Advice, I'd rather not post this on BYC

[Farmer Kitty]

Protein is high priced and that maybe why they say to drop it at the end of laying cycle but, my girls stay on the samething year round. On my bag it states that it's a complete feed and they don't need anything more. That maybe but, they still get their scratch, treats, and egg shells/oyster shell. So don't let the part that says not to feed them something else bug you.

 

[prairiegirl]

That is just too scientific for me. Chickens have been around longer than man has been making chicken feed.

I think layer feed, food scraps, roaming around eating whatever they find, and a little bit of oyster shell if the egg shells get soft is all you need to worry about for adult chickens.

Yep, I'm with dacjohns on this. Ours seem happy and they are healthy so that's good enough for me.

 

[Beekissed]

Same here....I check the ingredients for medication and animal by-products. If they have them, I don't buy them. If they don't and its laying mash~I'll buy it! My chickens are such good foragers that I don't worry too much about their additional protein. That's the luxury of free ranging.

Tip for people who free range for winter: Place a piece of tin, plywood, pieces of wood, etc. on the ground until all the bugs populate the area and the grass is solarized...then lift it up for the girls to scratch and eat....repeat process for more fun and food for the gals.

 

[kstaven]

If you paint that tin dark green it will work in much cooler temps.