do i need to supplement fodder?

[danahud]

Hi everybody,
I've decided to take on growing fodder for my girls and boy. Something is still unclear to me though. Do you still need to supplement the fodder with layer feed or is the fodder itself nutritious enough to support good health and egg laying. I also grow meal worms for the girls in my basement and they get to come out and free range a good bit, not to mention all of the veggie scraps they get from the kitchen!
Thanks for any help and advice!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

You'll probably get a wide variety of responses on this but in my opinion, there is no way fodder can provide all the nutrients a chicken needs. Some will depend on the grain or blend of grains you use. Grain only has a few of the essential amino acids a chicken requires, sprouting won't add the missing ones. This is why there is a blend of grain and legumes in feed if there's no meat or fish meal in it.
The mealworms will help but you would either need a lot of worms or very few chickens.
There will be other vitamins and minerals missing as well. ~~Fodder won't give them enough salt or selenium.
Calcium and phosphorus must be in the correct ratio with each other or egg shell quality will suffer if the calcium too low or possible kidney damage if the phosphorus is too low.
Will the fodder have sufficient vitamin D, E or biotin?

ETA
Foraging will help a lot, if the pasture is varied, pristine and during a season when bugs and other animal protein sources abound.

 

[SavageDestiny]

I don't feel that fodder itself is enough. Chickens aren't meant to eat strictly grass.

I feed fodder in the morning and fermented feed at night. Plus my girls get nutritious "snacks" every day like meats, bugs, herbs, greens, fruit, veg, etc. to supply a variety of nutrients.

 

[danahud]

ok, so fodder isnt enough.... how much has it cut down on your chickens laying feed intake if at all? Im trying to figure out if this is worth my time or not.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Among the problems with a fodder only feeding scheme, especially if it is from a single or even mix of grains is that grain doesn't have a sufficient amino acid configuration for good growth, health and production. Ideal protein, necessary for growth, will contain appropriate levels of all a chickens essential amino acids. Grain alone doesn't have that and sprouting won't create it either. Feed manufacturers add a small amount of the missing or underrepresented amino acids to create a balance.

I can't answer your last question because I don't keep track of how much feed I'm using daily when I feed sprouted grains or not.

 

[danahud]

looks like I'm going to be doing a little bit of experimenting then. I will feed the fodder in the morning and food at night. My chickens have quite a large run, but they just stay clustered around the gate waiting for a free meal. Irritating. I would prefer for them to scratch around in their lot to find bugs instead of standing at the fence like a bunch of dogs waiting to be fed.

 

[escape]

I feed my girls fodder in the morning and pellets at night. We go through much less pellets than we used to and our eggs seem better tasting. Summer will be here soon and I will not be supplying them fodder while they are able to free range. I will still give them pelleted feed at night.

I will start back with fodder about October.

 

[danahud]

My chickens used to free range,giving us beautiful almost orange yolks in their eggs, but we had issues with hawks circling while they were free ranging, so back in their lot they went. It is a large lot.... probably 40 x 40, but in a shady area of the yard in the spring and summer, which is great for keeping the heat down, but inhibits the growth of the grasses, not to mention the fact that the chickens pecked it down to nothing very shortly.
I've planted pallets full of shade loving vegetables inside the lot and will hopefully have a nice chicken garden for them to feed off of in a few weeks. The fodder is hopefully a short term solution until my chicken garden grows in nicely. I hope to see my yolks turning a pretty orange again soon!
I now have fodder growing in the kitchen and meal worms growing in the basement..... Have I reached CRAZY CHICKEN LADY status yet??!!

 

[escape]

We lost one chicken to a hawk last year. I watched it happen. It was devastating!

I chased the hawk away so he didn't get to enjoy the fruits. We started staggering the times we let them out. They now get out for several hours, but it's not on a schedule that the hawks can learn.

 

[danahud]

IM so sorry that happened .... We have lost a couple of chicks due to our flock being bullies, but nothing from an outside predator. I think our dogs help keep any of them away.