SufficientSelf's Chicken Thread!!!

[BarredBuff]

Feed schedule sounds excellent! I was asking about that because mine put it ALL away, and I cant figure out why....

Table scraps, 6 lbs of layer, a bucket of grain, and forage. Why are they never full? They are constantly hungry....

6lbs of layer feed per day? 30 birds, less than 1/4 pound per per bird per day. That may be on the light side.

Get some cabbage heads to hang in there to get them something else?

Are you saying that isnt enough??? They get scraps and 6 lbs of grain plus range.....and the layer. I dont know

 

[FarmerJamie]

Feed schedule sounds excellent! I was asking about that because mine put it ALL away, and I cant figure out why....

Table scraps, 6 lbs of layer, a bucket of grain, and forage. Why are they never full? They are constantly hungry....

6lbs of layer feed per day? 30 birds, less than 1/4 pound per per bird per day. That may be on the light side.

Get some cabbage heads to hang in there to get them something else?

Are you saying that isnt enough??? They get scraps and 6 lbs of grain plus range.....and the layer. I dont know

As temps fall, they need more food to stay warm, I try to offer more corn. I think they may need more than what you're feeding. Just my opinion.

 

[Beekissed]

Thanks! Sorry for such a long-winded post, it was much smaller looking in the text field before submitting. :sheepish

Btw for feed- it's nothing fancy just blue seal layer crumbles free choice. a few handfuls of black oil sunflower mixed with scratch grains in the morning. Oyster shell and grit free choice. They forage in the afternoons til they put themselves to bed. A table scrap here and there. I don't think I've had them long enough for this to cause problems, but I think this feed schedule is ok? (Bee? What do you think?)

Your hens are absolutely beautiful...and that is one very good pic!

I'm not the chicken guru, by any means. I just know what works for mine. You'll have to see as you go along if your feed choices affect your flock and then just make adjustments. That's pretty much how I did it and I try to change things up a little in the winter time.

In the spring and summer when forage is good, I just feed straight layer mash from the local feed mill. It is a whole different color and smell than the pre-packaged bag feeds like pellets and crumbles....seems fresher to me.

In the winter when laying slows down, I just add more whole grains to my mash because it makes my winter feed ration a little cheaper. I also add OS directly to the mix in at least the first barrel of the winter mix so that they have the added calcium they need for feather regrowth and so they don't lose the calcium percentage from decreasing the total layer mash ration.

I've never bought what folks call "scratch" but it sounds sort of like a mix of the whole grains that I add in the winter mash anyway.

As for 6 lbs of feed for 30 birds? I doubt if what I feed is even that much....just 4-5 standard scoops of feed per day for the whole flock. BB, if your birds thrive on it, feed it. Overfeeding can result in reproductive problems like becoming eggbound, prolapse, internal laying, reproductive cancer, poor laying; and GI problems like sour crop, pendulous crop, etc.

 

[moxies_chickennuggets]

Go easy on the amount you add? Learned the hard way when egg production dropped off from feeding too much BOSS when I couldn't make it to the feed store for a bit.

Okay...chicken newbie here. What is BOSS?

 

[the funny farm6]

Black oil sunflower seed

 

[moxies_chickennuggets]

Ahh...ok. And this is found in the feed departments? I am just not that familiar with things chicken yet.

 

[BarredBuff]

Thanks! Sorry for such a long-winded post, it was much smaller looking in the text field before submitting. :sheepish

Btw for feed- it's nothing fancy just blue seal layer crumbles free choice. a few handfuls of black oil sunflower mixed with scratch grains in the morning. Oyster shell and grit free choice. They forage in the afternoons til they put themselves to bed. A table scrap here and there. I don't think I've had them long enough for this to cause problems, but I think this feed schedule is ok? (Bee? What do you think?)

Your hens are absolutely beautiful...and that is one very good pic!

I'm not the chicken guru, by any means. I just know what works for mine. You'll have to see as you go along if your feed choices affect your flock and then just make adjustments. That's pretty much how I did it and I try to change things up a little in the winter time.

In the spring and summer when forage is good, I just feed straight layer mash from the local feed mill. It is a whole different color and smell than the pre-packaged bag feeds like pellets and crumbles....seems fresher to me.

In the winter when laying slows down, I just add more whole grains to my mash because it makes my winter feed ration a little cheaper. I also add OS directly to the mix in at least the first barrel of the winter mix so that they have the added calcium they need for feather regrowth and so they don't lose the calcium percentage from decreasing the total layer mash ration.

I've never bought what folks call "scratch" but it sounds sort of like a mix of the whole grains that I add in the winter mash anyway.
As for 6 lbs of feed for 30 birds? I doubt if what I feed is even that much....just 4-5 standard scoops of feed per day for the whole flock. BB, if your birds thrive on it, feed it. Overfeeding can result in reproductive problems like becoming eggbound, prolapse, internal laying, reproductive cancer, poor laying; and GI problems like sour crop, pendulous crop, etc.

Here is what I do, I put 6 to 8 lbs of feed in the feeder everynight when they are roosting then they eat ALL of it the next day.......

 

[Beekissed]

Do you have the type of feeder that is accessible to rodents? You could be losing some of that feed to them...they are more active at night and early mornings in a place with a lot of human exposure. You probably do this so you can just get up and go to school, huh? That makes sense to me and I would probably do the same...

 

[~gd]

Ahh...ok. And this is found in the feed departments? I am just not that familiar with things chicken yet.

I don't know where you shop but most feed stores have Black Oil sunflower seed or can get it on request. the black is grown to be pressed for oil. The larger striped seed is mostly grown for human snacks. Chickens sometimes have problems with the big stripers. You can get black oil seeds where bird seed [for feeders] is sold but are likely to pay 2X-5X per pound for it that way rather than a big bag from a feed store.

 

[Beekissed]

The BOSS sold for bird feed has a protein coating applied to increase protein levels...not sure what the coating is but it makes the seeds glossy. Never was interested enough to explore what they used for the shiny coating. If you buy them in the feed stores, the seeds are more dull in appearance~but cheaper.

I agree that the stripey seeds are harder for the birds to eat....could never really get my birds interested in them as the shells were tougher, I think, to digest or they just didn't look appealing. The BOSS look like little black bugs which is a bonus if you are a bird, I would imagine...