.

The yolk color thing really is a bit of a red herring though. Yes, we like seeing pretty, dark yolks, but the color really doesn't mean anything in regards to the nutrition of the egg. It simply means the chicken ate things high in carotenoids. If I don't feed layer feed with added marigold, my chickens' yolks are pale, too. You can easily manipulate it with enough alfalfa and/or marigold. That doesn't mean the diet producing pale yolks isn't nutritionally complete.

 

[Mosey2003]

Surely you're kidding? There's nothing particularly"good" about prefab food. It's garbage just like the food most humans eat. All animal food is made to be as cheap as possible, that's why I choose to feed things other than premade food. To my dogs and my chickens both.

It's not garbage. It's made to be as economical as possible while also providing the necessary nutrition. If it were garbage, animals would become unthrifty and die, and people would no longer buy the feed.

There's a big push against commercial feed, and it's not in the best interest of the animals, in my opinion. If companies can make you feel happy about a special feed, happy enough to pay twice the amount of regular feed, they're going to take advantage of that.

 

[igorsMistress]

It's not garbage. It's made to be as economical as possible while also providing the necessary nutrition. If it were garbage, animals would become unthrifty and die, and people would no longer buy the feed.

There's a big push against commercial feed, and it's not in the best interest of the animals, in my opinion. If companies can make you feel happy about a special feed, happy enough to pay twice the amount of regular feed, they're going to take advantage of that.

Well, we can agree to disagree then.

 

[Morrigan]

The yolk color thing really is a bit of a red herring though. Yes, we like seeing pretty, dark yolks, but the color really doesn't mean anything in regards to the nutrition of the egg. It simply means the chicken ate things high in carotenoids. If I don't feed layer feed with added marigold, my chickens' yolks are pale, too. You can easily manipulate it with enough alfalfa and/or marigold. That doesn't mean the diet producing pale yolks isn't nutritionally complete.

It's not just the color, though. The density of the egg and the way the yolk "stands up" is different. Somehow, the chickens achieve that, along with the golden color, in the spring without any marigold or alfalfa, just be foraging. We had friends do a blind taste test, and the thought the back-yard eggs tasted better than the store eggs as well.

I do not think bagged feed is garbage, heck, I feed it to my chickens. There have been stretches where due to travel or illness, that's all they got. But I believe it can be improved upon, by adding fresh, natural things -- weeds, greens, veggies, seeds and insects -- to supplement their diet.

To circle back to the original post. I don't consider these supplements to be "treats" or "spoiling" my chickens. They are part of a healthy, varied diet. The fact that I enjoy giving it to them, and they seem to be excited and stimulated by the variety is a nice bonus. Like all things in life, it can be overdone, in which case their diet can become unbalanced. All in moderation.

 

[SunHwaKwon]

The breeder I got my SQ bantam Langshans from only fed scratch and his birds were beautiful, though they lived in tiny cages that could use a bit of cleaning. He did set the cages out on grass each day. They were pretty healthy birds.

My neighbor down the road also only fed his birds scratch. His had a lot of health problems.

Both did not get the laying rates that I did, including from the birds I bought from the breeder. That is, their rate went up after I bought them and they got to free range and get balanced pellets.

My birds do get a lot of treats, though, as a matter of my convenience and wish not to waste scraps and leftovers that would otherwise get tossed in the trash. I do feed a higher protein pellet compared to some others, to offset it. I have recently stumbled across some feeds designed specifically for this type of arrangement.

 

[Morrigan]

I have recently stumbled across some feeds designed specifically for this type of arrangement.

What feeds are you using.

I'm being giving mine Purina Flock Raiser, which is at 20% protein.

 

[SunHwaKwon]

What feeds are you using.

I'm being giving mine Purina Flock Raiser, which is at 20% protein.

I've recently relocated and have not found an ideal feed where I am now living, which is why I am doing some research. I like an all flock pellet. Where I was before I fed Southern States Meat Maker pellets, which are 20%. I also fermented game bird starter (28%) with grains to make a 18-20% feed for in the morning. They loved that stuff.

Right now, because I was desperate and learning the area, I had to pick up 20% Layer pellets and separate chick crumble - not my ideal arrangement. I don't like the Flock Raiser because of the price and it is a crumble. My feed where I was before was $12 a bag and nice little pellets that even the babies could handle at about 3 weeks and I didn't realize how spoiled I was until I moved.

I prefer a locally milled feed, which Southern States was, though I would try the Nutrena All Flock pellets if I could actually find someone who carried it.

 

[cwelte]

Our hens are still growing, and while they LOVE mealworms, that's a "sometimes" treat. They've been loving watermelon, but honestly, the best treat that they really love is not really an "eating" treat. When I cut the grass, I take the first full bag and dump it in their run. They go nuts! They scratch for bugs and eat some of the grass, but they'll scratch and move the pile over the course of a few days to a shady spot under the coop where they nest in it. I clean it out after a week and they have to wait another week or so before I do it again. It's funny, before they'd hide when they heard the mower start up, now they run to the edge of the run waiting for me to dump the bag.