Chicken Feed

[Javamama]

I'm thinking about switching my feed for the ducks. Maybe going to a whole grain or scratch with some extra protein mixed in. They just discovered the joy of BOSS (that's black oil sunflower seeds) and haven't touched the flockraiser for days. Now they are screaming at me because they are hungry and don't want the flockraiser. They just waste most it making duck brew in their water bucket anyway. Our bug and weed season is winding down. I just gave them a flake of hay as suggested by OFG and they are having a *pun intended* hayday with it.

 

[Mackay]

[I pick them off the roost at night, glove up and gently insert a fingertip into their vent. If you feel the hard, rounded shape of an egg, that hen will lay the next day. Your finger will not be in the egg canal but you will be palpating through the intestinal wall. This does not in any way appear to hurt the birds and I have had no ill effects from utilizing this method.

.

Now I know for absolute sure you are a nurse! absolutley no doubt in my mind.... (not that I ever doubted really)

 

[Mackay]

Im working on the idea of growing a huge sunflower garden just for the birds, as well as my visual delight. I figured I could dry them and have them for the winter. High in protien, no?

They are so easy to grow.

Is this a crazy idea?

 

[me&thegals]

homestead-

is there any way you can separate a few of your gals, to see who is laying and who is not? This is how I do it so I can cull.

We are of the same line of thinking if your not carring your own weight then-off with your head- and into the freezer you go!

Do you have a chicken tractor or another place to separate the girls? Our chicken tractor is where the suspicious gals went, and we discovered soon that all 11 were pretty lame in the egg-laying department. Still, it feels better to know for sure before culling.


PS--regarding food, I second what Free says about scrounging. We got the reject pile of pumpkins from a neighbor's garden, plus I plan to contact a larger pumpkin seller around here about getting leftovers at the end of season.

All food scraps go to the hens.

We get apple and pear leftovers from friends, plus wheat screenings from their wheat operation. Sunflower seeds and whole oats are not too expensive, and we use them as treats to lead the hens to previously unforaged areas in their chicken yard. So, they start with the seeds and continue with the weeds.

Good luck!

 

[lorihadams]

All our food scraps go to the hens and ducks (they are in a huge run together, spoiled rotten birds) They free range all day, I feed mine a mix of one bag Layena pellets and one 50lb bag Boss mixed up in a tub. Whatever I happen to scoop out is what they get. I feed mine (10 chickens and 4 ducks) once a day in the morning. Whatever they don't eat gets carried over into tomorrow's rations. I have 2 bowls for 14 birds. When the weather turns colder I do throw them some scratch grains in the evening before bed.

Ours will eat anything. When my husband just killed a deer I saved the scraps....tendons, bits of little pieces of meat, etc. and threw them in the woods in the back part of their run away from the coop. This served 2 purposes....they ate the meat scraps and it attracted flies which they also ate.

I find that mine are eating acorns as well.

They honestly barely eat the feed anymore.

 

[lalaland]

and you can also scrounge food from the produce dept at your local grocery store if you tell them you are looking for their culled stuff for your animals -

When I lived in the cities some years ago, my neighbors used to keep chicken buckets for me where they tossed their leftovers -

I used to get expired yogurts for the chickens also from the city.

See if there are feed mills where you are - usually much fresher, much better ingredients, and cheaper too then the pellets.

 

[homesteadmomma]

and you can also scrounge food from the produce dept at your local grocery store if you tell them you are looking for their culled stuff for your animals -

When I lived in the cities some years ago, my neighbors used to keep chicken buckets for me where they tossed their leftovers -

I used to get expired yogurts for the chickens also from the city.

See if there are feed mills where you are - usually much fresher, much better ingredients, and cheaper too then the pellets.

I have tried all the grocery stores around here and they all tell me they are not allowed to give it away. I have spoken to several different people at each store and I get the some song, different dance. Stupid policy, IMO!

 

[fancy]

I'm so glad to be learning that it's ok to NOT feed a commercial diet. Every bag of feed I have gotten since I started keeping chickens has had bugs in it. Now I do know that chickens like bugs, but I don't like them in my house!
It's too hot most of the year to keep feed outside so we keep all feed in our laundry room. I do keep my hay on our back porch. My horses only get whole grains, they have for the last 3 years, I am now whacking myself on the head for being so stupid.

 

[Farmfresh]

I was VERY interested in an article I read online that talked about planting a (city) yard with food-producing plants of all kinds and then cycling your chickens around the property to take advantage of leftovers.

I have a tiny city yard that is planted basically all to food products. Dwarf fruit trees, grapes, berries, herbs and veggies. I also have chickens. It sounds like you are interested in plants that will directly feed the chickens like the mulberry. I instead use my chickens as secondary feeders. They get all of the leftover veggie scraps, leftover foods that have gone past the point of redemption, weeds from the veggie patch, corn worms from the farmers market corn I buy and all the bugs they can catch during free time in the backyard. I also move them INTO the garden space to spend the late fall and winter months. While they spend their time there they eliminate weed seeds, take care of fertilization, turn the straw mulch into organic matter and rototill the soil in preparation for spring. So while I do not plant forages and plants for my chickens, they still benefit significantly from my plantings ... and I benefit from them.

 

[homesteadmomma]

OMG, BOSS is $22 per bag here for 50 lbs!! Is this the going rate??

On a brighter note, I found 75 pounds of wheat for $7.50. This is a good start to my chicken feed making process. I thought I would mix laying pellets, wheat, and what else?? Help please!